Dr. Saramaria Afanador Castiblanco is a critical care physician whose clinical and academic work focuses on respiratory mechanics, noninvasive ventilation, high-flow nasal oxygen therapy, and the physiologic effects of prone positioning. She serves as Course Director for the Mechanical Ventilation curriculum for the Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital (2020–present).
Her current and prior projects include the ENHANCE study (nasal high-flow and exercise tolerance/regional ventilation in hospitalized COPD; ATS-funded), physiologic studies on work of breathing in prone versus supine positions, and investigations into the effects of increased nasal cannula flow on respiratory mechanics. She was the University of Miami site lead for the PRONE trial (awake proning in COVID-19) and served as a Study Champion for EMPOWER (support for surrogate decision-makers in the ICU)
