Oncologic Critical Care

Dr. Joseph L. Nates is a Professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has lived and practiced medicine in several countries. Currently, he is the Deputy Chair of the Department of Critical Care in the Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine. Dr. Nates is also the Medical Director of the 70-bed Oncologic Surgical and Medical Intensive Care Units and the Founder and President of the Oncologic Critical Care Research Network (ONCCC-R-NET), a global organization dedicated to the advancement of oncologic critical care research and education. Through his organization, Dr. Nates has been leading the pioneering efforts to establish Oncologic Critical Care as a new subspecialty and disseminate this knowledge worldwide. As the foundation for this objective, he has led and coauthored the first two comprehensive oncologic critical care textbooks, in both Spanish and English languages. He has also established regional and global collaborative networks and organized several Oncologic Critical Care symposiums.

Throughout his career, Dr. Nates has occupied multiple leadership positions and received numerous awards, among them the Presidential Award for “Outstanding Achievement and Leadership for Elimination of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia” from the Department of Health and Human Services and the four leading Critical Care Societies in the USA in 2012, the “Bill Aston Award for Quality” from the Texas Hospital Association, and Distinguished Service Award in 2015, as well as many other research awards during his career. In 2018, for his contributions to critical care, the American College of Critical Care Medicine awarded him the title Master of Critical Care Medicine. The same year, for his international contributions to the development of Oncologic Critical Care, the Chilean Society of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine awarded him the title International Master of Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Kristen J. Price was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her undergraduate degree in Marine Science from the University of Tampa followed by a Doctor of Medicine degree from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. She completed an Internal Medicine residency, Chief Medical Residency, and Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at the University of Texas Health in Houston. Following training, she joined the faculty at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and currently holds the title of Professor and Chair, Department of Critical Care and Respiratory Care. Under her leadership, the number of faculty and advance practice providers has grown substantially. She also oversees the Respiratory Care Department and the Section of Integrated Bioethics in Cancer Care. Dr. Price developed the multifaceted “Intensive Care Unit Organizational Infrastructure” to systematically organize, establish, and sustainevidence-based clinical, educational, and research initiatives in the ICU. Her main focus of research has been in the outcomes of critically ill oncology patients, particularly those with hematologic malignancies and respiratory failure. She is an active member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and currently serves on the “Academic Leaders in Critical Care Medicine” task force. Dr. Price has four grown children and currently resides in Houston, Texas.