Nahmah Kim-Campbell, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine, was awarded a K23 grant entitled, “Mechanisms of Cell-Free Plasma Hemoglobin-Mediated Renal Injury after Cardiopulmonary Bypass” from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Cell-free plasma hemoglobin (PHb) is now recognized as a common and problematic sequela of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and other extracorporeal therapies with potential contributions to organ injury such as acute kidney injury (AKI), yet the exact pathophysiology of this remains to be defined. Dr. Kim-Campbell’s proposal examines a proposed mechanism of PHb-mediated oxidative injury as a key contributor to CPB-associated AKI, thereby identifying a potential therapeutic target for protective strategies that would limit the morbidities and mortality related to extracorporeal therapies. This work thus could lead to new therapies that could benefit infants and children treated with either ECMO or cardiopulmonary bypass.

Dr. Kim-Campbell has a mentoring team comprised of internationally recognized investigators including Dr. Hülya Bayır and Dr. John Kellum of the Department of Critical Care Medicine as well as her advisory committee members: Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, Director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research; Carlton Bates, MD of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology; and Kristine Ruppert, DrPH of the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.