Research

The Emergency Medicine Research Division is supported by two Clinical Research Nurse Coordinators, a PhD basic science researcher, and a basic science research assistant.

The Clinical Research Coordinators provide education and support for residents and faculty participating in investigator-initiated or sponsored research opportunities. The coordinators collectively have over 25 years of experience in a variety of clinical trials and research education. Recent projects have included research protocols involving new antivenom development, sepsis management, extracorporeal CO2 removal, novel antibiotics and numerous other emergency medicine and critical care related projects.

Our basic science research focus is on the correlation between opioid analgesics and alternations in brain structure. Using both animal and cell culture models as well as biochemical methods, we are able to identify mechanisms of opioid-induced neuronal degeneration now known as integrated stress response. Other recent research has focused on developing a method to detect bio-signatures of drug-induced degeneration using blood samples and a collaboration with local computer scientists to analyze trends in drug abuse among a large data set of patient encounters. 

Research Staff