Dr. Berman helped design and currently maintains the computerized intraoperative recordkeeping system used in the cardiac and neurosurgical operating rooms. This system captures all physiologic and anesthetic related data during surgical procedures. He is also a member of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center’s study group on cerebral arteriovascular malformations and investigates outcome differences for the available treatment options.

Dr. Heyer’s principal research is to elucidate mechanisms of surgical-associated cerebral injury that manifests itself as cerebral dysfunction determined by performance on a battery of neuropsychometric tests. The types of surgery associated with cerebral dysfunction are cardiac operations in which patients undergo cardiopulmonary bypass and vascular operations in which carotid endarterectomy is performed. The immediate goals are to document the incidence of cerebral injury, determine appropriate measures of injury, and postulate mechanisms that produce injury. Subsequently, strategies to ameliorate cerebral injury will be formulated and tested that will involve intraoperative procedures and cerebral protective medications.