Mass General Brigham Neurocritical Care Fellowship

Overview

Welcome to the Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School Fellowship Training Program in Neurocritical Care. We are proud to be not only among the country’s oldest and largest neurocritical care training programs, but also one of its most innovative. The outstanding care, clinical and research innovations, and leadership generated by our graduates have transformed acute and preventative care for patients across the world. To support this educational mission, we have built a program that stretches beyond the walls of the NeuroICU, encompassing comprehensive training in general and surgical critical care, airway management, EEG and multi-modal neuromonitoring, bedside emergency ultrasound, formal simulation training and a major component of independent elective time for reinforcing these diverse clinical skills.

A unique aspect of our program is the strong individualized mentorship provided to each trainee. We devote substantial effort to the career development of our fellows, recognizing that each of you comes to us with different backgrounds, strengths and goals. We work with fellows individually, getting to know them and helping each one of them to identify a uniquely tailored career direction that will lead to substantial professional contributions as well as personal satisfaction. We welcome applicants with a variety of long-term goals, including future clinicians and champions of clinical innovation and quality improvement, clinician-scientists, and clinician-educators. We believe that learning and applying a scientifically based rigorous approach to data analysis, at the bedside and in research, is the foundation for providing outstanding care to the patients of today and improving the care of patients of tomorrow.

We invite you to visit us and help us innovate by joining our team.

Matthew B. Bevers, MD, PhD Program Director

Yasmin Aghajan, Associate Program Director

Mission and Goals

• Broad and deep clinical training through a core clinical experience in neurocritical care in the NeuroICU and additional clinical training in general critical care within the Surgical, Medical and Cardiac Intensive Care Units.
• Longitudinal NeuroICU experience supports increasing independence and leadership training.
• Comprehensive didactic curriculum, simulation training and focused hands-on short courses in key critical care skills.
• A wide array of academic experiences in patient-oriented and basic research, education, and quality improvement, with a broad and deep list of available mentors.

Curriculum

Neurocritical Care

Core rotations in Neurocritical care:

The majority of the fellowship is spent in core rotations in the Massachusetts General (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) NeuroICUs. Fellows evenly split time between MGH and BWH. Each NeuroICU features two teams, each led by an attending and neurocritical care fellow, consisting of neurology and neurosurgery residents and advanced practice providers. The MGH NeuroICU is a 22-bed unit, and the BWH NeuroICU is a 20-bed unit.

The core Neurocritical care rotations provide comprehensive training in management of patients with a wide spectrum of severe brain, spine and peripheral nervous system injuries and diseases. These include traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular diseases, status epilepticus, neuromuscular emergencies, brain tumors, and infectious and autoimmune diseases.

Acute Stroke Neurology (2 weeks/year)

During this rotation, the fellow works closely with the acute stroke attending physician and residents at MGH for acute stroke cases that need to be evaluated for acute intervention. Fellows also receive training in telestroke and telemedicine.

Selectives (4 weeks/year)

Fellows choose from rotations in other ICUs at the two primary hospitals, including medical, surgical cardiac, and cardiac surgical ICUs.

Fellows may also opt for procedurally oriented selectives, including interventional pulmonology, transcranial doppler ultrasound, and EEG reading. During the first year, all fellows use selective time for hands-on airway training in the operating rooms at Newton-Wellesley Hospital or Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, academic community hospitals within Mass General Brigham.

Surgical Intensive Care Unit (4 weeks)

During the second year, all fellows rotate through the MGH surgical ICUs where they have exposure to both general surgical critical care, and the opportunity to participate in the hospital’s emergency airway team.

Independent Elective Time (10-12 weeks)

Elective time is completely flexible and used by fellows for additional clinical electives such as those offered during selective blocks, as well as non-ICU clinical electives such as consult services for internal medicine specialties or interventional neuroradiology. Fellows also use this time to pursue academic projects and travel to conferences.

Weekly Conferences

The fellowship features an educational program consisting of multiple weekly conferences Monday is a formal fellow didactic conference with invited lecturers on topics ranging from management of common neurological and medical emergencies to strategies for the job search and transitioning to being an attending. Each Thursday is a NeuroICU journal club, case conference, or M&M attended by faculty, fellows, APPs, and residents. The weekly Neurovascular conference is a joint clinical case conference with MGB vascular neurology, neurocritical care, and endovascular neurosurgery.

Formal Procedural Training

During orientation, all fellows receive simulation training in vascular access and code leadership. Early in the first year, fellows have an airway management simulation with opportunity for hands-on practice with video laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy. All fellows receive training in point-of-care ultrasound and Advanced Trauma Life Support training.

Additional simulation opportunities are available at the sim center, and fellows have the opportunity to participate in teaching simulation.

Training in Multimodal Monitoring

• Advanced Intracranial Monitoring (brain tissue oxygenation, cerebral perfusion probe monitoring)
• Intracranial Pressure Monitoring
• Arterial and Central Venous Pressure Monitoring
• Continuous and Quantitative Video EEG
• Noninvasive Cardiac Output Monitoring
• Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound

How to Apply

The Mass General Brigham Neurocritical Care Fellowship uses the SF Match Central Application Service (CAS) for document collection. Please submit all materials via CAS.

CAS will ask for:

• CAS distribution list (online submission)
• Completed CAS application form (online submission)
• USMLE scores or equivalent score reports
• ECFMG Certificate (applicable to international graduates)
• Three letters of reference
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)

The SF Match CAS instruction manual, available through your SF Match online profile, will provide additional information regarding application requirements and the submission of application documents.

If you have any questions regarding the application process, or encounter any problems/concerns related to submitting your application through CAS, please contact:

Mia Falco, Program Coordinator
Email: mfalco@mgb.org
Phone: 617-643-2108

Interview invitations typically go out in early March, with interviews held in late March through April. Accordingly, we request that all materials be submitted through CAS by February 1 for start in July of the following year.

Fellowship and Faculty Contacts

Yasmin Aghajan, MD
Associate Director for Quality & Education, BWH Neuro Intensive Care Unit
Associate Program Director, Mass General Brigham Neurocritical Care Fellowship
Medical Leader for Communications, MGB Neurology
Academic focus: My work focuses on quality/process improvement as well as neurocritical care education and simulation training.
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Christopher D. Anderson, MD, MMSc
Chief, Stroke Division, Mass General Brigham
With Jonathan Rosand MD MSc I run the MGB Brain Care Labs, a comprehensive multidisciplinary research program that combines everything from omics to qualitative data to big data to drive improvements in patient outcomes at scale. The Brain Care Labs are the research and development engine for the Global Brain Care Coalition, an international movement with a mission to prevent dementia, stroke and depression around the world. For over twenty years our research team has been the research training ground for entrepreneurial neurointensivists and vascular neurologists.
Website: https://cgm.massgeneral.org/christopher-d-anderson-md-mmsc/

Matthew B. Bevers, MD PhD
Program Director, NCC Fellowship; Associate Medical Director, BWH NeuroICU
Academic interests: Using both clinical and preclinical models, Dr. Bevers’ work focuses on the effect of inflammation on cerebral edema and outcomes after ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke
Harvard Catalyst Profile

David Y Chung, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Academic Interests: I divide my time between clinical care in the neurointensive care unit and leading a translational research program focused on neurovascular injury and recovery, integrating preclinical models, advanced imaging, and multicenter clinical collaborations.
https://chunglab.mgh.harvard.edu
https://nvr.mgh.harvard.edu/
Havard Catalyst Profile

Brian L. Edlow, M.D.
Vice Chair of Research, MGB Department of Neurology
My lab develops advanced neurotechnologies to detect, predict, and promote recovery from traumatic brain injury.
Lab website: www.comarecoverylab.org

Leigh R. Hochberg, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery
Senior Lecturer on Neurology
L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engineering and Professor of Brain Science, Brown University
Dr. Hochberg is a neurocritical care physician and neuroscientist who leads clinical trials in implantable brain-computer interfaces for the restoration of communication and mobility for people with neurologic disease or injury.
www.braingate.org | cntr.mgh.harvard.edu | www.ibci-cc.org
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Saef Izzy, MD, FNCS, FAAN, FANA
Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Neurointensivist, Mass General Brigham
Head, Immunology of CNS Injury Program (ICIP), Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases
Academic Interests: My research focuses on translational neuroimmunology, with an emphasis on how immune, glial, and neurovascular interactions shape recovery and long-term outcomes after CNS injury and neurodegeneration, and on developing novel biomarkers and immune-based therapies to improve patient care.
https://izzylab.bwh.harvard.edu/
Harvard Catalyst Profile

W. Taylor Kimberly, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of Neurocritical Care, Mass General Brigham
Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Academic interests: My laboratory studies diet-related biomarkers of incident stroke and cognitive impairment, and has developed clinical applications of portable, low-field MRI in stroke and dementia.
Websites: http://kimberlylab.massgeneral.org
Harvard Catalyst Profile

David Lin, MD
Neurointensivist; Director, MGH Neurorecovery Clinic
The mission of Dr. Lin’s research program is to transform neurorecovery by advancing the understanding of brain mechanisms that enable recovery.
https://ltnr.mgh.harvard.edu/

Rahul Mahajan, MD, PhD
Instructor in Neurology
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Sandro Marini, MD
Instructor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Neurocritical Care Division, Mass General Brigham
Academic interest: I study the genetic and epidemiologic determinants of long term complications after traumatic brain injury, with a focus on risk stratification and disease mechanisms.
Harvard Catalyst profile

Bradley Molyneaux, MD, PhD
Vice Chair of Clinical Operations and Innovation, MGB Neurology
Academic Interest: Outside of the ICU, I spend my time leading clinical operations for the neurology department and translating new therapeutics for neuroprotection and cerebral edema.
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Patricia L. Musolino, MD, PhD
Director Neurovascular Genetics and Gene Therapy Program
Dr. Musolino laboratory studies genetic mechanisms of disease to develop biomarkers and long-term genomic medicines to treat stroke and white matter injury of vascular origin in children and adults.
Website: https://musolinolab.org/
Harvard catalyst profile

Guy Rordorf, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Jonathan Rosand, MD MSc
JP Kistler Endowed Chair in Neurology and Former Chief of Neurocritical Care, MGH
With Chris Anderson MD MMSc I run the MGB Brain Care Labs, a comprehensive multidisciplinary research program that combines everything from omics to qualitative data to big data to drive improvements in patient outcomes at scale. The Brain Care Labs are the research and development engine for the Global Brain Care Coalition, an international movement with a mission to prevent dementia, stroke and depression around the world. For over twenty years our research team has been the research training ground for entrepreneurial neurointensivists and vascular neurologists.
Website: https://cgm.massgeneral.org/jonathan-rosand-md-msc/

Eric Rosenthal, MD
Director, MGH Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit; Program Director, MGB NeuroAI Center
Academic interest: Dr. Rosenthal's academic interests include infrastructure for collaborative data science and trustworthy AI, development and validation of neurophysiologic biomarkers, and the use of neuromonitoring to design innovative clinical trials.
Website: https://chorus4ai.org/
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Daniel Rubin, MD, PhD
Division of Neurocritical Care
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Academic Focus: Implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) for restoring communication, mobility, and functional independence after neurologic injury
https://www.cntr.mgh.harvard.edu/
https://www.braingate.org/

Stelios Smirnakis MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Samuel Snider, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Dr. Snider uses advanced neuroimaging tools to improve disability prediction and derive new treatment targets for patients with traumatic brain injury and cardiac arrest.
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Priya Srikanth MD PhD
Instructor of Neurology
I am a Neurocritical Care and Neurorecovery physician-scientist, studying neural circuit mechanisms that mediate recovery after neural injury in animal models.
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Nirupama Yechoor, MD, MSc
Medical Director, MGH Neuro ICU
Dr. Yechoor is a clinical neurointensivist and implementation scientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Her work focuses on improving healthcare delivery for neurological disease and its recovery, with a focus on intervention development for targeting non-clinical determinants of health.
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Michael Young, MD
Associate Director, NeuroRecovery Clinic; Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Academic focus: Fostering responsible development and deployment of advanced neurotechnologies for individuals with neurologic disease and injury across the care continuum.
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Sahar F. Zafar, MD, MBBS
Vice Chair Quality and Safety, Neurology
Co-Director, Center for Value-based Health Care and Sciences
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Harvard Catalyst Profile