Kusum Menon
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, consent processes in pediatric intensive care research and social determinants of health in pediatric critical illness.
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 enroll 500 children from 36 sites, and 10 countries including Canada, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil. 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
- Marchetto L, Zanetto L, Comoretto RI, Padrin D, Menon K, Amigoni A, Daverio M. Outcomes of pediatric fluid-refractory septic shock according to different vasoactive strategies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Shock. 2024 Aug 8.
- Cook D, Taneja S, Krewulak K, Zytaruk N, Menon K, Fowler R, Lamontagne F, Kho ME, Rochwerg B, Masse MH, Lauzier F, O'Hearn K, Adhikari NKJ, Burns KEA, Bosma KJ, English S, McNally D, Turgeon AF, Brochard L, Parker M, Clayton L, Rishu A, Tuttle A, Daneman N, Fergusson D, McIntyre L, Kelly L, Orr S, Austin P, Mulligan S, Fiest K; Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and Canadian Clinical Research Network. Barriers, Solutions, and Opportunities for Adapting Critical Care Clinical Trials in the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Jul1;7(7):e2420458.
- Armstrong J, Gibson J, O'Hearn K, Martin DA, Assaf M, Menon K. Impact of Legal Guardian Absence on Research Enrollment in the PICU. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2024 Jun 11. Epub ahead of print.
- Lamontagne F, Masse MH, Yarnell C, Camirand-Lemyre F, Lévesque S, Domingue MP, O'Hearn K, Watpool I, Hoogenes J, Sprague S, Ménard J, Lemaire-Paquette S, Hébert-Dufresne L, Cook D, Hébert P, Rowan K, Yada N, Menon K, Fowler R, Fox-Robichaud A, Boutin D, Marshall J, Kho ME; Canadian Clinical Research Network (CCRN), the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG) and Sepsis Canada. The response of Canada's clinical health research ecosystem to the COVID-19 pandemic. CMAJ. 2024 Jun 16;196(23):E779-E788.
- Mehta S, Ahluwalia A, Ahluwalia A, Burns KEA, O'Hearn K, Maratta C, Menon K, Rochwerg B, Murthy S, Fowler R, Fiest KM. The Diversity of Research Participants in Randomized Controlled Trials and Observational Studies Conducted by the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2024 Jun 18.
- Huang E, Albrecht L, O'Hearn K, Nicolas N, Armstrong J, Weinberg M, Menon K. Reporting of social determinants of health in randomized controlled trials conducted in the pediatric intensive care unit. Front Pediatr. 2024 Feb 1;12:1329648.
- Schlapbach LJ, Watson RS, Sorce LR, Argent AC, Menon K, Hall MW, Akech S, Albers DJ, Alpern ER, Balamuth F, Bembea M, Biban P, Carrol ED, Chiotos K, Chisti MJ, DeWitt PE, Evans I, Flauzino de Oliveira C, Horvat CM, Inwald D, Ishimine P, Jaramillo-Bustamante JC, Levin M, Lodha R, Martin B, Nadel S, Nakagawa S, Peters MJ, Randolph AG, Ranjit S, Rebull MN, Russell S, Scott HF, de Souza DC, Tissieres P, Weiss SL, Wiens MO, Wynn JL, Kissoon N, Zimmerman JJ, Sanchez-Pinto LN, Bennett TD; Society of Critical Care Medicine Pediatric Sepsis Definition Task Force. International Consensus Criteria for Pediatric Sepsis and Septic Shock. JAMA. 2024 Feb 27;331(8):665-674.
- O'Hearn K, Menon K, Weiler HA, Amrein K, Fergusson D, Gunz A, Bustos, Campos R, Catalan V, Roedl S, Tsampalieros A, Barrowman N, Geier P, Henderson M, Khamessan A, Lawson ML, McIntyre L, Redpath S, Jones G, Kaufmann M, McNally D; Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. A phase II dose evaluation pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial of cholecalciferol in critically ill children with vitamin D deficiency (VITdAL-PICU study). BMC Pediatr. 2023 Aug 14;23(1):397.
- Li Y, Fiest K, Burns KEA, O’Hearn K, Maratta C, Menon K, Bochwerg B, Fowler R, Mehta S, Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. Addressing health care inequities in Canadian critical care through inclusive science: a pilot tool for standardized data collection. Can J Anaesth. 2023 Jun;70(6):963-967.
- Carrol ED, Ranjit S, Menon K, Bennett TD, Sanchez-Pinto LN, Zimmerman JJ, Souza DC, Sorce LR, Randolph AG, Ishimine P, de Oliveira CF, Lodha R, Harmon L, Watson RS, Schlapbach LS, Kissoon N, Argent AC, on behalf of the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce. Operationalizing Appropriate Sepsis Definitions in Children Worldwide: Considerations for the Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce. Pediatr Crit Care Med. Jun 1;24(6):e263-e271.
- Menon K, Sorce LR, Argent A, Bennett TD, Carrol ED, Kissoon N, Sanchez-Pinto LN, Schlapbach LJ, de Souza DC, Watson RS, Wynn JL, Zimmerman JJ, Ranjit S. Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce; Pediatric Sepsis Definition Taskforce are as follows. Reporting of Social Determinants of Health in Pediatric Sepsis Studies. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023 Apr 1;24(4):301-310.
- Klowak JA, Bijelić V, Barrowman N, Menon K; Genomics of Pediatric Septic Shock Investigators. The Association of Corticosteroids and Pediatric Sepsis Biomarker Risk Model (PERSEVERE)-II Biomarker Risk Stratification With Mortality in Pediatric Septic Shock. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023 Mar 1;24(3):186-193.
- O’Hearn K, Cayouette F, Cameron S, Martin D, Tsampalieros A, Menon K. Assent in Pediatric Critical Care Research: A Stakeholder Survey of Canadian Research Ethics Board, Research Coordinators, Pediatric Critical Care Researchers and Nurses. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023 Apr 1;24(4):e179-e189.
- Cayouette F, O’Hearn K, Menon K. Operationalization of assent for research participation in pre-adolescent children: a scoping review. BMC Med Ethics. 2022 Nov 3;23(1):106.
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.