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Neurocritical Care Research

Below are labs and faculty working to understand neurocritical care disorders to improve outcomes for neurocritically ill patients.

To learn about ongoing clinical trials or participate in a study, visit the clinical trials page for our Division of Stroke and Neurocritical Care.

Labs

 Batra Lab

Dr. Batra's lab is focused on his research interests in neurology, including brain injury, neuroinflammation, stroke and vascular biology.

Visit Dr. Batra's faculty profile for more information

 Bleck Lab

Dr. Bleck’s lab studies subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, head injury, status epilepticus, infections, neuromuscular respiratory failure and ICU management of the organ donor.

His research interests include subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, head injury, status epilepticus, infections, neuromuscular respiratory failure, and the ICU management of the organ donor. He has been involved in therapeutic temperature modulation research since 1999. He has played a key role several NIH-funded trials, including RANTAAS, RAMPART, ProTECT III, ESETT, iDef, EpiBios4Rx, GRASP, and SHINE.

For publications and more information, please see Dr. Bleck's faculty profile.

 

 Chou Lab

Dr. Chou’s lab focuses on the role of inflammation and immune response in vascular brain injuries and biomarker discovery.

Research Description

Sherry H-Y Chou, MD, and her research program focus on the role of inflammation and immune response in vascular brain injuries and biomarker discovery. Chou founded and leads the large Global Consortium Study on Neurological Dysfunction in COVID 19 (GCS-NeuroCOVID) and serves as an invited member to the World Health Organization forum on neurological impacts of COVID 19.

For more information, view the faculty profile of Sherry H-Y Chou, MD.

Recent Publications

View Dr. Chou's full list of publications at Pubmed.

Contact

Twitter: @SherryChou399 

 Kim Lab

Dr. Kim's lab focuses on her research interests in neurology, including arteriovenous malformation, brain injury or trauma, stroke, critical care outcomes and dementia.

Visit Dr. Kim's faculty profile to learn more.

 Liotta Lab
Dr. Liotta's lab focuses on improving the acute management of and outcomes for critical neurologic illness.

The lab’s current primary focus is the management of severe hepatic encephalopathy in patients with fulminant, acute and acute-on-chronic liver failure and noninvasive detection of cerebral edema.

Visit Dr. Liotta's faculty profile to learn more.

 Maas Lab

Dr. Maas' lab researches the detection and management of evolving neurologic symptoms in critically ill patients, with an emphasis on understanding the role of the circadian system and impaired brain arousal.

Visit Dr. Maas' faculty profile to learn more.

 Andrew Naidech Lab

Clinical and translational research of life-threatening neurological diseases, particularly brain hemorrhage.

Research Description

Intensive monitoring is a core function of an intensive care unit, and generates large amounts of data. In a neurologic unit, surveillance neuromonitoring is as important as vital signs and cardiac rhythm, yet there has been less clarity as to precisely what should be measured (biomarkers, imaging markers, serial examination scores) and its impact on complications and outcomes. We have established methods and models for the retrieval and analysis of data from the electronic health record for patients with stroke for a large registry that I have maintained over 10 years (Northwestern University Brain Attack Registry, NUBAR), which now includes >1,000 patients.

Research to improve patient outcomes is limited to endpoints we can reliably measure. Collaborating with Neuro-QOL, a platform for measuring Quality Of Life in neurological disorders, and the NIH Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Statistical Center, we have shown web-based computer-adaptive testing by study staff, patients or family members are valid compared to the usual standard of a validated interview, have increased statistical power, and highlight aspects of HRQoL, such as cognitive function, that would otherwise be undetectable (supported by K23 HS023437). Further, these measures improve our statistical power to perform research that measurably improves patient-centered outcomes.

In a continuing project with Preventive Medicine faculty, we are using network analytic techniques to identify high-performing teams. Previous publications have established methods to identify which members of the health care team (e.g., physicians, pharmacists, nurses) interacted with the patient in the electronic health record. Then, a quantitative measure of the success of interactions is calculated on an outcome. In past research, likelihood to recommend scores were the outcome. Here, we used NUBAR’s recorded functional outcomes (e.g., independence, dependence, death), and established that the interactions of team members are an independent predictor of patient outcome after accounting for severity of injury. This research opens up new lines of research on how to design high-performing teams.

In short, the lab collaborates widely to leverage innovative techniques to improve treatments for patients with life-threatening neurologic injury.

Contact Information

Andrew Naidech, MD, MSPH, FANA

Professor of Neurology

 Sorond Lab

Dr. Sorond’s lab studies the neurovascular mechanisms responsible for acute and chronic brain injury.

Research Description

Our research program is directed at understanding neurovascular function in health and disease. Specifically, we have been studying the association between cerebral blood flow regulation, structural changes in the brain and the clinical outcomes of acute and chronic cerebrovascular injury. In acute neurovascular disorders, we have validated several novel indices of cerebral blood flow regulation which can now be used to predict the development of vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage and hematoma expansion in patients with intraparenchymal hemorrhage. The availability of these early non-invasive biomarkers will have a significant impact on early interventions to improve outcome in patients with subarachnoid and intraparenchymal hemorrhage. Similarly, in chronic neurovascular disorders associated with aging and neurodegeneration, we have been examining the contribution of vascular disease to mobility impairment and cognitive decline. We have shown that our non-invasive biomarkers of vascular function are strongly associated with cerebral small vessel disease as well as motor and cognitive impairment. Our goal is to expand these studies to include other neurological disorders such as stroke, pre-eclampsia, traumatic brain injury and dementia. Having non-invasive, real-time measure of neurovascular function which can predict clinical outcome in the early phases of brain injury will have significant implications on clinical trials and therapeutic targets designed for the treatment and prevention of these various acute and chronic neurovascular injuries.

For more information, view the faculty profile of Farzaneh A Sorond, MD, PhD. Visit her lab website here.

Twitter: @SorondLab

Recent Publications

View Dr. Sorond's full list of publications at PubMed.

Faculty

Batra, Ayush

Batra, Ayush

Assistant Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care) and Pathology

Bleck, Thomas P

Bleck, Thomas P

Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care) and Neurology (Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology)

Bio

neurocritical care, status epilepticus, subarachnoid hemorrhage, neurogenic respiratory failure, intracerebral hemorrhage, Guillain-Barre syndrome, central nervous system infections, clostridial disea... [more]

Chou, Sherry H-Y

Chou, Sherry H-Y

Associate Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care)

Kim, Minjee

Kim, Minjee

Associate Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care)

Liotta, Eric M

Liotta, Eric M

Associate Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care) and Surgery (Organ Transplantation)

Bio

Dr. Liotta's research focuses on improving acute management of and outcomes from critical neurologic illness. His current primary focus is the management of severe hepatic encephalopathy in patients w... [more]

Maas, Matthew B

Maas, Matthew B

Associate Professor of Neurology (Hospital Neurology), Anesthesiology and Neurology (Neurocritical Care)

Bio

Dr. Maas is a research neuroscientist, a medical educator, and a clinically active neurologist and critical care specialist. In his clinical practice, he manages high-risk injuries and diseases of the... [more]

Naidech, Andrew M

Naidech, Andrew M

Professor of Neurology (Neurocritical Care), Anesthesiology, Medical Social Sciences (Outcome and Measurement Science), Neurological Surgery, Neurology (Stroke and Vascular Neurology) and Preventive Medicine (Health and Biomedical Informatics)

Bio

I am committed to using data to improve patient care and patient outcomes, particularly using machine learning and electronic health records. I am board-certified in clinical informatics, neurology, v... [more]

Rosenow, Joshua M

Rosenow, Joshua M

Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology - Ken and Ruth Davee Department and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Bio

Dr. Rosenow is the Director of Functional Neurosurgery in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery and at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He specializes in th... [more]

Sorond, Farzaneh A

Sorond, Farzaneh A

Professor of Neurology (Stroke and Vascular Neurology) and Neurology (Neurocritical Care)

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