Kaarkuzhali Babu Krishnamurthy, MD, MBE, HEC-C

Dr. Kaarkuzhali Babu Krishnamurthy is a board certified neurologist who serves as the Vice-Chair of the Department of Neurology and Division Head of Epilepsy and EEG at Boston Medical Center-Brighton. She specializes in clinical neurophysiology and complex epilepsy management, with a distinct research and clinical focus on the care of women with epilepsy. With over two decades of clinical experience, her academic career spans complex epileptology, clinical neurophysiology, and healthcare bioethics.

Board Certifications: American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (ABPN)
Special Interests: Epilepsy, Women’s Health, Bioethics

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Kanner AM, Saporta AS, Kim DH, Barry JJ, Altalib HH, Omotola H, Jette N, O’Brien TJ, Nadkarni S, Winawer MR, Sperling MR, French J, Abou-Khalil BW, Alldredge B, Bebin M, Cascino GD, Cole AJ, Cook MJ, Detyniecki K, Devinsky O, Dlugos DJ, Faught E, Ficker DM, Fields M, Gidal B, Gelfand M, Glynn S, Halford JJ, Haut S, Hegde M, Holmes MG, Kalviainen R, Kang J, Klein P, Knowlton RC, Krishnamurthy KB, Kuzniecky R, Kwan P, Lowenstein DH, Marcuse L, Meador KJ, Mintzer S, Pardoe HR, Park KL, Penovich P, Singh RK, Somerville E, Szabo CA, Szaflarski JP, Thio LL, Trinka E, Burneo JG. Mood and Anxiety Disorders and Suicidality in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Focal Epilepsy: An Analysis of a Complex Comorbidity. Neurology. 2025 Oct 21;105(8):e213520.

Seligman WH, Sadovnikoff N, Joubert IA, Hutton P, Flint M, Courtwright AM, Krishnamurthy KB, Joseph AM, McKechnie S. Variation in timing of decisions to withdraw life-sustaining treatment in adult ICU patients from three centres in different geographies:  Do clinical factors explain the difference?  South African Journal of Critical Care, July, 2020; 36(1).

Pang TD, Nearing BD, Krishnamurthy KB, Olin B, Schachter SC, Verrier RL. Cardiac electrical instability in newly diagnosed/chronic epilepsy tracked by Holter and ECG patch. Neurology. 2019 Sep 3;93(10):450-458.

Goldenholz DM, Goldenholz SR, Krishnamurthy KB, et al.  Using mobile location data in biomedical research while preserving privacy.  Journal Americal Medical Informatics Association, October, 2018; 25(10):  1402-1406.

Rosenfeld W, …Krishnamurthy KB…SP615 Study Investigators. Safety and efficacy of adjunctive lacosamide among patients with partial-onset seizures in a long-term open-label extension trial of up to 8 years. Epilepsy and Behavior, Dec, 2014; 164-170.

Krishnan V, Krishnamurthy KB. Interictal 12-lead electrocardiography in patients with epilepsy.  Epilepsy and Behavior, 2013; 29(1): 240-6.

Herzog AG, Smithson SD, Fowler KM, Krishnamurthy KB, Sundstrom D, Kalayjian LA, Heck CN, Oviedo S, Correl-Leyva G, Garcia E, Gleason KA, Dworetzky BA.  Premenstrual dysphoric disorder in women with epilepsy:  relationships to potential epileptic, antiepileptic drug, and reproductive endocrine factors.  Epilepsy and Behavior, 2011; 21(4): 391-6.

Herzog AG, Blum AS, Farina EL, Maestri XE, Newman J, Garcia E, Krishnamurthy KB, Hoch DB, Replansky S, Fowler KM, Smithson SD, Dworetzky BA, Bromfield EB.  Valproate and lamotrigine level variation with menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use.  Neurology, 2009. 72(10):  911-4.

Selvitelli MF, Krishnamurthy KB, Herzog AG, Schomer DL, Chang BS.  Sleep spindle alterations in patients with malformations of cortical development.  Brain Development, Feb, 2009.

DiIorio C, Shafer PO, Letz R, Henry TR, Schomer DL, Yeager K, Epstein CM, Pennell P, Helmers S, Clemons S, Drislane FW, Schachter SC, Krishnamurthy KB, Chang B, Sundstrom D,Geary K, Jordan K.  Project EASE:  A study to test a psychosocial model of epilepsy medication management.  Epilepsy and Behavior, 2004; 5(6):  926-936.

Blum AS, Ives JR, Goldberger AL, Al-Aweel IC, Krishnamurthy KB, Drislane FW, Schomer DL.  Oxygen desaturations triggered by partial seizures: implications for cardiopulmonary instability in epilepsy. Epilepsia, 2000; 41(5): 536-41.

Krishnamurthy KB, Drislane FW.  Depth of electroencephalogram suppression and outcome in pentobarbital coma for refractory status epilepticus. Epilepsia, 1999; 40(6): 759-762.

Al-Aweel IC, Krishnamurthy KB, Hausdorff JM, Mietus JE, Ives JR, Blum AS, Schomer DL, Goldberger AL.  Postictal heart rate oscillations in partial epilepsy.  Neurology, 1999; 53(7):  1590-1592.

Ives JR, Mainwaring NR, Krishnamurthy KB, Blum AS, Drislane FW, Schachter SC, Schomer DL.  Technical implementation and clinical findings/results of monitoring oxygen saturation in patients referred for long term EEG monitoring.  Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1996; 99: 432-439.

Krishnamurthy KB, Drislane FW.  Relapse and survival after barbiturate anesthetic treatment of refractory status epilepticus.  Epilepsia, 1996; 37(6): 863-867.

Krishnamurthy KB, Liu GT, Logigian EL. Acute Lyme neuropathy presenting with polyradicular pain, abdominal protrusion, and cranial neuropathy. Muscle and Nerve  1993;16:1261-1264.

Reviews, chapters, monographs and editorials

Krishnamurthy KB. Safeguarding neural data: whose job is it anyway? Neurology, May, 2026; 106(10): e218041.

Krishnamurthy KB. In the Clinic: Epilepsy.  Annals of Internal Medicine, April, 2025; 178(4):  ITC49-64.

Tolchin B, Krauss GL, Spanaki MV, Joshi C, Pack AM, Krishnamurthy KB, Bonnie RJ; Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee, (a joint committee of the American Academy of Neurology, American Neurological Association, and Child Neurology Society); and for the American Epilepsy Society and the Epilepsy Foundation of America.  Seizures, Driver Licensure, and Medical Reporting Update: An AAN Position Statement. Neurology, April, 2025; 104(7).

Krishnamurthy KB.  Should Physicians Be Able to Refuse Care for Patients Insured by Medicare?  AMA Journal of Ethics, December, 2023; 25(12): E861-865.

Krishnamurthy KB. “Abraham Verghese” in Contemporary Physician-Authors, ed. Nathan Carlin. Routledge Advances in Medical Humanities, 2021.

Guidry-Grimes L, Warren M, Lipman HI, Kent K, Krishnamurthy KB, David AM, May T, Jiro MC, Jankowski J. Clarifying a clinical ethics service’s value, the visible and the hidden. Journal of Clinical Ethics, Fall, 2019; 30(3): 251-261.

Krishnamurthy KB.  In the Clinic:  Epilepsy.  Annals of Internal Medicine, February, 2016; 164(3):  ITC17-32.

Krishnamurthy KB, Morris GL.  Folic Acid Supplementation. Controversies in Caring for Women with Epilepsy:  Sorting Through the Evidence. Springer, 2016.

Krishnamurthy KB.  Ethical Perspectives:  When religious beliefs prohibit a surgical patient’s acceptance of blood transfusion.  Continuum, April, 2015; 21(2 Neuro-oncology): 476-9.

Krishnamurthy KB.  Research Ethics.  Case Files:  Ethics and Professionalism, McGraw-Hill, 2015.

Krishnamurthy KB.  Managing epilepsy during pregnancy: assessing risk and optimizing care.  Current Treatment Options in Neurology, August, 2012:  14(4): 348-355.

Fountain NB, Van Ness PC, American Academy of Neurology Epilepsy Measure Development Panel and the American Medical Association-Convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement Independent Measure Development Process (Krishnamurthy KB). Quality improvement in neurology: AAN epilepsy quality measures. Report of the quality measurement and reporting subcomittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology, Jan, 2011; 76(1): 94-99.

Krishnamurthy KB. Pregnancy and epilepsy: update on pregnancy registries. Current Treatment Options in Neurology.  2008; 10(4): 246-52.

Krishnamurthy KB.  Status epilepticus.  Current Therapy in Neurologic Disease, sixth edition, 2001.

Krishnamurthy KB. Epilepsy and neurobehavioral disorders. Epilepsy Quarterly. Winter 1995; Vol. 3, Issue 2:8-12.

Books/Textbooks:

Krishnamurthy KB, Combs-Cantrell DT, Schachter SC. Epilepsy In Our Lives: Women Living With Epilepsy. 1999, 2007 Oxford University Press.

Dudzinski DM, Krishnamurthy KB, Ford PJ.  Complex Ethics Consultations, Volume 2:  Cases That Haunt Us In A New Era.  Cambridge University Press, in press.

Letters to the Editor:

Krishnamurthy KB. Letter to the editor. Epilepsy and Behavior, June, 2001; 2(3): 296-297.