“There is a lot of variation in how ICU patients with acute kidney injury are treated, which means evidence from a large trial could immediately change practice. Ultimately, our goal is to have more patients leave the ICU without the burden of chronic kidney disease,” -Dr. Edward ClarkDr. Edward Clark knows how devastating critical illness can be for the kidneys. He specializes in caring for the 10% of patients in the ICU whose kidneys stop working. Half do not survive, and one in four survivors develop chronic kidney disease and need life-long dialysis.
As The Ottawa Hospital’s new Jindal Chair for Kidney Disease Prevention, Dr. Clark will be able to accelerate his research, which aims to help more critically ill patients survive acute kidney injury, and recover enough kidney function to avoid dialysis.
Dr. Clark previously led a trailblazing pilot clinical trial in The Ottawa Hospital’s ICUs to find out whether giving these patients intravenous albumin, rather than just saline, can improve their outcomes. This study found intravenous albumin is safe to use in these patients, and reduces blood pressure drops during dialysis. Drops in blood pressure can lead to further kidney injury and other problems.
The Chair will allow Dr. Clark to launch a larger trial with 16 sites across Canada to further test this approach, generating evidence that could change how these patients are cared for.
“We know there is a lot of variation in how ICU patients with acute kidney injury are treated, which means evidence from a large trial could immediately change practice. Ultimately, our goal is to have more patients leave the ICU without the burden of chronic kidney disease,” says Dr. Clark.
This Jindal Chair for Kidney Disease Prevention was established on December 5, 2013 to support kidney research, and particularly the prevention of kidney disease. It was made possible through generous donations by Dr. Shiv L. Jindal and his wife Sharita, the Riverside Auxiliary, and other supporters.
“Dr. Clark’s research exemplifies the kind of innovative, practice-changing research that we specialize in at The Ottawa Hospital,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “I want to thank everyone who supported this Chair, as well as all the donors who provide unrestricted gifts that allow us to support the world-class research infrastructure needed by researchers like Dr. Clark.”
The Jindal Chair for Kidney Disease Prevention was established with the idea that it would be transferred to different researchers over time, so that a wide range of research could be supported. The first chair-holder, Dr. Manish Sood, has made important advances in "big data" research to improve prevention and treatment of kidney disease, including the development of an online calculator anyone can use to predict their risk of developing chronic kidney disease.
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
