These blog entries are the views and opinions of the residents during and after their international experiences, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of VIA or VUMC.
At the end of 2017, Fredric (Josh) Billings IV, M.D., was awarded the 2016 Biomedical Science Impact Award by Jeffrey Balser, MD, PhD, and Jennifer Pientenpol, PhD, for his publication entitled “High-Dose Perioperative Atorvastatin and Acute Kidney Injury Following Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial” which was published in March 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to Megan Smallwood, Program Manager at the Office of Research, the Biomedical Science Impact Awards are a newly initiated award. The award is given to VUMC investigators who have been a first, last or corresponding author for a publication in one of the “big six” journals which include: Science, Cell, Nature, JAMA, Lancet, or NEJM.
“I felt honored and surprised to receive the award. The research and manuscript that lead to the award required steady work and commitment by a large group,” Billings said.
Billings attributes this award to the fact that this research addressed an important question in acutely ill surgical patients that has broad applicability. It also used a methodology that was refined and appropriate to test the hypothesis, and the data was precise. Atorvastatin did not reduce kidney injury. In fact, among patients with chronic kidney disease who were naïve to statin use, atorvastatin increased kidney injury.
As for the impact of the research, Billings said he hopes the research has improved the understanding of the effect of perioperative statin administration on postoperative kidney injury and has provided data to help healthcare providers provide better care for their patients. Statin should not be started prior to cardiac surgery but rather at the time of hospital discharge.
Billings has future plans for this research. He explains, “We are continuing to focus on mechanism of organ injury associated with surgery and testing therapies to reduce organ injury and improve patient outcomes”.