Neurocritical Care News

Neurocritical care units (Neuro ICUs) have to be equipped to help patients with complex, urgent conditions or injuries at a moment’s notice. Joi Chrishon, the subject of this week’s Spotlight interview, helps make that care happen within the Neuro ICU of Duke Central Tower. Chrishon talks to us about how she works to provide total care to each of her patients while also making their (and their families’) life less stressful.

What do analyses of stroke rehabilitation techniques, new therapeutic targets for jaw pain, and guidelines to help sleep apnea patients cope with runny noses have in common? They’re all subjects of articles published by members of the Duke Neurology Department this April. Read the summaries below to learn more about the nine peer-reviewed journal articles members of the Duke Neurology Department contributed to over the past 30 days, and find links to the original research below.

Madeline Heintschel became interested in health care as a high school student after volunteering to help patients at a local hospital. She decided to pursue nursing and came to Duke University Hospital, where she has worked in our Neuro ICU for almost five years. For this week’s Spotlight interview, Heintschel talks to us about daily her work as a preceptor, charge nurse and stroke expert.

Members of the Duke Neurology Department got the new year off to a fast start this January, contributing to 10 new peer-reviewed journal articles. Rick Bedlack, MD, PhD, was the senior author of three new publications investigating potential new therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The Duke Neurology Department continued to build on its success in the second half of 2022. The final six months of 2022 saw Duke University Hospital receive national rankings for neurology and neurosurgery, our first endowed professorship dedicated to help treat and understand amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and recognition as the country’s second national center of excellence for dystonia among other achievements.

The Duke Neurology Department continued to grow and advance its missions of patient care, research, and training the next generation of neurology providers in 2022. Highlights from the first half of our calendar year include national and Duke-wide awards recognizing our faculty’s contributions to the field of diversity, inclusion, and neurology as a whole. The same period also saw the growth of the new Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and three of our neurologists don helmets and get in their racing care.

Daniel Laskowtiz, MD, MHS, was the subject of one of our first Faculty Spotlight interviews in 2015, in which he shared his loves of education, translational research, and providing neurocritical care. More than seven years later, we revisited Laskowitz for a follow-up interview. Now, he talks to us about his three decade journey to develop treatments for traumatic brain injury from the lab bench to the patient’s bedside.

Members of the Duke Neurology Department advanced the fields of clinical and translational neuroscience this November, contributing to 16 new peer-reviewed studies.

This October, members of the Duke Neurology Department advanced the fields of clinical and translational neuroscience, contributing to 14 new peer-reviewed studies and one book chapter. Highlights from our recent research include validation of new automated measures that evaluate handwriting for dystonia symptoms, a discussion of the effects of blood pressure on head and facial pain, and a discussion of presentations of a neuroimmune disorder known as MOGAD.

Members of the Duke Neurology Department contributed to 12 new peer-reviewed journal articles published this September. Among other findings, this research answered important questions about the use of telehealth to manage chronic neurological conditions, investigated an alternative therapy’s potential benefit for fighting ALS, and synthesized the latest research findings about the role of the immune system and infection in the genesis of Alzheimer’s disease.