Mike Bell MD

Michael J. Bell, M.D., is the Chief of the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Children's National Hospital. A nationally known expert in the field of pediatric neurocritical care, Dr. Bell is also the DC Lawyers Care for Children Professor of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Bell joined Children’s National from Children’s Hospital of UPMC in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he served as director of Pediatric Neurocritical Care and the Pediatric Neurotrauma Center, and established the pediatric neurocritical care program. Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Bell served on the faculty at Children’s National and simultaneously conducted research on the impact of inflammation on the developing brain at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), within the laboratory of the chief of the NINDS Stroke Branch.

Dr. Bell is a prominent figure in both critical care and neurocritical care research. His current research interests include: barriers to implementation of guidelines traumatic brain injury , the effect of hypothermia on various brain injuries and applications for neurological markers in a clinical setting. He also leads the largest study to date evaluating the impact of interventions for infants and children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and analyzing findings to improve clinical practice across the world. The Approaches and Decisions for Acute Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

Dr. Bell played a crucial role in building one of the first clinical pediatric neurocritical care consult services in the country, which established common protocols between Divisions of Critical Care Medicine, Neurology and Neurosurgery aimed at improving clinical care of children with brain injuries. Dr. Bell is board certified in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. He completed his medical degree at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, his residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Pa., and a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.