Ruchira Jha

Ruchira Jha, MD, MSc, is the Division Chief of Neurocritical Care, Medical Director of the Neurointensive Care Unit, and a Professor in the departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Translational Neuroscience at Barrow Neurological Institute. She is a clinical neurointensivist. She is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and in neurocritical care by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties.

Dr. Jha’s expertise includes clinical and translational research in acute brain injury and neurocritical care. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, the National Neurotrauma Society, the Neurocritical Care Society, the Society for Neuroscience, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Jha earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She also earned a Master of Science degree in clinical and translational research from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Dr. Jha completed her neurology residency, chief residency, and a fellowship in neurocritical care at the combined Harvard Medical School Partners Program (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital). 

Dr. Jha has received prestigious awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other foundations to pursue her research. She uses a translational approach to evaluate and develop individualized targets against secondary injury processes like cerebral edema and hemorrhage progression to improve outcomes after acute brain injuries with a focus on brain resilience. Her laboratory's translational work in preclinical and clinical models spans a spectrum of wet and laboratory techniques and analyses including single cell research, human biofluid markers, multi-omics, imaging, and genetics.

She has multiple publications and national presentations in this field. She is also involved in collaborations with multicenter TBI consortia, such as TRACK TBI and GAIN (Genetic Associations in Neurotrauma), for her research. Dr. Jha serves on the editorial board of JAMA Neurology, Journal of Neurotrauma, Critical Care Medicine and is the critical care section editor for the journal Stroke.