About the Neurocritical Care Program

The Neurocritical Care Program at UC San Diego was founded in 2011, establishing UC San Diego as the only health system in the region to have dedicated, subspecialized neuro-ICU teams run by board-certified neurointenstivists caring 24/7 for our patients with critical brain and spinal cord injuries.

Our Team

Care and treatments we offer

At Jacobs Medical Center and Hillcrest Medical Center, our multidisciplinary neuro-ICU teams collaborate closely with our stroke and neurosurgery teams to care for patients with life-threatening neurological and neurosurgical injuries such as:

stroke
subarachnoid hemorrhage
intracerebral hemorrhage
seizures
brain tumors
traumatic brain injury
neuromuscular illnesses

We also care for patients after complex neurosurgical procedures. We offer treatments such as minimally invasive surgical evacuation of intracerebral hemorrhages, brain oxygenation monitoring, and continuous EEG monitoring.

Progress we've made

After the Neurocritical Care Program opened in 2011, the NCC program helped UC San Diego achieve Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, one of the first 5 hospitals in the country to do so.

Since 2011, our team has expanded to include 6 board-certified neurointensivists, 7 neurocritical care nurse practitioners, 3 neurocritical care fellows, and residents from multiple disciplines — together we provide 24/7 dedicated, in-house neurocritical care coverage at both UC San Diego’s La Jolla and Hillcrest hospitals.

We have achieved Comprehensive Stroke Center certification at both hospitals, and offer a UCNS-accredited neurocritical care fellowship accepting 1-2 fellows per year. And in 2016, we opened our new Neuro-ICU at Jacobs Medical Center, which allows us to care for our patients in a beautiful new environment.

Our team participates in national and regional research trials and is part of the NIH-funded Strategies to Innovate Emergency Care Clinical Trials Network (SIREN).

Our Research Interests

cerebral blood flow
delirium
the effect of sleep on neurological injuries
neurocritical care quality measures and quality improvement
neurocritical care monitoring techniques
post cardiac arrest syndrome
post intensive care syndrome (PICS)

Program Contact

To learn more about our neurocritical care program, contact medical director Dr. Navaz Karanjia at nkaranjia@health.ucsd.edu.