SUMMARY
The research interests of William D. Freeman, M.D., include stroke and brain injury, specifically subarachnoid hemorrhage. Dr. Freeman is a world expert in management of neurological disorders in the intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital. He has special interests in precision medicine and pharmacogenomics of subarachnoid hemorrhage, stroke systems of care redesign, and value-based health care delivery (health care economics).
Dr. Freeman is a clinical scientist with translational research interests in metabolomics, proteomics, and drug discovery for acute stroke and brain-injury mechanisms of disease. He is an expert in intrathecal drug delivery using minimally invasive brain catheters, and was on the steering committee of the international NIH-funded randomized trial called CLEAR III studying a drug to expedite intracranial blood clot resolution.
Dr. Freeman has authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications and four textbooks in the fields of neurocritical care and neurohospital medicine, as well as a Mayo Clinic resident handbook.
Focus areas
- Precision medicine
- Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage
- Critical illness
- Hypothermia
- Intracranial pressure
- Multimodal monitoring and technology
- Near infrared spectroscopy
- Neurohospitalist medicine
Significance to patient care
Neurocritical care is aimed at improving care for patients with the most severe neurological injuries that require ICU admission at the hospital. Mayo Clinic uses a multidisciplinary team daily to help patients, their families and caregivers achieve the best outcomes possible. For instance, outcomes for patients with severe stroke are continuously being improved at Mayo Clinic in Florida through patient care, education and research.
Mayo Clinic's stroke center in Jacksonville, Florida, is the first in the state to receive national Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, joining an elite group of centers throughout the U.S. that focus on providing advanced and complex stroke care. Mayo Clinic has multiple state-of-the-art technologies to advance care, including quantitative EEG with artificial intelligence monitoring, noninvasive oxygen monitoring called NIRS (near infrared spectroscopy) and multimodal monitoring (MMM) computers to understand complex physiological relationships that can lead to better outcomes.
Professional highlights
- Course director, 5th Annual Neuro and Intensive Care: Review, Workshops and Controversies, 11th Annual Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease Review, and Neuroscience Convergence, Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development, 2019
- Recipient, Resident Teacher of the Year Award, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 2011
- Recipient, Robert H. and Clarice Smith/M.L. Simpson Foundation Trust Research Fellowship, 2007-2008
- Recipient, Internal Medicine Teacher of the Year Award, Mayo Clinic, 2007
- Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Scholar, American Academy of Neurology, 2005