Ladan Eshkevari is a Professor Emeritus, after serving over 25 years as full time faculty. She retired as Professor and Program Director of the nationally ranked graduate Nurse Anesthesia Program in the School of Nursing & Health Studies. Dr. Eshkevari designed and implemented the current Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Program at Georgetown University, and served on numerous University committees in her tenure at the University, including serving on the Steering Committee and serving as Chair of Faculty for the School of Nursing and Health Studies 2010-2012. She is a physiologist, and a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and holds a diplomate as certified acupuncturist. She is an expert in the area of anesthesia, pain management and alternative medicine.
Dr Eshkevari was also involved in the Special Masters Program in Physiology, and served as advisor for the program's numerous students in their successful applications to medical schools across the US. Professor Eshkevari completed her BS with honors for the University of MD, her MS in nurse anesthesia from Columbia University, NY, and her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University's Medical Center.
Her areas of research include identifying physiologic markers for chronic stress and pain that are modulated by acupuncture, research on a variety of anesthesia related topics and clinical research on ketamine's effects as an anti depressant.
Dr. Eshkevari has published extensively in peer reviewed journals, been invited as a key note and guest speaker at several national and international meetings and has won several national awards. Most notably, she was named the 2013 researcher of the year by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing-Tau chapter; and again in 2014 she was awarded the John Garde Researcher of the Year Award by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, a leader in nursing organizations, and in 2022 right before her retirement she was awarded Program Director of the Year by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
She has served as a member of the Board of Nursing in DC, and serves on its advisory panel for advance practice nurses, she is an active Fellow in the prestigious American Academy of Nursing (AAN) and serves on the Mental Health Expert Panel of the AAN.
She is currently CEO of Avesta Mental Health serving the Washington DC area, and is the Editor in Chief of the AANA Journal.