Richard J. Kozak
Biography
Richard J. Kozak, M.D., FACEP, is an Emergency Physician Coordinator at Providence Mission Hospital and CHOC Children's Hospital at Mission in Mission Viejo, California, and Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Irvine, where he completed his residency in Emergency Medicine and served as Chief Resident from 1993 to 1994. Kozak is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and holds fellowships in both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.
Kozak has held numerous administrative and leadership positions throughout his career. He served as Vice-Chair of the Emergency Medicine Department at Mission Hospital from 2015 to 2019, Chief of Staff in 2009, and Research Director of the Emergency Department from 2019 to 2024. He chaired the Medical Advisory Committee for Orange County Emergency Medical Services from 2015 to 2019 and served as Paramedic Base Hospital Medical Director at Mission Hospital from 1997 to 2020. From 1995 to 2014, he served as a Medical Officer with the Department of Defense, FEMA, and National Disaster Medical System. He has been a delegate to the California Medical Association House of Delegates since 2012 and served on the Credentials Committee at Mission Hospital from 2013 to 2023.
Kozak's research focuses on point-of-care electroencephalography for the rapid diagnosis and management of non-convulsive seizures and status epilepticus in emergency settings, as well as traumatic brain injury and its connection to dementia. He served as Site Principal Investigator for the NIH-NINDS funded FAST-MAG and FAST-BP trials examining prehospital stroke treatments from 2004 to 2013. His work on point-of-care EEG has been published in journals including the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open, Critical Care Medicine, and Emergency Medicine News, and he has presented his research at national and international conferences including the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and American Epilepsy Society meetings.
Return to topEducation
- B.A. in Biology and Chemistry, California State University, Fullerton, 1987
- M.D., University of California, Irvine, 1991
Distinctions
- Fellow, American College of Emergency Physicians (FACEP)
- Fellow, American Academy of Emergency Medicine (FAAEM)
- Physician of Excellence, Emergency Medicine, Orange County Medical Association, 2019-2024
- Meritorious Service Award, Orange County Health Care Agency, 2019
- American Medical Association, Physician's Recognition Award, 1996-2021
- Values in Action for Excellence, Mission Hospital, 2014-2019
- Emergency Medicine Residents Class of 1998, Teaching Award, 1998
- OC Sheriff's Department Service Award, 2011
- Certificate of Appreciation, Attack on America Response, 2001
- Senior Humanitarian Award, UC-Irvine College of Medicine, 1991
Areas of Expertise
- Emergency Medicine
- Prehospital Trauma Systems
- Stroke Neuroprotection Trials
- Acetaminophen Overdose Management
- Point-of-Care Electroencephalography
- Nonconvulsive Seizure Detection
- Traumatic Brain Injury Biomarkers
Recent Publications
- Dorriz P, Gururangan K, Kozak R, Kaplan M, “Real-World Performance of a Seizure Burden Algorithm (Clarity) in a Community Hospital”, Critical Care Medicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. S265, 2024.
- Kaplan M, Gururangan K, Dorriz P, Kozak R, “Prevalence of Seizures and Highly Epileptiform Patterns Detected Using Point-of-Care EEG”, Critical Care Medicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. S265, 2024.
- Uddin A, Gururangan K, Kozak R, Kaplan M, “Point-of-Care EEG in Patients with Sepsis: Prevalence of Seizures and Highly Epileptiform Patterns”, Critical Care Medicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. S266, 2024.
- Kozak R, Gururangan K, Kaplan M, Dorriz P, “Using Point-of-Care EEG for Rapid Diagnosis of Nonconvulsive Seizures Presenting as Stroke Mimic”, Critical Care Medicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. S267, 2024.
- Kozak R, “Unlocking the Silent Crisis: Diagnosing Nonconvulsive Seizures”, Emergency Medicine News, vol. 46, no. 6B, 2024.
- “Rapid Electroencephalography Improves Management of Non-convulsive Seizures in the Emergency Department”, 2023. Presented at Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), Annual Meeting, Austin Texas, May 16-19, 2023.
- “Real World Performance of Clarity, Automated Seizure Detection Algorithm, in a Community Hospital”, 2023. Presented at Neuro-Critical Care Society, Annual Meeting, Phoenix Arizona, August 15-18, 2023.
- “Time is Brain: Using Point-of-Care Electroencephalography for Rapid Diagnosis of Non-Convulsive Seizures Presenting as Stroke Mimic at a Community Hospital”, 2023. Presented at American Epilepsy Society, Annual Meeting, Orlando Florida, December 1-5 2023.
- “Point-of-Care EEG in Patients with Sepsis: Unveiling the Prevalence of Seizures and Highly Epileptiform Patterns and Their Impact on Clinical Management and Escalation of Care”, 2023. Presented at American Epilepsy Society, Annual Meeting, Orlando Florida, December 1-5 2023.
- “Point-of-Care Electroencephalography Impacts Management of Non-Convulsive Seizures in the Intensive Care Unit at a Community Hospital”, 2023. Presented at American Epilepsy Society, Annual Meeting, Orlando Florida, December 1-5 2023.
- Kozak R, Kaplan M, “Rapid Electroencephalography Facilitates Faster Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurologic Emergencies in the Emergency Department”, Academic Emergency Medicine, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 270, 2022.
Contact Information
Email: rjkozak@uci.edu
Address: 3800 W. Chapman Avenue, Suite 3200, Orange, CA 92868
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Last updated on 6/2/2026.