Prashant Mahajan appointed Chair of Emergency Medicine

ANN ARBOR, MI – The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved Dr. Prashant Mahajan’s appointment to Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine. Mahajan, a member of the University’s Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation, assumes the role following exiting chair and fellow Weil member Dr. Robert Neumar. Mahajan has also been appointed to William G. Barsan Collegiate Professor of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Mahajan earned his medical degree and completed his residency in pediatrics through the University of Bombay in India. He then completed a residency in pediatrics, including a year as chief resident, and a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. He has an MPH from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts.

Prior to his new role in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Mahajan served as the department’s vice chair. He is also a tenured professor and section chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. At the Weil Institute, he lends his expertise in these spaces as a member of the Kahn Pediatric Critical Care Grand Challenge oversight committee. 

Dr. Mahajan's research focuses on clinical decision-making in austere circumstances. He investigates host immune response in pediatric infectious (sepsis) and inflammatory conditions (asthma). He also studies how clinicians make decisions in the emergency department in real-time to enhance diagnostic safety and excellence. 

Dr. Mahajan has worked extensively with the Data Science team at the Weil Institute on projects such as an application that helps would-be emergency room patients identify which level of care is most appropriate for their needs. By comparing the patient’s current physiology with their historical profile, and integrating that data with their current signs and symptoms, the tool helps patients determine if an urgent care, PCP, or emergency room visit is warranted.

Dr. Mahajan is also working with the team on a large-scale biomarker discovery program, aimed at detecting sepsis onset in pediatric emergency medicine patients.

“We at the Weil Institute data science team are extremely fortunate to be working with Dr. Mahajan on this as well as several other research initiatives,” said Brandon Cummings, Senior Data Scientist. “Through Dr. Mahajan’s work, our team has been connected with a vast network of clinicians, scientists, and engineers equipped with state-of-the-art immunologic, genomic, and metabolomic data. As early recognition is so critical in pediatric sepsis cases, improving detection of this costly and dangerous disease could help ensure these children get the care they need before it’s too late.”

About the Weil Institute

The team at the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation is dedicated to pushing the leading edge of research to develop new technologies and novel therapies for the most critically ill and injured patients. Through a unique formula of innovation, integration and entrepreneurship that was first imagined by Weil, their multi-disciplinary teams of health providers, basic scientists, engineers, data scientists, commercialization coaches, donors and industry partners are taking a boundless approach to re-imagining every aspect of critical care medicine. For more information, visit weilinstitute.med.umich.edu.