Research & Scholarship
We are translating experience into evidence-based knowledge for the advancement of critical patient care.
Large patient volumes and a phenomenal array of state-of-the-art resources allow innovation to thrive in the Emergency Department at UT Southwestern. Our passion and curiosity perpetually raise the bar and set new standards in care across the full spectrum of subspecialties within our field.
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Cardiovascular Research
Research
Dr. Deborah Diercks and Dr. Mark Courtney have a long track record in conducting federal- and industry-sponsored research trials investigating cardiac ischemia, congestive heart failure, and venous thromboembolism. They are leading national experts in disease detection, evaluation of diagnostic testing, risk stratification, and treatment trials.
“Patients come to the ED to be reassured or to have a critical disease discovered and treated appropriately. Efforts to discover how we best implement the right test for the right patients, at the right time, in a manner that optimizes accuracy, safety, and efficiency is key to much of what we do 24/7.”
Recent Publications
Defining thoracic impedance thresholds for rescue ventilation: a laboratory study. Resuscitation Plus 2026
Part 1: Executive Summary: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation 2025
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Emergency Disaster and Global Health
Research
“Over the next one to three years, we will continue to develop international multidisciplinary collaborations to advance the science of disaster medicine and global health. Our collaborative grant with Rabin Medical Center is addressing what the evidence is supporting medical and health system preparedness for mass casualties from limited nuclear and radiologic incidents.”
Recent Publications
Bolstering Mass Casualty Preparedness and Response to Nuclear, Radiation, and Explosive Incidents during Mass Gatherings . Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2026
Health System Preparedness for Nuclear and Radiological Disasters: A Review. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2025
Health equity in the wake of disasters and extreme weather: evidence from an umbrella review. Health Affairs Scholar. 2025
Investigation and Decontamination of an Urban Monkeypox Occurrence. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2023
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Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
The Emergency Medical Services Division of the Department of Emergency Medicine is actively involved in studying critical areas of science related to improving the care of the acutely ill and injured in the prehospital setting.
Cardiac Arrest
One recent area of interest has involved linking EMS medical records to hospital records in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, a project conducted in collaboration with the American Heart Association.
Current efforts also include the minimum requirement for training in dispatch centers to provide instructions for cardiac arrest management, and a focus on electrocardiographic changes that are predictive for sudden death.
Recent Publications
Defining thoracic impedance thresholds for rescue ventilation: a laboratory study. Resuscitation Plus 2026
Part 1: Executive Summary: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation 2025
Piloting Temperature-Driven Variability in Emergency Diagnostic Accuracy Using a Leading Large Language Model. Cureus 2025
Opioid vs. non-opioid pain medication
Another recent effort brought focus on the use of opioid versus non-opioid pain medication in the field, including obstacles to the use of non-opioid treatment.
Recent Publications
Benzodiazepine-refractory status epilepticus: A narrative review. Am J Emerg Med 2026
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Infectious Disease
Research
In times of need, the ED is the destination for persons at risk from life-threatening pathogens. Joby Thoppil, M.D. and Sam McDonald, M.D. are working together to bring efficiency to the evaluation of sepsis and to better understand the unique patient subtypes and pathogen/metabolic/host factors most predictive of outcome.
Recent Publications
High Risk and Low Incidence Diseases: Meningococcal Disease. Am J Emerg Med 2026
Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on Healthcare and Essential Workers: A Longitudinal Study of PROMIS-29 Outcomes. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2025
Association Between SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Frequency of Acute Symptoms: Analysis of a Multi-institutional Prospective Cohort Study—December 20, 2020—June 20, 2022. Open Forum Infectious Diseases 2023
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Informatics and Health Services Research
Research
We are growing expertise in our capacity to access, analyze, and aggregate large quantities of data from the electronic medical record to systematically understand the complex processes of acute emergent care and provide real time intelligence to support and direct the management of our patients. We can further our scope by coupling with other health systems such as Texas Health Resources in order to understand what happens to our patients when they leave not just our ED but our health system.
Dr. Sam McDonald has led efforts to utilize the EHR and our patients’ data to implement knowledge management systems that enable our clinicians to provide the highest quality of care for patients. His work has helped automate serial testing with a novel high-sensitivity troponin assay used when evaluating patients for possible cardiac ischemia, a test UTSW and Parkland were among the first EDs in the United States to implement. Additionally, he has utilized the EHR to provide automated decision support to streamline sepsis care pathways and now supplement COVID testing and risk stratification.
"With the increasing complexity and volume of patients attending the ED, the cost of decisions made with inadequate information becomes detrimental. With the advancement of the EHR, realizing its capacity for not only knowledge management and care delivery but also knowledge generation is the future of medicine and a goal of not only this department but also UT Southwestern."
Recent Publications
Real-Time Patient Portal Use Among Emergency Department Patients: An Open Results Study. Applied Clinical Informatics. 2022
Which Patients Use Digital Portals During Their Emergency Department Stay? Academic Emergency Medicine. 2022
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Medical Education
Research
Our department is dedicated to improving educational outcomes through deliberate study design, measurement, and innovation. Our medical education research focuses on learner assessment, feedback and coaching, curriculum development, communication, simulation, professional development, and the factors that influence resident and faculty learning. We use quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to better understand educational challenges and evaluate interventions. Our goal is to produce practical, generalizable scholarship that improves how emergency physicians are trained and supported.
Recent Publications
What Makes the Best Educator? A Qualitative Analysis of Emergency Medicine Resident Perspectives, AEM E&T 2026
Managing Conflict Case: Admission of a Patient with Decompensated Schizophrenia, Hypertension, and Diabetes, JETem 2025
Curated Collection for Educators: Five Key Papers About Impostor Phenomenon, Cureus 2025
Congratulations, you've matched! Here's another test: Tips for acing the ABEM in-training exam from current and former residents. , AEM E&T 2023
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Medical Toxicology
Research-Acetaminophen Poisoning
Dr. James Cao, M.D. is involved in an international collaborative focused on improving the management of acetaminophen (paracetamol) poisoning. The collaboration brings together experts to better define evidence-based management recommendations and advance care for patients with acetaminophen toxicity.
Recent Publications
Adsorption of colchicine, hydroxychloroquine, ibuprofen, and strychnine to activated charcoal. Clinical Toxicology 2026
Laboratory testing in the poisoned patient. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2026
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning; consensus definitions of poisoning types and outcomes to be used in the clinical toxicology recommendations collaborative systematic review. Clinical Toxicology 2025
Adsorption of antidepressant and cardiovascular drugs to activated charcoal: amitriptyline, bupropion, minoxidil, propranolol, and venlafaxine. Clinical Toxicology 2025
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning; consensus definitions of poisoning types and outcomes to be used in the clinical toxicology recommendations collaborative systematic review . Clinical Toxicology 2025
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SIREN
Research
UTSW is a participating site for the NIH-funded SIREN network of emergency medicine acute care research institutions. This work focuses on acute time-dependent care interventions in neurologic, cardiovascular, and traumatic emergencies.
Recent Publications
Research Staff and Resources
Research Staff
The Department currently supports two research coordinators as well as two people in research administration to assist with pre- and post-award management, IRB submission and maintenance, and other regulatory work. There are additional research personnel in the Department dedicated to cardiac arrest and resuscitation research.
Leadership
Professor
Director, Department of Emergency Medicine Research
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