“The kidneys are often the canary in the coal mine when it comes to critical illness. We need to find ways to reduce permanent damage to these organs during hospitalization,” - Dr. Edward ClarkAs a nephrologist who sees patients in the ICU, Dr. Edward (Ted) Clark knows kidneys can often stop working when someone is critically ill. These patients need dialysis in the ICU to stay alive, but dialysis makes their blood pressure drop, leading to further kidney injury and other problems. 

Dr. Clark is leading a clinical trial to find out whether giving these patients intravenous albumin fluid, compared to saline, can prevent drops in blood pressure and lead to better outcomes. His pilot trial of 60 ICU patients showed this approach was feasible, and has led to a multi-site randomized controlled trial in Ontario and Quebec. 

Dr. Clark is also collaborating on a tool to predict which patients who need dialysis during their hospitalization will need dialysis permanently, and which will recover full kidney function. He’s also working with basic science researchers to see whether the kidney’s mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, make less energy after dialysis. This might suggest that boosting mitochondrial function during dialysis could reduce kidney injury.

“The kidneys are often the canary in the coal mine when it comes to critical illness. We need to find ways to reduce permanent damage to these organs during hospitalization,” says Dr. Clark

Dr. Clark was recently appointed as an associate scientist in the Clinical Epidemiology Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is a nephrologist and medical director for Critical Care Nephrology at The Ottawa Hospital and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa.

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.

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Amelia Buchanan
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Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
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