CorteXion

About

Tobias B. Kulik, MD

A board-certified neurologist in active clinical practice, retained by plaintiff and defense counsel on an independent basis.

I practice at Saint Luke's Marion-Bloch Neuroscience Institute in Kansas City, with subspecialty certification in vascular neurology and neurocritical care. My clinical work covers the acute and critical-care spectrum — ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, traumatic brain injury, hypoxic-ischemic injury after cardiac arrest, immune-mediated neurological emergencies, and the range of conditions that arrive at a comprehensive stroke and Level 1 trauma center. I review medico-legal cases for plaintiff and defense counsel on an independent basis, with an emphasis on what the record can and cannot support.

Training and Practice

I trained in medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. Neurology residency and chief residency at the University of Rochester followed, and fellowships in vascular neurology and neurocritical care at the Washington University / Barnes-Jewish consortium in St. Louis.

For seven years I was on faculty at the University of New Mexico. During that time I served as Medical Director of the Neuroscience ICU, Section Chief for Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Vice Chair for Hospital Affairs and Quality in the Department of Neurology, Director of Quality for the Stroke Center, and Program Director of the Vascular Neurology Fellowship. That combination of clinical practice and operational leadership shaped how I read records: a case is almost never one decision; it is a sequence of decisions made across a system, and the analytical work is in reading how the system handled — or failed to handle — a patient's trajectory.

I joined Saint Luke's Marion-Bloch Neuroscience Institute in 2024, where I practice inpatient neurology and critical care, with a Clinical Associate Professor appointment at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Expert work, done well, is a narrow form of scientific writing. My role is to read the record carefully, identify what the medicine supports, and say plainly what it does not.

How I Work With Counsel

I review for both plaintiff and defense counsel on an independent basis. The analytical work is the same in either direction — the question is what the record shows, not which side wants a particular answer.

I decline cases outside my clinical domain. I decline cases where the record will not support the opinion counsel is seeking. I decline cases where my schedule will not permit the attention the work requires. The rest I take on with the understanding that my written and oral testimony should be as defensible on cross-examination as it is on direct.

In practice, that means three commitments: a written analysis that names its limits; a causation opinion that engages the alternative explanations the record supports, not only the ones my client prefers; and a willingness to tell retaining counsel, before the case proceeds, when the medicine will not carry the theory.

What I Review

The subjects I review and testify on track the subjects I practice clinically. The core categories:

  • Brain Injury — traumatic and non-traumatic — TBI across the severity spectrum (mild TBI, concussion, post-concussive symptoms, causation in personal-injury, workplace, and athletic-injury settings); hypoxic-ischemic injury after cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, or perioperative events (timing of injury, post-arrest care, targeted temperature management, neuroprognostication); and impairment analysis under the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (5th and 6th editions). Certified ImPACT Consultant with formal training in concussion assessment.
  • Stroke & Vascular Neurology — delayed diagnosis, mechanical thrombectomy, thrombolytic timing, post-stroke complications, and standard of care across the stroke-systems-of-care spectrum.
  • Neurocritical Care — aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, status epilepticus, intracranial hemorrhage, brain death determination, and withdrawal-of-care decisions.
  • Autoimmune & Inflammatory Neurology — where timing of recognition and treatment is at issue — Guillain-Barré syndrome and its variants, autoimmune encephalitis, and related acute immune-mediated conditions.

Credentials

Training

  • Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich — Medical Degree2005
  • University of Rochester — Internal Medicine Internship; Neurology Residency; Chief Resident2010–2014
  • Washington University / Barnes-Jewish / St. Louis Children's Consortium — Vascular Neurology Fellowship; Neurocritical Care Fellowship2014–2017

Board Certifications

  • Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Vascular Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Neurocritical Care, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Neurocritical Care, United Council for Neurological Subspecialties

Academic Appointments

  • Clinical Associate Professor, University of Missouri–Kansas City2024–present
  • Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico2017–2024

Hospital Appointments

  • Staff Neurologist, Saint Luke's Marion-Bloch Neuroscience Institute, Kansas City2024–present

Administrative Leadership

  • Medical Director, Neuroscience ICU, University of New Mexico2020–2024
  • Section Chief — Stroke, Inpatient Neurology, and Neurocritical Care, UNM2020–2024
  • Vice Chair for Hospital Affairs and Quality, Department of Neurology, UNM2019–2024
  • Director of Quality, Stroke Center, UNM2019–2024
  • Program Director, Vascular Neurology Fellowship, UNM2018–2024

Professional Certifications

  • Certified Independent Medical Examiner, American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME)
  • Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), Institute for Healthcare Improvement
  • Certified ImPACT Consultant (CIC)
  • Brain Death Certification, Neurocritical Care Society
  • Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Certification

Clinical Trials — Principal or Co-Principal Investigator

  • SATURN — Statins Use in Intracerebral Hemorrhage (NIH/NINDS, StrokeNet)
  • Sleep SMART — Sleep for Stroke Management and Recovery (NIH/NINDS, StrokeNet)
  • MOST — Multi-arm Optimization of Stroke Thrombolysis (NIH/NINDS)
  • CHARM — IV Glibenclamide for Severe Cerebral Edema Following Large Hemispheric Infarction (Biogen)

Clinical Trials — Co-Investigator (Selected)

  • POINT — Clopidogrel and Aspirin in Acute Ischemic Stroke and High-Risk TIA
  • SWIFT PRIME — Solitaire with Intention for Thrombectomy as Primary Endovascular Treatment
  • ARCADIA — Atrial Cardiopathy and Antithrombotic Drugs in Prevention After Cryptogenic Stroke
  • RHAPSODY — Safety Evaluation of 3K3A-APC in Ischemic Stroke
  • CASH — Cavernous Angiomas with Symptomatic Hemorrhage
  • MR WITNESS — IV Thrombolysis with Alteplase in MRI-Selected Patients

Selected Invited Lectures

  • Stroke 2026: Faster Drugs, Wider Windows, Harder Questions. Grand Rounds, Department of Neuroscience, Saint Luke's Health SystemFeb 2026
  • Stroke Mimics. Bi-State Stroke Symposium, Lee's Summit, MOJul 2025
  • Update in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Management. Neurocritical Care Conference, University of New MexicoJan 2023
  • Project ECHO: Neurologic Prognostication After Cardiac Arrest. Albuquerque, NMApr 2022
  • Strategies for the Prevention of Vasospasm after aSAH. Neuroscience Grand Rounds, UNMAug 2018

Professional Memberships

  • Fellow, American Academy of Neurology (FAAN)
  • Neurocritical Care Society
  • American Heart Association
  • American College of Legal Medicine
  • American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME)
  • AAN Sports Neurology and Concussion Section
  • Brain Injury Association of Missouri (BIA-MO)
  • International Society for Cognitive Rehabilitation (ISCR)
  • International Brain Injury Association (IBIA)

Teaching Awards

  • Resident Faculty Teaching Award, University of Missouri–Kansas City2025
  • Department of Neurology Teaching Award, University of New Mexico (five consecutive years)2019–2023
  • Professionalism Award, Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico2022

Committee and Governance

  • Board Member, Kansas City Neuroscience Society
  • Neuroscience Evidence-Based Treatment Committee, Saint Luke's Health System
  • Brain Death Committee, Saint Luke's Health System
  • Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, Saint Luke's Health System

Selected Publications

  • Greer DM, Helbok R, Badjatia N, Ko SB, McKenna Guanci M, Sheth KN, Kulik T. Fever Prevention in Patients With Acute Vascular Brain Injury: The INTREPID Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2024;332(1):50–58.
  • Johnston SC, Easton JD, Farrant M, et al; POINT Investigators [incl. Kulik T]. Clopidogrel and Aspirin in Acute Ischemic Stroke and High-Risk TIA. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018;379(3):215–225.
  • Bhatti MQ, Chapman R, Kulik T, et al. On Neurocardiology Updates: an Interdisciplinary Field at the Intersection of Neurology and Cardiology. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 2025;25:59.
  • Grigg-Damberger MM, Hussein O, Kulik T. Sleep Spindles and K-Complexes Are Favorable Prognostic Biomarkers in Critically Ill Patients. Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology. 2022;39(5):372–382.
  • Allen ML, Kulik T, Keyrouz SG, Dhar R. Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome as a Complication of Induced Hypertension in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Case-Control Study. Neurosurgery. 2018;82(6):985–991.
  • Kulik TB, Hemphill C. Intracranial Hemorrhage. In: Darsie and Moheet, eds. The Pocket Guide to Neurocritical Care, 2nd ed. Neurocritical Care Society; 2019:88–97.
  • Kulik TB, Keyrouz S. Intracranial Hemorrhage. In: Kollef et al., eds. The Washington Manual of Critical Care, 3rd ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2017.

A full curriculum vitae is available for download, and a professional profile is maintained on LinkedIn. To discuss a case, see the intake page.