The Johns Hopkins Laboratory of Computational Intensive Care Medicine (LCICM) has been established to gain knowledge on the mechanisms of critical illness and injury, with the aim of identifying novel methods to treat patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Members of the lab apply mathematical and statistical models, artificial intelligence, and domain expertise to unravel patterns in data from sources such as electronic health records, high-frequency physiological recordings, and medical imaging. These patterns are resolved into health signatures that can be leveraged for classification and prediction. The overarching goal is to enhance the precision, efficacy, and outcomes of care delivered to critically ill patients.

Dr. Raul Chavez-Valdez is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics with great interest in the mechanisms of delayed injury and repair/regeneration in the developing neonatal brain following injury, specifically following hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (birth asphyxia). He collaborates with Dr. Frances Northington (Pediatrics) and Dr. Lee Martin (Pathology/Neuroscience) in unveiling the importance of programmed necrosis in the setting of brain injury induced by birth asphyxia. He is especially interested in the role of brain derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-4 following birth asphyxia and the changes that may explain the suspected excitatory/ inhibitory (E/I) imbalance particularly in the hippocampus. His work is highly translational since delayed hippocampal injury due to E/I imbalance may explain memory deficits observed despite therapeutic hypothermia in neonates suffering birth asphyxia. All of these aspects of developmental neuroplasticity are the base of his Career Development Award (NIH/NINDS-K08 award) and applications to other agencies. Additionally, he is part of multiple clinical efforts as part of the Neuroscience Intensive Care Nursery (NICN). He has been a Sutland-Pakula Endowed Fellow of Neonatal Research since September 2013.