Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Karen G. Hirsch cares for critically ill patients with neurologic disorders in the intensive care unit. Dr. Hirsch's research focuses on using continuous and discrete multi-modal data to develop phenotypes and identify signatures of treatment responsiveness in patients with coma after cardiac arrest. She is the Co-PI of PRECICECAP (PRecision Care In Cardiac ArrEst - ICECAP, NINDS R01 NS119825-01). The research team works closely with collaborators in data science at Stanford and with industry partners to apply machine learning analyses to complex multi-modal ICU data. Dr. Hirsch also studies neuro-imaging in post-cardiac arrest coma and traumatic brain injury, and with colleagues in Cardiac Anesthesia and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Hirsch studies neurologic outcomes in patients on mechanical circulatory support including ECMO.
Along with colleagues in Biomedical Ethics, Dr. Hirsch studies brain death, organ donation, and neuroethics. She is the Co-PI of BCI-DEF (Brain Computer Interfaces and Disability: Developing an Inclusive Ethical Framework, NIMH 1R01MH130518-01) which is a BRAIN Initiative funded study that is qualitatively evaluating end user perspectives about the benefits, risks, and ethical challenges of Brain Computer Interfaces for patients with acute stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Hirsch is broadly interested in improving neurologic outcomes after acute severe brain injury, identifying early phenotypes to guide precision medicine in neurocritical care, and exploring ethical issues in neurocritical care and novel neurotechnology. Dr. Hirsch greatly appreciates the importance of team science and collaboration.
