Rajat Dhar, MD, FRCPC
Rajat Dhar, MD, FRCPC
Director of Research

Scientific investigation has been a hallmark of the Washington University in St. Louis Section of Neurocritical Care since its inception in the 1990s under Dr. Michael Diringer (current editor of the journal, Neurocritical Care). We believe that in addition to providing the best care possible for our current patients, we must continually improve the future care that we provide by investing in rigorous biomedical research and a culture of quality improvement (QI). This attitude permeates all aspects of, and individuals in our section, from residents, fellows, to our faculty and spans the translational spectrum from the bench to the bedside, and beyond.

Five of our faculty have independent funding from the National Institutes of Health, making our section one of the best funded neurocritical care research groups. There is a strong spirit of collaboration within the Department of Neurology, the top funded department in the nation in 2021 and 2022. We collaborate with other sections and departments (Neurosurgery, Emergency Medicine) on research projects in stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, autoimmune disorders, and status epilepticus. Our residents and fellows are mentored in their own research or QI projects and many have gone on to academic careers. We participate in large clinical trials as well as perform several innovative investigator-initiated studies, including projects investigating vagal nerve stimulation for stroke and quantitative EEG analysis in subarachnoid hemorrhage. We hold monthly research meetings and monthly inter-disciplinary QI meetings, with significant trainee involvement.

We have developed a growing focus on multi-dimensional neuro-ICU data analysis. This includes a large ICU research and quality improvement database housing clinical and outcome data on thousands of neuro-ICU patients. This is complemented by an imaging repository and analysis platform that houses all serial CT and MR imaging for several cerebrovascular cohorts.  We are able to collect and harmonize physiologic and waveform data at high resolution. In addition, we are collecting biospecimens for genomic and multi-omic analyses of critical brain injury phenotypes in consented stroke and cerebrovascular patients. This work aligns with the emergence of data science and informatics as part of the future of our field (see series of published papers: Big Data in Neurocritical Care: Topical Collections).

Our goal is to be on the vanguard of the emerging science in neurocritical care. Our mission is to find better ways to treat complex neurologically injured patients, by understanding diseases at the molecular and physiologic level and by understanding and learning from our patients and their biology, their response to interventions, and by incorporating their preferences and values in their care.

Rajat Dhar, MD, FRCPC
Professor of Neurology
Director of Research


Labs

Browse a listing of our labs featuring their current projects, impact, and the team of professionals and trainees that make it happen.

Publications

Our section’s recent and upcoming publications as well as resources to dive deeper into our impact in various neurologic research topics.


Director of research

Rajat Dhar, MD, FRCPC

Rajat Dhar, MD, FRCPC

Professor of Neurology
Director of Research

Medical school: McMaster University
Residency: University of Western Ontario
Fellowship: Washington University Neurocritical Care