a

QxMD
Team
Clinicians, researchers &
engineers working
together to advance
healthcare.

Contributors &
Partners

James Kempema, MD

Lead Physician Contributor, Pedi-STAT

Dr. James Kempema serves as the Clinical

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine for

the University of Texas – Austin / Dell Medical

School, and is the EMS Director and a core

faculty member of the University of Texas-

Austin Dell Medical School Emergency

Medicine Residency. He obtained a degree in

Exercise Science at Calvin College, Masters of

Science in Exercise Physiology at the University

of Arizona and medical degree at the University

of Arizona College of Medicine.

He has been an attending physician at Dell /

Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas

and Dell Children’s Medical Center since 1999

and has been the Associate Medical Director

for Dell / Seton UT Emergency Department

since 2006. He is currently Medical Director for

Travis County STAR Flight and an Associate

Medical Director for the Austin / Travis County

EMS System.

Andrew Rule, MD

Author/Contributor, ROKS and ROKS2

Dr Andrew Rule is a Professor of Medicine and

consultant in the Division of Nephrology &

Hypertension at the Mayo Clinic.

He completed his clinical and research training

at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

His research of is focused on the epidemiology

of chronic kidney disease as well as the

epidemiology of kidney stones, including

characterization of their risk factors and

adverse outcomes.

Matthew Cheung SM, MD, FRCP(C)

Author/Curator, Hematology section, Calculate

by QxMD

Dr. Cheung obtained his Medical Degree in

1999 at the University of Toronto. He

completed residency programs in Internal

Medicine and Hematology from 1999-2004 at

the University of Toronto. Thereafter, he

completed a clinical and research fellowship in

Lymphoma and a Canadian Institutes of Health

Research (CIHR) HIV/AIDS post-doctoral

research fellowship. In 2006, he obtained a

Masters degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the

Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. He

currently holds peer- reviewed grant support

from CIHR, the National Cancer Institute of

Canada, and the Canadian Foundation for AIDS

Research (CANFAR).

Dr. Cheung joined the medical sta" at the

Odette Cancer Centre/Sunnybrook Health

Sciences Centre as a Clinician-Investigator and

Clinical Hematologist in 2007. He is currently

an Associate Professor in the Department of

Medicine at the University of Toronto. He

serves on the Hematology Disease Site

Executive Committee for the National Cancer

Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group and is

the co-Chair of the Hematology Cancer Disease

Site Group of the Cancer Care Ontario Program

in Evidence-Based Care. His research interests

include clinical trial development in lymphoma,

economic evaluations in clinical trials, and

health outcomes research in the hematologic

malignancies.

Dr Navdeep Tangri

Contributor/Author, Kidney Failure Risk

Equation

Dr. Tangri is a medical researcher in the

Chronic Disease Innovation Center at Seven

Oaks General Hospital and an associate

professor in the University of Manitoba Faculty

of Medicine. His research program focuses on

improving clinical decision making for patients

with advanced CKD.

Dr. Tangri has published more than 100 papers

and presented at multiple national and

international scientific meetings. He serves on

the editorial board of the American Journal of

Kidney Disease and the Canadian Journal of

Kidney Health and Disease, and is Section

Editor for the Epidemiology and Prevention

Issue of Current Opinion in Nephrology and

Hypertension. He has active grants from the

Canadian Institute of Health Research, the

Kidney Foundation of Canada, and the

Manitoba Health Research Council.

Michael Germain, MD

Contributor, multiple prognostic tools in

Nephrology

As a practicing nephrologist I have been

motivated to strive to decrease the su!ering of

my patients with ESRD. These patients have

been shown to have a symptom burden and

mortality rate higher than most cancer

patients. We are also treating an increasingly

elderly and ill group of patients with a high co-

morbidity burden. These facts demand a multi-

track approach to their care, aggressive

attempts to improve QOL and decrease

mortality while recognizing that many of these

patients may not benefit from dialysis and

require aggressive palliative care either with or

without dialysis support.

Through ours and others research we realize

that rigorous clinical research is needed to

investigate the best way to accomplish this.

Building on our prior research we have just

completed a larger multicenter RCT supported

by PCORI, using our validated 6 month

mortality predictor tool with the surprise

question (“Would you be surprised if the

patient died in the next 6 months?”) and a

practical communication tool. The study is

designed to determine if we can improve the

use of palliative care and hospice services in a

highest risk cohort for which these services

would be appropriate. We have completed a 3

year multicenter study as part of an integrative

predicative model in non-dialysis CKD patients.

We have begun two projects to help enhance

shared decision making in our patients. One is

use of a video education tool developed by Dr.

Volandes, the second is a Donahue Foundation

grant using a “navigator” to work with our

patients on advanced care planning.

Jason Andrade, MD, FRCPC, FHRS

Contributor, Cardiology section & Author, ECG

Guide

Before joining the faculty at the University of

British Columbia, Dr. Andrade received a BSc

from McMaster University, and an MD from the

University of Ottawa. He then completed an

Internal Medicine residency and Cardiology

fellowship training at the University of British

Columbia before embarking on a clinical and

research fellowship in Cardiac

Electrophysiology at the Montreal Heart

Institute.

He is now Clinical Assistant Professor at the

University of British Columbia , director of the

Atrial Fibrillation Clinic, and focusses clinically

in Electrodiagnostics and Cardiac

Electrophysiology.

Daniel J Bertges, MD, FACS

Contributor, Vascular Quality Initiative

Daniel Bertges is an Associate Professor of

Surgery & Medicine at the Larner College of

Medicine at the University of Vermont and is

the Program Director for the Vascular Surgery

Fellowship at The University of Vermont

Medical Center. Dr. Bertges is a board certified

vascular surgeon who earned his medical

degree and completed his General Surgery

Residency and his Vascular Surgery Fellowship

at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

He is the chair of the Society for Vascular

Surgery Vascular Quality Initiative Peripheral

Vascular Registry, a member of the

International Consortium of Vascular Registries

and co-chair of the Registry Assessment of

Peripheral Devices (RAPID). His research

focuses on the evaluation of peripheral arterial

devices throughout the total product lifecycle.

His other clinical interests include cardiac risk

assessment, prevention of postoperative groin

infections and machine learning for the

interpretation of endoleak on CTA after EVAR.

Erica Tsang, MD

Contributor, Oncology content

Erica Tsang is a medical resident at the

University of British Columbia. Her interests

include internal medicine, medical oncology,

medical education, public health, and working

with marginalized populations.

Tait D. Shanafelt, MD

Contributor, CLL-IPI

Dr Shanafelt is a consultant in the Division of

Hematology at the Mayo Clinic and holds the

academic rank of Professor of Medicine and

Professor of Medical Education.

His clinical and scientific interests are focused

on the treatment of patients with chronic

lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). He is currently the

principle investigator on multiple clinical trials

testing new treatments for patients with CLL as

well as being involved in the design and

conduct of CLL trials for the Eastern

Cooperative Oncology Group. Dr. Shanafelt’s

other academic interest is physician well-being

and its impact on patient care.

Caroline Just, MD

Contributor, Neurology section

Caroline Just is currently nearing the end of her

residency training in Neurology at Western

University, where she has previous served as

Chief Resident and is currently the Site Chair

for the Professional Association of Residents of

Ontario. She has published in the Canadian

Journal of Neurological Sciences, Twin Research

and Human Genetics, and Personality and

Individual Di!erences.

She was born in Montreal and grew up north of

Toronto. She studied psychology and

neuroscience in her undergraduate degree at

Western University in London, Ontario, and

then got her M.D. from McMaster University.

She is passionate about utilizing technology to

streamline the practice of medicine, and so she

is thrilled about joining the QxMD team. She

currently lives in London, Ontario with her two

cats and husband, in that order.

Ron Wald, MDCM, MPH

Contribute, Acute Kidney Injury

Ron Wald is a nephrologist and Associate

Professor of Medicine at the University of

Toronto. He completed his undergraduate and

medical degrees at McGill University and

clinical training in internal medicine and

nephrology at the University of Toronto. This

was followed by a Master in Public Health at

Harvard University and a research fellowship at

Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Since joining the St. Michael’s Hospital Division

of Nephrology in 2006, Dr. Wald has been

responsible for the hospital’s acute dialysis

program. Dr. Wald’s research interests are in

the areas of critical care nephrology and

chronic dialysis. He is currently leading a

Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded

international trial on the impact of the timing

of dialysis initiation on survival in critically ill

patients with acute kidney injury.

Cécile Couchoud, MD

Contributor, 3-Month Mortality in Incident

Elderly ESRD Patients

Cécile Couchoud graduated from University of

Lyon as a medical doctor and nephrologist in

1991 and as epidemiologist in 1998. She

completed her PhD in 2014 and was qualified

to supervise research in 2015. She is working

for the French end-stage renal disease registry

since 2003. Currently Dr. Couchoud is

specializing in renal epidemiology. Her

research interests include development of

statistical models to simulate the trajectory of

the patients with renal replacement therapy to

be able to assess the impact of strategy

modifications on health care supply and

estimate the individual benefit of those

treatments.

Alvin H. Moss, MD, FACP, FAAHPM

Contributor, Prognostic models in nephrology

Dr. Moss is a Professor of Medicine in the

Sections of Nephrology and Supportive Care at

the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

He serves as Chair of the Coalition for

Supportive Care of Kidney Patients. He led the

writing of the first and second editions of the

clinical practice guideline, Shared Decision-

Making in the Appropriate Initiation of and

Withdrawal from Dialysis. He received the

Distinguished Service Award from the Renal

Physicians Association in 2011 and the Medal

of Excellence Award from the American

Association of Kidney Patients in 2015. He is a

co-principal investigator on a grant funded by

the Moore Foundation to integrate supportive

care into the treatment of advanced CKD and

ESRD patients. His research interests include

dialysis ethics and improving care at the end of

life. He is a graduate of Harvard University and

the University of Pennsylvania School of

Medicine. He and his wife Marlene have six

children and 15 grandchildren.

Barbra E Backus, MD, PhD

Contributor, HEART Score

Dr Backus developed the HEART score to risk

stratify patients with chest pain presenting to

the ER while obtaining her PhD. She is

currently completing her residency in

emergency medicine at Medisch Centrum

Haaglanden in The Hague, Netherlands.

Venkatesh
Thiruganasambandamoorthy, MD

Contributor, Canadian Syncope Risk Score

Dr. Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy is

an Associate Professor in the Departments of

Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology at the

University of Ottawa as well a Scientist at the

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He

completed his Master’s in Epidemiology in

addition to a Research Fellowship, and

mentors Master’s and postdoctoral students.

He has established one of the largest programs

on ED syncope and presyncope.

He has achieved international recognition in

syncope and presyncope research and is a

founding member of the Canadian Syncope

Alliance, a national collaboration aiming to

improve syncope care in Canada.

Erin F. Barreto, Pharm.D., R.Ph

Contributor, Cystatin C–Guided Vancomycin

Dosing in Critically Ill Patients

Dr. Barreto received her doctoral-level degree

from Drake University and thereafter

completed her pharmacy practice and critical

care pharmacy specialty residencies. When she

joined the sta" as a critical care clinical

pharmacist, she established herself as a core

member of the interdisciplinary team through

the provision of high-level patient care and

service to the critical care practice of Mayo

Clinic. She holds the rank of Assistant

Professor of Medicine and Pharmacy and

maintains advanced certifications in both

Pharmacotherapy and Critical Care Pharmacy.

She is a leader in critical care pharmacy

practice and is actively involved in the

American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the

Society of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Barreto’s

research e"orts are directed to application of

non-creatinine based approaches to

assessment of renal function in the ICU to

improve medication dosing and monitoring.

Matthew D. Cox, MD

Contributor, Otolaryngology section

Dr. Cox is a fellowship-trained otologist and a

diplomate of the American Board of

Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. As a

physician with the Florida Otolaryngology

Group, P.A. His practice focuses on otology and

neurotology, with expertise in the

management of chronic otitis media,

cholesteatoma, disorders of the tympanic

membrane and ossicles, Ménière’s disease,

and all types of hearing loss.

Dr. Cox attended the Florida State University

College of Medicine for his medical doctorate

and residency training in the Department of

Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,

where he also went on to complete his

fellowship training in otology and neurotology

under the mentorship of Dr. John L.