Home / Members/ Profile
Kusum  Menon
Profession:
Physician
Institution:
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, University of Ottawa
City:
Ottawa
Research Focus:
Corticosteroids, septic shock, assent and consent

Kusum Menon

Pediatric Subgroup (CCCPEDS)

I completed my M.D. at the University of British Columbia in 1989, my Pediatric Critical Care training in 1996 and a master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of Western Ontario in 2000. I am currently a Pediatric Intensive Care Physician at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Chair of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and COVID-19 Network of Clinical Trials Networks. My research interests encompass three main areas: corticosteroids and septic shock, collaboration in critical care research, and consent processes in pediatric intensive care research.

Recent work

Stress Hydrocortisone in Pediatric Septic Shock (SHIPSS) 

Dr. Menon is the Canadian PI of a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial examining the potential benefits and risks of hydrocortisone in critically ill children with septic shock. This study funded by CIHR, NIH and the Thrasher foundation will enrol 1,032 children from 75 sites, and 11 countries including Canada, the United States, Brazil and Asia. The primary hypothesis is that hydrocortisone, compared to placebo, will decrease the proportion of subjects with poor outcomes, defined as death or severely impaired (≥25% decrease from baseline) health-related quality of life. The study is currently actively enrolling.

Key Recent Publications 

  1. T. Noel Gibney, Cynthia Blackman, Eddy Fan, Robert Fowler, Melanie Gauthier, Curtis Johnston, R. Jeremy Katulka, Samuel Marcushamer, Kusum Menon, Tracey Miller, Bojan Paunovic, Teddie Tanguay, COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact on Canada’s Intensive Care Units. Royal Society of Canada. 2022.
  2. Srinivasan V, Lee JH, Menon K, Zimmerman JJ, Bembea MM, Agus MSD. Endocrine Dysfunction Criteria in Critically Ill Children: The PODIUM Consensus Conference. Pediatrics. 2022 Jan 1;149(Supplement_1):S84-S90. 
  3. Bembea MM, Agus M, Akcan-Arikan A, Alexander P, Basu R, Bennett TD, Bohn D, Brandão LR, Brown AM, Carcillo JA, Checchia P, Cholette J, Cheifetz IM, Cornell T, Doctor A, Eckerle M, Erickson S, Farris RWD, Faustino EVS, Fitzgerald JC, Fuhrman DY, Giuliano JS, Guilliams K, Gaies M, Gorga SM, Hall M, Hanson SJ, Hartman M, Hassinger AB, Irving SY, Jeffries H, Jouvet P, Kannan S, Karam O, Khemani RG, Kissoon N, Lacroix J, Laussen P, Leclerc F, Lee JH, Leteurtre S, Lobner K, McKiernan PJ, Menon K, Monagle P, Muszynski JA, Odetola F, Parker R, Pathan N, Pierce RW, Pineda J, Prince JM, Robinson KA, Rowan CM, Ryerson LM, Sanchez-Pinto LN, Schlapbach LJ, Selewski DT, Shekerdemian LS, Simon D, Smith LS, Squires JE, Squires RH, Sutherland SM, Ouellette Y, Spaeder MC, Srinivasan V, Steiner ME, Tasker RC, Thiagarajan R, Thomas N, Tissieres P, Traube C, Tucci M, Typpo KV, Wainwright MS, Ward SL, Watson RS, Weiss S, Whitney J, Willson D, Wynn JL, Yeyha N, Zimmerman JJ. Pediatric Organ Dysfunction Information Update Mandate (PODIUM) Contemporary Organ Dysfunction Criteria: Executive Summary. Pediatrics. 2022 Jan 1;149(Supplement_1):S1-S12. 
  4. Menon K, Schlapbach LJ, Akech S, Argent A, Biban P, Carrol ED, Chiotos K, Chisti MJ, Evans IVR, Inwald DP, Ishimine P, Kissoon N, Lodha R, Nadel S, Oliveira CF, Peters M, Sadeghirad B, Scott HF, de Souza DC, Tissieres P, Watson RS, Wiens MO, Wynn JL, Zimmerman JJ, and Sorce LR, for the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Criteria for Pediatric Sepsis – A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Task Force. Crit Care Med. 2022 Jan 1;50(1):21-36. 
  5. Gertsman S, O’Hearn K, Gibson J, Menon K. Parental understanding of research consent forms in the pediatric intensive care unit: a pilot study. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2020 Jun;21(6):526-534 

In my own words

I truly believe that research needs to be fun and that high quality, practice changing research can only be accomplished through mentorship, collaboration and friendship and I cannot think of a better group to embody those values than the CCCTG.