Hassenbusch Lectureship Award

18th Annual Samuel J. Hassenbusch Lectureship Award 2024: Max Eckmann, MD

Dr. Eckmann leads a large department that provides anesthesia services to the University Health, UT Health, and VA Health Systems to include areas of general, regional, obstetric, transplant, hepatobiliary, cardiac, and critical care anesthesiology. The UT Health Anesthesiology Department serves the UH Transplant Intensive Care Unit and rapidly expanding ECMO program at UHS while also covering Level 1 Trauma care. UT Anesthesiology also has a vibrant outpatient practice in pain management, providing access to longitudinal care and advanced spine interventions in conjunction with a strong multidisciplinary care network at UT Health.

Dr. Eckmann was born and raised in Austin, TX. He completed his undergraduate training at Texas A&M University, where he received the Gathright Scholar Award for the College of Engineering. After attending medical school and internship at Baylor College of Medicine as a Presidential Scholar, Dr. Eckmann pursued residency at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, MI. He then trained here at UTHSCSA for his Pain Medicine Fellowship, staying on as faculty thereafter. He has since maintained a diverse practice in clinical anesthesiology, interventional pain medicine, medical education, healthcare leadership, and clinical research.

Dr. Eckmann’s local leadership has included directorship of the Acute Pain Service, Pain Medicine Division, Pain Medicine Fellowship, and UT Health Anesthesiology Research program over a 15 year career at the HSC. In these roles, he has worked to expand inpatient and outpatient access to pain management specialty services. Dr. Eckmann has a special academic interest in chronic joint pain, and lead a translational investigative team to create several novel procedural techniques in nerve ablation. He is also active in pre and post-market medical device development. More broadly, Dr. Eckmann’s vision is to elevate activities in research related to data science, transplant medicine, critical care, and pharmacology. In 2021, Dr. Eckmann was awarded with the Ramamurthy Endowed Professorship in Pain Medicine, named after his long-time mentor and friend.

While Dr. Eckmann is recognized as a medical and technical expert, he also serves many national functions for the field of Anesthesiology. He is a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology, helping deliver certifying exams to future diplomates. He sits as a Board Member for the American Society of Regional Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, stewarding societal involvement in advocacy, continuing medical education, and practice guidelines. He is Past President and Board Member Emeritus for the Texas Pain Society, which is also dedicated to continuing education and advocacy.