Massachusetts General Hospital

Research

Research Areas

• Cardiac arrest
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Brain injury
• Spinal cord injury.

Description of Research

Neurological outcome after ischemic or traumatic insults is highly dependent on implementing methods to mitigate secondary brain injury. These neuroprotective methods may include pharmacological or mechanical techniques to improve cerebral blood flow, as well as tools to mitigate the cascade of events known as the reperfusion injury. My previous studies focused on the cerebrovascular effects of different pressors administered during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as well as the effect of intra-arrest and early post arrest hypothermia. The effects of superimposed trauma was also studied in a model of prolonged cardiac arrest, as well as the feasibility of emergency resuscitation for delayed resuscitation in this model of exsanguination cardiac arrest (also known as suspended animation). More recently, I examined the effects of microinfarction on cerebral blood flow and electrophysiology, a phenomenon of particular interest in patients with migrainous infarctionsor those with microinfarct disease.