The BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine is home to one of the nation’s most highly funded academic emergency medicine research programs. Our faculty, fellows, residents, and staff lead clinical, translational, health services, and implementation research that improves emergency care in Wisconsin and beyond.
Our research focuses on high-impact areas in emergency medicine, including dementia and emergency care for older adults, antimicrobial stewardship, rural health, prehospital and community-based care, violence prevention, space medicine, health informatics, and clinical artificial intelligence. Investigators turn new knowledge into practice, policy, and evidence-based tools that support better decisions in time-sensitive care environments.
The department is also one of the foremost leaders in studying lucidity in dementia, an emerging field focused on episodes of unexpected communication, awareness, or connection among people living with advanced dementia.
We support a culture of rigorous discovery and collaboration, with flexible infrastructure that helps faculty, fellows, and residents move ideas from concept to study design, funding, publication, and implementation. This environment has contributed to strong grant funding, influential publications, national leadership, and measurable improvements in emergency care delivery.
Through growing expertise in artificial intelligence, data science, innovation, and space medicine, we collaborate across UW–Madison, including with the College of Engineering and other health sciences programs, to shape how new technologies are responsibly developed and applied in patient care.
Learn more about emergency medicine research at UW–Madison: emed.wisc.edu/research.
Conference Research Curriculum
Our didactic research curriculum covers high-yield, practical topics that help residents develop the necessary skills to critically appraise research literature and complete a scholarly project prior to graduation.
We have designed our curriculum so that it is accessible and engaging for individuals with all ranges of research experience, providing them with tools that will aid residents in completing their required scholarly project. This curriculum is augmented by several lectures throughout the year by emergency medicine faculty investigators, as well as by visiting experts.
These skills are put into practice during Journal Clubs throughout the year that serve to develop residents’ abilities to evaluate and assess research for its quality and validity, which is essential to evidence-based practice.
Year 1: Introduction to scholarship, study design, and appraising scholarly literature
Year 2: Basic statistical testing, qualitative and survey research methods
Year 3: Publishing your work, statistical software, and obtaining funding
Scholarly and Quality Improvement Projects
Residents are matched with a faculty mentor shortly after arriving at UW as an intern. In the fall of their PGY 1 year, residents meet with both the Resident Quality Lead and their faculty mentor to discuss expectations for both quality improvement and scholarly projects. Based on their individual interests, residents may also be matched with members of the Research Executive Committee who will offer residents guidance in exploring their scholarly goals.
Residents are supported by faculty mentorship and the support of our extensive research infrastructure through the process of taking an idea for scholarly work from concept to tangible product. For many residents, this often results in presenting at national conferences or submitting manuscripts.
Recent Publications
Our residents contribute to research on a range of topics
Constantakis J, Steiner Q, Reher T, Choi T, Hollnagel F, Zhao Q, Bennett N, Nair VA, Adelman E, Prabhakaran V, Aagard-Kienitz B, Famakin B. Factors Associated with Functional Outcome Following Acute Ischemic Stroke Due to M1 MCA/ICA Occlusion in the Extended Time Window. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025; 14(15):5556. doi: 10.3390/jcm14155556
Crowley S, Hohl SD, Behling H, Eich J, Gilmore GD, Temte J. Putting Out Fires: The Experiences of Wisconsin Rural Health Officers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2025;124(5):445-451. Read online.
Hekman DJ, Maru AP, Barton HJ, Wiegmann D, Shah MN, Cochran AL, Ötleş E, Patterson BW. Evaluation of falls detected by natural language processing algorithm and not coded external cause of morbidity. JAMIA Open. 2025 Jun 20;8(3):ooaf047. doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooaf047
Carey G, Antonini MV, McCauley M, Tonna J, Furlong-Dillard J, Hutin A, Swol J, Cho SM, Sandhu H, Zaaqoq A, Davidson M, Hermsen J, Desai A, Bělohlávek J, McCarthy D, Glazer JM. Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Organ Donation: A Modified Delphi Study Exploring Cumulative Impact Index Feasibility. ASAIO J. 2025 Dec 30. doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002640