Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine

Research

Overview

The Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine is engaged in a wide range of clinical, translational, and basic scienc research covering a number of diverse topics. Specific areas of research interest include the pharmacodynamic effects of analgesics; respiratory mechanics and capnography to optimize mechanical ventilation; Six Sigma methodology to improve hand-offs, communication, and overall patient safety; and mechanisms of inflammatory and oxidant-mediated lung injury.

Research Faculty

Name	Areas of Special Interest
Ira M. Cheifetz, MD, FCCM, FAARC, Chief	Respiratory mechanics monitoring, capnography, cardiorespiratory interactions, conventional and non-conventional ventilation
Mary E. Hartman, MD, MPH	Health services research, regionalization of health care services, status asthmaticus, traumatic brain injury
Jon N. Meliones, MD, MS	Performance improvement, patient safety, balanced scorecard, team training, Six Sigma
Kshitij P. Mistry, MD, MSc	Patient safety, performance improvement, hand-offs, and communication
Stacey Peterson-Carmichael, MD	Mucin, airway epithelial cell function, infant pulmonary function tests
Scott R. Schulman, MD, MHSc	Pharmacodynamic effects of analgesics/sedatives and vasoactive agents, multicenter, randomized-controlled trials of drug safety in children
Jennifer L. Turi, MD	Iron transport, inflammatory lung disease, oxidant stress, cardiopulmonary bypass, cystic fibrosis
David A. Turner, MD	Education, medical simulation, patient safety iniatives
B. Craig Weldon	Blood product management, mechanical ventilation, post-operative delirium

Clinical Research

Pharmacodynamic effects of analgesics/sedatives and vasoactive agents, including the efficacy and safety of sodium nitroprusside in children, funded by a $5.1-million, three year NIH grant
Multicenter trial of therapeutic sedation regimens for critically ill, mechanically ventilated children
Continuous volumetric capnography to minimize the length of mechanical ventilation in pediatric patients
Continuous venovenous hemofiltration for respiratory failure in pediatric bone marrow transplant patients
Optimization of patient safety through the use of such models as The Balanced Scorecard, Team Training, and Six Sigma
Effectiveness of a standardized post-operative patient care handoff following congenital heart surgery
Evaluation of the design and delivery of health care for children with severe traumatic brain injury
Use of medical simulation to improve fellow education and patient safety

Translational Research

Use of CO₂ elimination to measure the efficacy of conventional mechanical ventilation
Role of CO₂ elimination in optimizing lung recruitment in a model of acute lung injury
Use of heliox gas mixture during conventional and high frequency oscillatory ventilation
Role of inhaled nitric oxide during cardiopulmonary bypass

Basic Research

The role of iron in inflammatory lung disease in children
Activation of anion exchange protein 2 and AP-1 by oxidative stress in airway epithelial cells
Superoxide-dependent iron uptake by anion exchange protein 2.
The role of duodenal cytochrome b as a ferri-reductase in airway epithelial cells
Effect of red blood cell storage age on iron release and immune function
Mechanisms of oxidant lung injury after cardiopulmonary bypass in children