About

Katharina M. Busl, MD, MS, is a Professor of Neurology & Neurosurgery, James E. Rooks, Jr. Professor, and Division Chief of Neurocritical Care in the Department of Neurology at the University of Florida. Her main professional quest is to be a resource, support, and advocate for patients and families in the neurointensive care unit. Dr. Busl received her medical degree with high honors from the Technical University of Munich in Germany and completed her neurology residency at Harvard Medical School/Neurology Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she also served as chief resident. She further specialized with a fellowship in neurological critical care at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After spending five years at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago as an assistant professor of neurology and attending in neurocritical care, she joined the University of Florida in 2016. Dr. Busl is board-certified in neurology and neurocritical care, holds a master’s degree in science from Rush University, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the Neurocritical Care Society, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Her research interests focus on care innovations in neurocritical care, including treatment of headache in the NeuroICU, neuroprognostication, and management of medical complications of neurocritical disease. She is the lead principal investigator for NIH-funded multicenter trials investigating treatments for post-subarachnoid hemorrhage headaches and is actively involved in various professional committees and editorial roles.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Intensive care medicine
• Internal medicine
• Emergency medicine
• Nursing
• Pediatrics
• Psychiatry
• Family medicine
• Political Science
• Pathology
• Physical therapy
• Immunology
• Endocrinology
• Surgery
• Psychology

Selected publications

• Guidelines for Neuroprognostication in Critically ill Adults with Acute Ischemic Stroke

  Neurocritical Care · 2026-04-06 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) may require intensive care unit admission for several reasons, including post-procedural care, management of large hemispheric infarction, and cardiopulmonary instability. The objective of this document is to provide recommendations on the reliability of select individual predictors of outcome, and multivariate prediction models, in the context of counseling critically ill patients with AIS and their surrogates. In addition, broad principles of neuroprognostication in this population were identified. METHODS: A narrative systematic review was completed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. Candidate predictors, including clinical variables and prediction models, were selected on the basis of clinical relevance and the presence of an appropriate body of evidence. The Population/Intervention/Comparator/Outcome/Timing/Setting (PICOTS) question was framed as follows: "When counseling critically ill adults with AIS or their surrogates, should <predictor> be considered a reliable predictor of poor functional outcome at 3 months or later?" Recommendations were based on quality of evidence, balance of desirable and undesirable consequences, values and preferences, and resource use. Recommendations that met GRADE criteria for good practice statements addressed broad principles of neuroprognostication. RESULTS: A total of 518 articles met eligibility criteria to guide recommendations. Good practice recommendations include avoiding premature neuroprognostication, avoiding confounders, the use of multimodal assessment, predicting recovery of swallow function, predicting tracheostomy decannulation, and counseling of patients with large hemispheric infarction and their surrogates prior to neurological decline. Early neurological improvement within 24 h of revascularization was identified as a moderately reliable predictor of good functional outcome. No other individual predictor was considered reliable for the prediction of mortality or functional outcome. CONCLUSIONS: These guidelines suggest broad principles of neuroprognostication and provide recommendations on the reliability of predictors of functional outcome in the context of counseling critically ill patients with AIS and their surrogates.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• International Position Paper on Outcome Selection After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

  Stroke · 2026-01-07

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: The health outcomes currently reported in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) research lack consistency and do not sufficiently reflect what is important to people most affected. The objective of this article was to establish consensus on the aspects of health (domains) clinicians and researchers should measure in aSAH research. METHODS: Informed by 2 international prioritizing surveys (involving 239 participants from over 25 countries and 6 continents), we used established consensus methodology in a hybrid in-person/online consensus meeting to establish which domains of health researchers should measure in aSAH research. Sixty-nine participants with lived experience with aSAH (35%), clinical and research leaders (62%), or from aSAH-related charity (3%) took part. International multidisciplinary working groups established consensus definitions for each domain. RESULTS: Consensus (>70% endorsement) was sought on a proposed group of 6 domains of health, and failing that, each domain individually. The 6 domains which reached consensus and were formally defined are (1) health-related quality of life, (2) survival, (3) cognition and executive function, (4) functional outcome, (5) delayed cerebral ischemia and cerebral infarction, and (6) rebleeding and aneurysm obliteration. CONCLUSIONS: This International Position Statement reports the consensus process undertaken and the core domain set established to guide the choice of outcomes for evaluating new treatments for aSAH. It will ultimately help shape the future aSAH research agenda.

  PublisherDOI

• Temperature control in acute brain injury

  Intensive Care Medicine · 2026-04-20

  articleOpen access

  PURPOSE: Temperature is a key determinant of cerebral vulnerability after acute brain injury and a physiological variable that can be continuously monitored and actively controlled in the intensive care unit. Its therapeutic role has evolved from hypothermia-centred strategies toward early recognition of fever and controlled normothermia. This review examines the physiological rationale, clinical evidence, and contemporary practice of temperature management in neurocritical care. METHODS: We synthesised evidence from major randomised trials, observational studies, and international consensus recommendations across traumatic brain injury, acute vascular brain injury, and post-cardiac arrest encephalopathy, together with current monitoring and implementation approaches. RESULTS: Fever is consistently associated with worse neurological outcomes. In traumatic brain injury, hypothermia reduces intracranial pressure but does not improve functional outcome when used prophylactically and is reserved for refractory intracranial hypertension. In acute vascular brain injury, neutral trials and feasibility constraints have shifted practice toward early detection and treatment of fever rather than hypothermia. In post-cardiac arrest care, contemporary guidelines recommend protocolised temperature control with selection and maintenance of a constant target between 32°C and 37.5°C and active prevention of fever, rather than mandatory hypothermia. CONCLUSIONS: Temperature control is a fundamental component of care aimed at protecting the injured brain through continuous monitoring, early detection of fever, and prevention of temperature-related harm.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Temperature control in acute brain injury.

  Apollo (University of Cambridge) · 2026-03-13

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Going with the flow: lumbar cerebrospinal fluid drainage after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: indications, safety, and practical considerations

  Intensive Care Medicine · 2026-02-25 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unveiling the Reporting and Representation of Race and Ethnicity in Acute Interventional Neurology Clinical Trials: Preliminary Results from the UNREAL Systematic Review (P1-2.002)

  Neurology · 2025-04-07

  articleSenior author

  To evaluate the extent and quality of race/ethnicity reporting in U.S. acute neurology trials.

  PublisherDOI

• Correction to: Guidelines for Neuroprognostication in Adults with Guillain–Barré Syndrome

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-13

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• The Pioneering Women of EEG (S10.003)

  Neurology · 2025-04-07

  article

  To feature the women who played a significant role in the development of EEG as a clinical tool.

  PublisherDOI

• Society of Critical Care Medicine 2024 Guidelines on Adult ICU Design

  Critical Care Medicine · 2025-02-21 · 18 citations

  article

  RATIONALE: Advances in technology, infection control challenges-as with the COVID-19 pandemic-and evolutions in patient- and family-centered care highlight ideal aspects of ICU design and opportunities for enhancement. OBJECTIVES: To provide evidence-based recommendations for clinicians, administrators, and healthcare architects to optimize design strategies in new or renovation projects. PANEL DESIGN: A guidelines panel of 27 members with experience in ICU design met virtually from the panel's inception in 2019 to 2024. The panel represented clinical professionals, architects, engineers, and clinician methodologists with expertise in developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. A formal conflict of interest policy was followed throughout the guidelines-development process. METHODS: Embase, Medline, CINAHL, Central, and Proquest were searched from database inception to September 2023. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach was used to determine certainty in the evidence and to formulate recommendations, suggestions, and practice statements for each Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes (PICO) question based on quality of evidence and panel consensus. Recommendations were provided when evidence was actionable; suggestions, when evidence was equivocal; and practice statements when the benefits of the intervention appeared to outweigh the risks, but direct evidence to support the intervention did not exist. RESULTS: The ICU Guidelines panel issued 17 recommendations based on 15 PICO questions relating to ICU architecture and design. The panel strongly recommends high-visibility ICU layouts, windows and natural lighting in all patient rooms to enhance sleep and recovery. The panel suggests integrated staff break/respite spaces, advanced infection prevention features, and flexible surge capacity. Because of insufficient evidence, the panel could not make a recommendation around in-room supplies, decentralized charting, and advanced heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. CONCLUSIONS: This ICU design guidelines is intended to provide expert guidance for clinicians, administrators, and healthcare architects considering erecting a new ICU or revising an existing structure.

  PublisherDOI

• NeuroICU FastTrack: Rapid Disposition of Patients with Intracerebral Hemorrhage from the Emergency Department to Neuro-ICU

  Neurocritical Care · 2025-04-25

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Carolina B. Maciel

  University of Florida

  193 shared

• Leon G. Epstein

  Lurie Children's Hospital

  172 shared

• Matthew P. Kirschen

  172 shared

• Benjamin Tolchin

  Yale University

  171 shared

• Michael Rubin

  VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System

  171 shared

• Winston Chiong

  University Memory and Aging Center

  126 shared

• Richard J. Bonnie

  University of Virginia

  126 shared

• Salvador Cruz‐Flores

  Texas Tech University

  122 shared

Labs

• iBRAIN LabPI

Education

• M.D.

  Technical University of Munich

• M.D.

  Harvard Medical School/Neurology Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital

• M.S.

  Rush University

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology
• Fellow of the Neurocritical Care Society
• Fellow of the Society of Critical Care Medicine