Sherry Hsiang-Yi Chou is a Canadian neurologist and an Associate Professor of Neurology and Chief of Neurocritical Care at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Medicine. She is a Fellow of the
Neurocritical Care Society and the
Society of Critical Care Medicine
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is the largest non-profit medical organization in the practice of critical care. SCCM was established in 1970 and is an independently incorporated, international, educational and scientific society base ...
. During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
Chou assembled a worldwide team of physicians and scientists to better understand the neurological impacts of COVID-19, forming the Global Consortium Study of Neurologic Dysfunction in COVID-19 (GCS-NeuroCOVID). The first report of this large, multicenter, multicontinent consortium found that neurological manifestations are present in 8 out of 10 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and are associated with increased mortality.
Early life and education
Chou studied mathematics and physics at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
. She remained there for her medical degree, which she completed in 2001.
Chou completed medical internship at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (founded in 1916) and New England Deaconess Hospital (founded ...
and residency in Neurology followed by fellowship in stroke and neurocritical care at Massachusetts General Hospital and
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two fo ...
. Chou completed a master's degree in clinical translational research at
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...
in 2009. Following completion of training Chou remained on faculty at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where Chou worked on numerous large clinical trials such as the Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage-II (ATACH-II) research protocol, which looked to identify the therapeutic benefit of intensive
blood pressure
Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressur ...
treatment in
intracerebral haemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
patients. She worked at Brigham for several years, holding a simultaneous faculty position at the
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...
.
Research and career
Chou was appointed to the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
in 2014. Her research and practise looks to improve the treatment of critically ill patients who suffer from
haemorrhagic
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra ...
brain injury. Chou has a particular focus on
subarachnoid haemorrhage
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain. Symptoms may include a severe headache of rapid onset, vomiting, decreased level of consci ...
(SAH) and the identification of novel biomarkers. She studies how the inflammation that occurs after SAH can result in secondary brain injury, and how this impacts recovery. To do this, Chou monitors
microRNA
MicroRNA (miRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals and some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. m ...
biomarkers of systemic inflammation. She created a
biobank
A biobank is a type of biorepository that stores biological samples (usually human) for use in research. Biobanks have become an important resource in medical research, supporting many types of contemporary research like genomics and personalize ...
of samples collected over the course of patients' time in hospital. This data allowed Chou to identify a specific inflammation biomarker that is only detectable in the early days of brain injury.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
it emerged that in certain cases, the viral infection resulting from
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
(
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a No ...
) can cause a rare type of
encephalopathy
Encephalopathy (; from grc, ἐνκέφαλος "brain" + πάθος "suffering") means any disorder or disease of the brain, especially chronic degenerative conditions. In modern usage, encephalopathy does not refer to a single disease, but ...
. These observations were first observed in
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...
, and subsequently across
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. The overreaction of the immune system in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers a ''
cytokine
Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in a ...
storm'', whereby immune cells and cytokines are excessively produced.
Cytokine overproduction can cause small haemorrhages in the brain.
Whilst the neurological symptoms related to COVID-19 are rare, Chou argued that physicians needed to crowdsource their observations to provide better care. COVID-19 may its way upward to the brain through the nose and
olfactory bulb
The olfactory bulb (Latin: ''bulbus olfactorius'') is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex (O ...
, which may explain the
anosmia
Anosmia, also known as smell blindness, is the loss of the ability to detect one or more smells. Anosmia may be temporary or permanent. It differs from hyposmia, which is a decreased sensitivity to some or all smells.
Anosmia can be due to a nu ...
. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georg ...
(CDC) added "new confusion or inability to arouse" to their COVID–19 ''emergency warning signs'', which means that people who show these symptoms must seek medical attention immediately. Through her work with the
Neurocritical Care Society, Chou has since established a world-wide consortium of researchers to track the prevalence of neurological complications in hospitalised COVID-19 patients.
Awards and honours
* 2014 Elected Fellow of the
Neurocritical Care Society
* 2016
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
Medicine Alumni Global Awards
* 2017 Elected Fellow of the
Society of Critical Care Medicine
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is the largest non-profit medical organization in the practice of critical care. SCCM was established in 1970 and is an independently incorporated, international, educational and scientific society base ...
Selected publications
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*
*
*
Chou serves on editorial board of the journal ''Neurocritical Care on Call''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chou, Sherry
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
McGill University Faculty of Science alumni
Harvard Medical School alumni
University of Pittsburgh faculty
Women neurologists
Canadian women neuroscientists
COVID-19 researchers