Anica C. Law, MD, MS, ATSF Hear my name
Assistant Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine

MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
MS, Harvard School of Public Health
AB, Harvard College

Pronouns: she/her/hers



Dr. Law is a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician, clinical epidemiologist, and health services researcher with a focus on understanding determinants of outcomes after critical illness. An unprecedented number of patients now survive the intensive care unit (ICU) but suffer severe organ dysfunction, requiring forms of long-term organ support, such as mechanical ventilation or artificial nutrition. Using both granular clinical and national claims databases, and leveraging natural experiments where feasible (e.g., policy changes), the goal of her research is to better inform decision-making during critical illness and the optimal delivery of care after acute critical illness.

She has published > 70 original studies in high-impact journals including JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Network Open, AJRCCM, and Annals of Internal Medicine. Her work has been included in the Top Papers” in the ATS Clinical Year in Review (2023, 2024), and covered by media outlets such as NPR, U.S. News & World Report, and the Associated Press. Her NIA-funded F32 and NHLBI-funded K23 characterized national practices and outcomes for patients receiving long-term feeding and breathing tubes during critical illness. These studies demonstrated (1) poor patient-centered outcomes after receipt of feeding/breathing tubes and (2) unexpected declines in incidence of prolonged mechanical ventilation with increases in palliative care and hospice among Medicare beneficiaries—trends that diverged from earlier projections. She also showed that Medicare payment reforms substantially reduced access to long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), leading to increased use of do-not-resuscitate orders and lower costs to Medicare, highlighting how policy shifts influence upstream care decisions and post-acute resource use. She now helms an R01, "Quantifying Uncertainty to Inform Time-Limited Trials of Invasive Mechanical Ventilation" (scored in the 1st percentile at NIH/NHLBI), which seeks to improve patient and family engagement in early prognostication for mechanically ventilated patients.


Causes and Consequences of Healthcare Inequity in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
03/01/2025 - 02/28/2027 (Subcontract PI)
Dartmouth College NIH NIA
5P01AG019783-22

Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes
07/01/2021 - 06/30/2025 (PI)
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5K23HL153482-05



Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2025 Quantifying Uncertainty to Inform Time-Limited Trials of Invasive Mechanical Ventilation 1R01HL179666-01
2024 Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes 5K23HL153482-05
2023 Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes 5K23HL153482-04
2022 Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes 5K23HL153482-03
2021 Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes 3K23HL153482-02S1
2021 Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes 7K23HL153482-02
2020 Prolonged mechanical ventilation: patterns of post-acute care and patient outcomes 1K23HL153482-01
2020 Trends, Practice Variations, and Outcomes of Gastrostomy Tubes Placed during Critical Illness in the United States 5F32AG058352-03 8
2019 Trends, Practice Variations, and Outcomes of Gastrostomy Tubes Placed during Critical Illness in the United States 5F32AG058352-02 8
2017 Trends, Practice Variations, and Outcomes of Gastrostomy Tubes Placed during Critical Illness in the United States 1F32AG058352-01 8

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Website       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Shen BH, Shankar DA, Bosch NA, Walkey AJ, Piazza G, Klings ES, Law AC. Contemporary reperfusion therapies in patients with intermediate- and high-risk pulmonary embolism. Thromb Res. 2025 Oct 27; 256:109523.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41175547; DOI: 10.1016/j.thromres.2025.109523;
     
  2. Li B, Gershengorn HB, Vail EA, Wunsch H, Walkey AJ, Law AC, Ko D, Ayalon N, Kearney CM, Bosch NA. Inotrope Selection in Mixed Cardiogenic Shock with Sepsis: A Comparative Analysis between Milrinone and Dobutamine. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2025 Sep 17.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40960311; DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202503-339OC;
     
  3. Erfle BA, Steel TL, Law AC, Kaufman DA, Hills-Dunlap K, Afshar M, Walkey AJ, Austad KE, Drainoni ML, Bosch NA. Pharmacological Interventions for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome Among Hospitalized Adults: A Multicenter Cohort Study. J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Aug 28.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40877712; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-025-09817-8;
     
  4. Viglianti EM, Cano J, Seelye S, Kruser JM, Law AC, Iwashyna TJ, Prescott HC. Institutional Variation in Specialty Palliative Care Consultation Among Patients With Persistent Critical Illness: A Cohort Study. Chest. 2025 Jul 18. PMID: 40684907
     
  5. Bosch NA, Law AC, Roubinian NH, Reza Jafarzadeh S, Walkey AJ. Variation in effectiveness of blood transfusion by hospital day: A multicenter retrospective study. J Hosp Med. 2025 Jul 14.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40659365
     
  6. Bosch NA, Wilson KC, Law AC. Are Procalcitonin Measures a Reliable Predictor of Stopping Antibiotics Among Patients With Sepsis? JAMA. 2025 May 20; 333(19):1728.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40227721
     
  7. Gallegos-Koyner F, Barrera N, Carvalhais RM, Chong DH, Law A, Moskowitz A. Trends in tracheostomy placement after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Resusc Plus. 2025 May; 23:100956. PMID: 40322635; PMCID: PMC12047485; DOI: 10.1016/j.resplu.2025.100956;
     
  8. Pang B, Kearney CM, Law AC, Bosch NA. Trends in the Treatment of Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2025 Apr; 22(4):620-623.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39700483; PMCID: PMC12005012; DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202403-306RL;
     
  9. Dobie A, Shen B, Homer-Bouthiette C, Shankar D, Pang B, Law A, Bosch NA. Practice Pattern Variation in Management of Severe Acute Asthma Among Mechanically Ventilated Patients in Pediatric Versus Adult ICUs. Crit Care Explor. 2025 Apr 01; 7(4):e1233.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40126920; PMCID: PMC11936554; DOI: 10.1097/CCE.0000000000001233;
     
  10. Ferri GM, Kothari OA, Gurnani SD, Law AC, Bosch NA, Shen BH. Practice Patterns and Outcomes of Initial Anticoagulation Among Hospitalized Patients With Low- and Low-Intermediate-Risk Pulmonary Embolism. CHEST Pulm. 2025 Jun; 3(2).View Related Profiles. PMID: 40777759; PMCID: PMC12330347; DOI: 10.1016/j.chpulm.2025.100151;
     
Showing 10 of 83 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 83 publications over 13 distinct years, with a maximum of 20 publications in 2024

YearPublications
20051
20071
20121
20151
20162
20185
20195
20205
20213
202213
202315
202420
202511


Higher Sepsis Mortality in Safety-Net Hospitals Linked to Fewer Post-Discharge Care Options

Contagion Live 6/9/2024

LTCH closures send more patients to nursing homes, but are they ready?

McKnights 11/22/2023

Long-term acute care hospital closures may have unintended consequences for patient care

News Medical 11/21/2023

More Evidence That State Lotteries Didn't Boost Vaccination Rates

US News & World Report 1/7/2022

More Evidence That State Lotteries Didn't Boost Vaccination Rates

Health Day 1/7/2022

COVID-19 vaccine lotteries didn't increase inoculation rates: study

CTV 1/4/2022

More Evidence Suggests Few Winners in COVID Vax Lottery Strategy

Medpage Today 1/4/2022

Lottery-Based Incentives Do Not Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

Contagion Live 1/4/2022

Speaking does not imply breathing, and this is a dangerous myth

ZME Science 12/10/2021

Are Covid vaccine mandates ethical? Here’s what medical experts think

CNBC 11/24/2021

Vaccine panel recommends J&J boosters after data says vaccine's effectiveness has 'headroom to improve': Live COVID-19 updates

USA Today 11/16/2021

Have vaccine lotteries worked? Studies so far show mixed results

Politifact 8/22/2021

Study: Lottery Incentive Didn’t Increase COVID Vaccination Rates

CBS Denver 7/6/2021

hio Vaccine Lottery Gave Away $5 Million, But Didn’t Increase Vaccination Rates, Says New Study

Forbes 7/4/2021

George Floyd begged for help — it didn’t mean he could breathe. Doctors debunk myth

Miami Herald 7/3/2020

BIDMC Marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Newswise 2/11/2020

Mass. Law On ICU Nurse Staffing Ratios Has Had Little Effect Since 2016, Study Finds

WBUR 9/5/2018

2025 American Thoracic Society: American Thoracic Society Fellow (ATSF) Designation
2025 American Thoracic Society: Early Career Achievement Award
2023 Boston University: David L. Coleman Prize for Junior Faculty
2022 Boston University: Evans Junior Faculty Research Merit Award
2022 Doris Duke: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists
2020 American Thoracic Society: Early Career Achievement Award Nominee
2019 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences Travel Award
2018 American Thoracic Society: Abstract Scholarship Award
2016 American Thoracic Society: Abstract Scholarship Award
2016 American Thoracic Society: Fellows Track Symposium Travel Award
2014 American Thoracic Society: Resident’s Boot Camp Travel Award
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Advance Care Planning
Tracheostomy
Critical Illness
Respiration, Artificial
Outcomes, Critical Care
Shock, Septic

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
  • Career Mentor
  • Co-Mentor or Peer Mentor
  • Project Mentor
Contact for Mentoring:
  • Email (see 'Contact Info')

72 East Concord Street
Boston MA 02118
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617.358.2800
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