Michael Zappitelli

Research Synopsis

Dr. Zappitelli’s research includes acute kidney injury (AKI) in children. AKI mostly occurs in hospitalized patients and must be better understood to detect the disease earlier, lessen the most serious risks and improve patients’ long-term health. His clinical research laboratory is characterizing this disease by evaluating definitions and performing studies to assess the effect of AKI on various outcomes in several diagnostic populations. Included are patients on nephrotoxic medications, patients undergoing cardiac surgery and critically ill patients. Recent studies examine the long-term outcomes of AKI in cardiac and non-cardiac critically ill patients and in children treated for cancer with cisplatin. The overarching aim is to evaluate whether AKI is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and whether new AKI biomarkers of renal tubular damage can be used to better diagnose patients at risk of CKD. Other ongoing projects include pediatric hypertension, cardiovascular disease and using administrative healthcare data to study paediatric kidney disease.