Bulger Research Group
Eileen M. Bulger, MD, FACS
Principal Investigator
Professor, Division of Trauma, Burn, and Critical Care Surgery
Chief of Trauma for Harborview Medical Center
Dr. Bulger’s research group is focused on the following goals:
- Identifying and testing new therapeutic approaches to the management of severe injury and critical illness.
- Optimizing prehospital care after injury and defining the optimal field triage strategy for injured patients by EMS.
- Identifying and testing new therapeutic approaches to the management of necrotizing soft tissue infections..
- Working with multiple professional organizations to develop and implement a National Trauma Research action plan for the U.S.
Shahram Aarabi, MD, MPH Assistant Professor UCSF East Bay, Department of Surgery
Sam Arbabi, MD, MPH, Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Scott Brakenridge, MD Associate Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Joe Cuschieri, MD, Professor, University of California San Francisco
Ashley Emery, PhD, Professor, UW Mechanical Engineering
Joel Gross, MD, Professor, UW Department of Radiology
Laura Hennesey, RN, Research Nurse Supervisor, UW Department of Surgery
Sam Mandell, MD, Associate Professor,University of Texas: Southwestern
Ronald V, Maier, MD, Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Rebecca Maine, Assistant Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Deepika Nehra, MD Assistant Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Craig Newgard, MD, MPH, Professor, Oregon Health and Sciences University
Katie O’Connell, MD Assistant Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Michelle Price, PhD Executive Director, Coalition for National Trauma Research
Fred Rivara, MD Professor, UW Department of Pediatrics
Bryce Robinson, MD, Professor, UW Department of Surgery
Barclay Stewart, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor UW Department of Surgery
Ronald M. Stewart, MD, Professor & Chair, Department of Surgery, UT Health San Antonio
Nathen White, MD, Associate Professor, UW Department of Emergency Medicine
Doug Zatzick, MD Professor, UW Department of Psychiatry
Atox Bio, Ltd.
Department of Defense
Medic One Foundation
National Institutes of Health
- A Deployment Focused Pragmatic Trial of Optimal Stepped Care Intervention Targeting PTSD and Comorbiditiy for Acutely Hospitalized Injury Survivors in US Trauma Care Systems
Co PI: Bulger EM and Zatzick DF 9/1/22-6/30/27 $790,177 - The Value of Emergency Care For Injured Older Adults
- NIH AHRQ (Newgard) (Bulger, Site PI)
- Multicenter Phase 3 trial of a novel drug for patients with Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections, AtoxBio Ltd (PI: Bulger) 2015-present (Bulger, site PI and national PI)
- Therapeutic Limb Cooling to Prevent Amputation in prolonged Damage Control Resuscitation, Department of Defense DM160405 PI: Bulger, EM
- Development of a National Trauma Research Action Plan
- Department of Defense: Co PIs: Bulger EM, Price M
- Bulger is the PI for a Phase 3 multicenter clinical trial of a novel drug therapy for Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection which involved over 60 clinical sites in the US and Europe. The enrollment for this trial has been completed and results should be available soon. The Phase 2 study for this drug was the first randomized controlled trial in this patient population and suggested a good safety profile for the drug and demonstrated a reduction in the development of organ failure.
- Bulger has led several clinical trials in collaboration with the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium to optimize the prehospital and early hospital resuscitation and management of patients with hemorrhagic shock and/or severe traumatic brain injury.
- Bulger served as the PI for the Seattle site of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network for 10 years which resulted in several multidisciplinary projects defining mechanism of injury in motor vehicle crashes. Two of these studies which were focused on spinal injuries in rollover collisions have contributed to new standards to increase the roof strength in passenger vehicles beginning in 2016.
- Bulger is leading a national effort supported by the Department of Defense to develop a National Trauma Research Action Plan which will provide a road map for the future of trauma research and a platform to advocate for increased funding and coordination of trauma research at the federal level.
- Bulger has worked closely with Dr. Craig Newgard from Oregon Health Sciences University on a series of investigations evaluating the CDC decision scheme for EMS triage including a special focus on geriatric patients. These data will support a national update to the triage tool in 2020.
- Bulger is collaborating with Dr. Fred Rivara’s research group at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center and with investigators from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma to develop public health interventions to support Firearm Injury Prevention.
- Brakenridge SC, Wilfret DA, Maislin G, Andrade KE, Walker V, May AK, Dankner WM, Bulger EM. Resolution of Organ Dysfunction as a Predictor of Long-term survival in Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections: Analysis of the ACCUTE Trial and a Retrospective Claims-linked Database Study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 91: 384-392, 2021, PMID 33797490
- Orlas CP, Thomas A, Herrera-Escobar JP, Price MA, Haider AH, Bulger EM. The National Trauma Research Action Plan Investigators Group. Long-term Outcomes of Firearm Injury Survivors in the United States: The National Trauma Research Action Plan Scoping Review. Annals of Surgery, Sept 2021, on line ahead of print.
- Bulger N, Harrington B, Krieger J, Latimer A, Arbabi S, Counts CR, Sayre M, Maynard C, Bulger EM. Prehospital end-tidal carbon dioxide predicts hemorrhagic shock upon emergency department arrival. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 91(3):457-464, 2021. PMID: 34432752
- Nehra D, Bulger EM, Maier RV, Moloney KE, RussoJ, Wang J, Anderson K, Zatzick DF. A Prospective US National Trauma Center Study of Firearm Injury Survivors Weapon Carriage and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms. Ann Surg 274: e364-e369, 2021. PMID 34225296
- O’Connell KM, Kolnik S, Arif K, Qui Q, Jones S, Ingraham C, Rivara F, Vavilala MS, Maier R, Bulger EM. Balloons up: Shorted time to angioembolization is associated with reduced mortality in patients with shock and complex pelvic fractures. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open, 2021. PMID 33693061
- Gibran NS, Shipper E, Phuong J, Braverman M, Bixby P, Price MA, Bulger EM; NTRAP Burns & Reconstructive Surgery Panel Group. Developing a national trauma research action plan: Results from the Burn Research Gap Delphi Survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Jan 1;92(1):201-212. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003409. PMID: 34554139
- Fischer PE, Gestring ML, Sagraves SG, Michaels HN, Patel B, Dodd J, Campion EM, VanderKolk WE, Bulger EM. The national trauma triage protocol: how EMS perspective can inform the guideline revision. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2022 Jan 18;7(1):e000879. doi: 10.1136/tsaco-2021-000879. PMID: 35128069; PMCID: PMC8768919.
- Herrera-Escobar JP, Price MA, Reidy E, Bixby PJ, Hau K, Bulger EM, Haider AH; National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP) Long-term Patient-Reported Outcomes Panel. Core Outcome Measures for Research in Traumatic Injury Survivors: The NTRAP Modified Delphi Consensus Study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Jan 25. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003546. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35081596.
- Newgard CD, Braverman MA, Phuong J, Shipper ES, Price MA, Bixby PJ, Goralnick E, Daya MR, Lerner EB, Guyette FX, Rowell S, Doucet J, Jenkins P, Mann NC, Staudenmayer K, Blake DP, Bulger EM; NTRAP Prehospital and Mass Casualty Preparedness Panel Group. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan: Results from the prehospital and mass casualty research Delphi survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Feb 1;92(2):398-406. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003469. PMID: 34789701.
- Stewart BT, Mehta K, Drago M, Henry S, Joseph K, Strong K, Trostchansky JL, Jorgensen JJ, Leung GK, Abi-Saad GS, Bulger E, Mock C. Global Survey of Demand-Side Factors and Incentives that Influence Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Promulgation. World J Surg. 2022 Feb 6. doi: 10.1007/s00268-022-06461-9. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35128569.
- Bulger EM, Johnson P, Parker L, Moloney KE, Roberts MK, Vaziri N, Seo S, Nehra D, Thomas P, Zatzick D. Nationwide Survey of Trauma Center Screening and Intervention Practices for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Firearm Violence, Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorders. J Am Coll Surg. 2022 Mar 1;234(3):274-287. doi: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000000064. PMID: 35213489.
- Joseph B, Saljuqi AT, Phuong J, Shipper E, Braverman MA, Bixby PJ, Price MA, Barraco RD, Cooper Z, Jarman M, Lack W, Lueckel S, Pivalizza E, Bulger E; Geriatric Trauma Panel. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan: Results from the geriatric research gap Delphi survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Aug 1;93(2):209-219. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003626. Epub 2022 Apr 8. PMID: 35393380.
- Senekjian L, Robinson BRH, Meagher AD, Gross JA, Maier RV, Bulger EM, Arbabi S, Cuschieri J. Nonoperative Management in Blunt Splenic Trauma: Can Shock Index Predict Failure? J Surg Res. 2022 Aug;276:340-346. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2022.02.035. Epub 2022 Apr 12. PMID: 35427912.
- Costantini TW, Galante JM, Braverman MA, Phuong J, Price MA, Cuschieri J, Godat LN, Holcomb JB, Coimbra R, Bulger EM; NTRAP Acute Resuscitation Panel. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP): Results from the Acute Resuscitation, Initial Patient Evaluation, Imaging, and Management Research Gap Delphi Survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Apr 21. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003648. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35444148.
- Newgard CD, Fischer PE, Gestring M, Michaels HN, Jurkovich GJ, Lerner EB, Fallat ME, Delbridge TR, Brown JB, Bulger EM; Writing Group for the 2021 National Expert Panel on Field Triage. National guideline for the field triage of injured patients: Recommendations of the National Expert Panel on Field Triage, 2021. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Aug 1;93(2):e49-e60. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003627. Epub 2022 Apr 27. PMID: 35475939; PMCID: PMC9323557.
- Cooper Z, Herrera-Escobar JP, Phuong J, Braverman MA, Bonne S, Knudson MM, Rivara FP, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Price MA, Bulger EM; NTRAP Injury Prevention Panel. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP): Results from the Injury Prevention Research Gap Delphi Survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 May 12. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003665. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35545804.
- Stein DM, Upperman JS, Livingston DH, Andrews J, Bulger EM, Cohen MJ, Eastridge BJ, Fontaine MJ, Guillamondegui O, Hess JR, Jenkins DH, Kaups KL, Nance ML, Spinella PC, Zarzaur BL, Zonies D, Coimbra R. National Blood Shortage: A Call to Action from the Trauma Community. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 May 25. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003715. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35610747.
- Brasel K, Braverman MA, Phuong J, Price MA, Kaplan LJ, Kozar R, Michetti CP, Callcut R, Bulger EM; Post-Admission Critical Care Research Panel Group. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP): Results from the Post-Admission Critical Care Research Gap Delphi Survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Aug 2. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003754. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35916626.
- Herrera-Escobar JP, Reidy E, Phuong J, Brasel KJ, Cuschieri J, Fallat M, Potter BK, Price MA, Bulger EM, Haider AH; NTRAP Long-term Outcomes Panel. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP): Results from the Long-term Outcomes Research Gap Delphi Survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Aug 16. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003747. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35972140.
