Ben Singer
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Ben Singer
Associate Professor
  • About
  • Links
  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications
  • About

    Dr. Benjamin Singer is an Associate Professor in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree in mathematics at the University of Michigan in 2002. Dr. Singer completed his medical training and PhD in Neuroscience through the Medical Scientist Training Program, and subsequently completed residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, all at the University of Michigan.

    Approximately half of patients who survive an episode of critical illness experience long term brain dysfunction, in the form of anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress, or cognitive impairment. Dr. Singer’s research focuses on basic and translational studies of long-term brain injury after critical illness, with a focus on sepsis. These studies utilize animal models of sepsis and patient autopsy specimens to examine the immune and vascular responses to sepsis in the brain that persist for weeks to months after the outward signs of illness have resolved.

    In related work, his laboratory is interested in how sepsis survival reprograms the immune system and leads to increased risk of recurrent organ injury in other organs, such as the lungs and liver. Through collaboration with Katsuo Kurabayashi, PhD (formerly of UM CoE, now at New York University) he is active in the development of improved measurement technologies to more effectively measure immune activation in acutely ill patients.

    Links
    • https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/sepsissurvivallab/home
    Qualifications
    • Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship
      University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, 2016
    • Internal Medicine Residency
      University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, 2012
    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care
    Research Overview

    Areas of special clinical focus include the care of patients with advance neuromuscular disease or lung disease requiring chronic assisted ventilation. He is the medical director of the inpatient Medicine Pulmonary service.

    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Tackling Brain and Muscle Dysfunction in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Survivors: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop Report.
      Palakshappa JA, Batt JAE, Bodine SC, Connolly BA, Doles J, Falvey JR, Ferrante LE, Files DC, Harhay MO, Harrell K, Hippensteel JA, Iwashyna TJ, Jackson JC, Lane-Fall MB, Monje M, Moss M, Needham DM, Semler MW, Lahiri S, Larsson L, Sevin CM, Sharshar T, Singer B, Stevens T, Taylor SP, Gomez CR, Zhou G, Girard TD, Hough CL. Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 2024 Mar 13; DOI:10.1164/rccm.202311-2130WS
      PMID: 38477657
    • Presentation
      Assisted Ventilation for Patients with Spinal Cord Injury
      Singer B. 2024 Feb 20;
    • Presentation
      The long haul: brain dysfunction after acute illness
      Singer B. 2023 Nov 12;
    • Journal Article
      Miniaturized microarray-format digital ELISA enabled by lithographic protein patterning.
      Stephens AD, Song Y, McClellan BL, Su S-H, Xu S, Chen K, Castro MG, Singer BH, Kurabayashi K. Biosens Bioelectron, 2023 Oct 1; 237: 115536 DOI:10.1016/j.bios.2023.115536
      PMID: 37473549
    • Journal Article
      Corticosteroid Treatment During Sepsis Alters Hippocampal Function in Male and Female Survivors.
      Hill A, Khalil H, Laborc K, Kounelis-Wuillaume S, Gavade S, Johnston C, Singer BH, Spencer-Segal JL. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci, 2024 Jan; 4 (1): 336 - 345. DOI:10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.08.001
      PMID: 38298779
    • Journal Article
      Pneumosepsis survival in the setting of obesity leads to persistent steatohepatitis and metabolic dysfunction.
      Kumar AJ, Parthasarathy C, Prescott HC, Denstaedt SJ, Newstead MW, Bridges D, Bustamante A, Singer K, Singer BH. Hepatol Commun, 2023 Sep 1; 7 (9): DOI:10.1097/HC9.0000000000000210
      PMID: 37556193
    • Journal Article
      “Miniaturized Microarray-format Digital ELISA Enabled by Lithographic Protein Patterning”.
      Castro M, Kurabayashi K, Stephens A, Song Y, McClellan B, Su S, Xu S, Chen K, Singer B. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2023 Jul 16; DOI:10.1016/j.bios.2023.115536.
    • Presentation
      Long Term Cognitive Impact of Pneumonia: Burden and Mechanisms
      Singer B. 2023 May 22;