Ladan Eshkevari

Ladan Eshkevari was born in Iran and lived in India during her formative years, attending the British School till the age of 15. She moved to the United States with her family as a teenager.^[7]

She holds a BS (Hons.) in Nursing degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, an MS in Anesthesia degree from the Columbia University School of Nursing, a PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University, has a Diplomate degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture from Maryland Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a Certification in Corporate Executive Leadership from Georgetown University.^[8][9]

Eshkevari started her career as a nurse during the AIDS epidemic in the United States.^[10]

Since 1995, she has been a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) and was the Editor-In-Chief of its peer-reviewed, bimonthly academic journal, Journal of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA Journal) from 2023 till 2024.^[11] She has also been a peer reviewer for other journals, which include the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (JAANA), Journal of Experimental Biology and Medicine (JEBM), Complementary Therapies in Medicine (CTIM), Acupuncture in Medicine, Journal of Medical Acupuncture, Journal of Endocrinology (JOE), PLOS One and the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine.^[12][13]

Eshkevari is a professor emerita at Georgetown University and between 1997 and 2022, she has held various positions at Georgetown University, such as a Nurse Anesthetist (1997–2010), an Associate Professor (1997–2022), Professor (2022) and the Program Director of the university's Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program (2017–2022).^[14]

She serves on various national boards in the United States such as the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee.^[15] She has also served as the President of the District of Columbia Association of Nurse Anesthetists, was co-chair of the Education Committee of the Board of Nursing in the District appointed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2005, and continues to serve on its Advance Practice Advisory Panel. She is a former chair of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Foundation Board of Trustees.^[16]

Since 2018, Eshkevari has been the Founder and Co-CEO of Avesta Ketamine and Wellness, a group of clinics providing ketamine infusion therapy for conditions such as depression, anxiety, and chronic pain in the Washington metropolitan area.^{[17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

Eshkevari's areas of research include identifying physiologic markers for chronic stress and pain that are modulated by acupuncture, research on different anesthesia-related topics, and clinical research on ketamine's effects as an antidepressant.^[24]

Her work on rat models, investigated the effects of acupuncture on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis) hormones as markers for chronic stress.^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

She has also published clinical research on the effectiveness of ketamine as an antidepressant, including the use of adjunct treatments like intravenous glutathione.^[30]

Eshkevari is of Iranian origin.^[31] She is fluent in English, Spanish and Persian.^[32]