Research

While there are several independent research initiatives within the department, including research in pediatric trauma, evaluation of acute coronary syndromes and acute poisoning, department research is focused on the Virginia Commonwealth University Reanimation Engineering and Shock Center .

VCURES is a groundbreaking collaborative research consortium that was founded by the departments of Emergency Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesiology and has grown to include more than 40 schools and departments throughout the university.

The already aggressively funded center is focused on research on shock and other hypoperfusion and hypoxic states, including hemorrhagic shock, sepsis, sickle cell anemia and congestive heart failure. Most of the department’s financial support comes from grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense .

The center is performing innovative research in the areas of noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring, goal-directed resuscitation, hemostatic measures to be used by the military and civilian emergency medical services, and the use of hemoglobin substitutes, among others.

All of the center’s projects are open to resident participation. Graduates of the VCU emergency medicine residency program also may pursue a research fellowship with VCURES, funded through grants from the National Institutes of Health and the department’s Emergency Medicine Foundation.