Associate Professor of Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Michael G. S. Shashaty, MD, MSCE, FCCM, Associate Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
I am a practicing intensivist and an active clinical and translational investigator with a focus on the acute organ dysfunction syndromes of acute kidney injury (AKI) and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in critical illness and lung transplant populations.
I am the principal investigator of the Lung Transplant Outcomes Group–Acute Kidney Injury (LTOG-AKI) study, a multicenter prospective cohort of lung transplant recipients (n>1800) designed to study the clinical and molecular epidemiology of post-lung transplant AKI.We seek to determine the impact of AKI on lung transplant outcomes, identify at-risk transplant recipients, evaluate the utility of novel AKI biomarkers in this population, and ultimately implement patient-targeted preventive and therapeutic strategies to reduce AKI rates and improve outcomes. I also direct the ongoing Penn Trauma Organ Dysfunction Study (PETROS), a prospective cohort of critically ill trauma patients (n>1500), and am a co-investigator in Penn’s Molecular Epidemiology of Severe Sepsis in the ICU (MESSI) cohort, for which I lead studies of AKI. My current studies in sepsis and trauma include investigating the relationship of obesity with AKI, circulating cell-free DNA as a mechanistic contributor to AKI and ARDS, and genetic risk factors for AKI. I particularly enjoy opportunities to work with talented collaborators and to mentor junior investigators.
Clinically, I serve as the Rapid Response Medical Director at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, working with a multidisciplinary team to promote proficiency in emergency management through simulation, enhance electronic capture and analysis of clinical emergencies data, and establish systems for safe and effective delivery of early critical care to decompensating patients. Our recent efforts include reducing overcrowding during rapid response events, enhancing hemorrhagic shock algorithms, and conducting studies to better define clinical decompensation.