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Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, MCCM
- Distinguished Professor of Critical Care Medicine
- Ake N. Grenvik Professor and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine
- Vice Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine
- Director, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research
Administrative Assistant: Marci Ann Provins
Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, is Distinguished Professor of Critical Care Medicine, the Ake N. Grenvik Professor and Vice Chair of Critical Care Medicine; Director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research; and Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. As the Safar Center Director for over 28 years, he has a long track-record of translational and multi-departmental research studying traumatic and ischemic brain injury and pediatric and adult neurointensive care, funded by the United States National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. He has >600 listings on PubMed and was identified by Thompson Reuters Science Watch as the most prolific author in the field of TBI from 2001 to 2014. He served as the Principal Investigator for Operation Brain Trauma Therapy, the first multi-center preclinical therapy and biomarker screening consortium in the field, funded by the United States Department of Defense. He also was lead author of the 2019 Guidelines for the Management of Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury. He has been principal investigator for 21 years of a T-32 titled “Training in Pediatric Neurointensive Care and Resuscitation Research” funded by the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He has mentored numerous trainees, many of whom have gone on to receive independent funding and careers of international prominence.
He is emeritus Editor-in-Chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and served as editor-in-chief for 21 years, until October 1, 2020. Among many awards, he received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the American College of Critical Care Medicine in 2007, was named one of the inaugural Masters of Critical Care Medicine in 2012 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2017. He was a distinguished speaker at the 125th anniversary celebration of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 2018 and gave a Great Teachers Lecture at the National Institute of Health Clinical Center in 2019.
Professional and Scientific Society Memberships
- Society of Critical Care Medicine, 1987
- National Neurotrauma Society, 1989
- Society for Pediatric Research, 1990
- International Neurotrauma Society, 1996
- World Federation of Pediatric and Intensive Critical Care Societies
Education & Training
- BS, Zoology, University of Michigan, 1976
- MD, University of Chicago, 1980
- Internship in Pediatrics, University of California, 1980-1981
- Residency in Pediatrics, University of California, 1981-1983
- Fellowship in Pediatrics, Children's Hospital National, 1983-1986
Selected Publications
Academic and Research Interests
- TBI
- Traumatic brain injury
- Pediatric Neurocritical Care
- Hypocic ischemic brain injury
- Cardiac Arrest
- Asphyxia
- Neuroinflammation
- Mechanisms of secondary brain injury
- Therapeutic hypothermia
Research Grants
T32 HD040686-21, Pediatric Neurointensive Care and Resuscitation Research, NIH, 05/01/21 – 04/30/26
Chuck Noll Foundation, Sulfonylurea Receptor-1 and Glyburide: A Single-cell Precision Medicine Approach to Preventing Brain Swelling and Providing Neuroprotection for the Second Impact Syndrome, 08/01/22-07/31/25
1R01 NS105721, The role of RNA binding motif 5 in traumatic brain injury, NIH, 7/1/19-6/30/23
R01NS115815, A translational evaluation of Sur1-Trpm4 imaging endophenotypes and genetics to direct precision medicine for cerebral edema after traumatic brain injury, NIH, 05/05/21-04/30/26
5R01NS117000-02, Druggable Mitochondrial Targets for Treatment of Cerebral Ischemia, NIH, 02/01/2020-01/31/2025
R01 NS118716-01A1, Bio-digital Rapid Alert to Identify Neuromorbidity, NIH, 08/1/2021-06/30/2026
2R37NS061817-11, Oxidative Lipidomics in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, NIH, 05/01/2021-04/2025