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PrintEx-Tulsan - Matthew Paden, M.D.
Vital stats: Native Tulsan. Attended Bishop Kelley High School, Emory University and The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine; completed his residency and fellowship at Emory University.
Now: Age 35; assistant professor of pediatric critical care at Emory, associate director of pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) and advanced technologies at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
How did Tulsa prepare you for your current profession? I was very fortunate (at Bishop Kelley) to have wonderful teachers and mentors who shared their love of science and physiology and encouraged my interest in science. I returned to Tulsa for the last two years of medical school. It was at Saint Francis that I was introduced to the rewarding world of caring for critically ill children and their families.
Tell us about the children’s kidney replacement device you are developing. During my time in Atlanta learning about various life support devices, I discovered that many of them did not work as well as I would have hoped. The vast majority of the medical devices used in children are actually made for adults. We assembled a team from Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology to address this problem.
How did you want to tackle this problem? We set out to develop a continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) device that would work effectively and safely for the entire range of patient sizes that pediatricians take care of. After several years of preliminary work, we created our first prototype device and proved that it worked safely and effectively.
What was your reaction to receiving the research grant of $1 million over two years? We were fortunate enough to be selected. This money will allow us to refine our prototype device and to test our design.
Why are you passionate about this aspect of research? While a bit esoteric to most people, this has been one of the most enjoyable projects I have ever worked on. Getting to see something go from an idea and a scribbling on a napkin to a working device on the bench top is really powerful — and fun.
