Janis Dionne

MD, BSc, FRCPC

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Chronic kidney disease does not just affect adults but can occur during childhood as well. It is important to identify children with impaired kidney function early and manage the disease to prevent adverse outcomes including poor growth, malnutrition, high blood pressure, bone disease, and cardiovascular disease. Our goal is to monitor the children that have been identified as having chronic kidney disease over time to identify areas for improvement in their healthcare and quality of life.

Management of high blood pressure is important to maintain good cardiovascular health. With 24 hour blood pressure monitoring we are gaining new insight into normal and abnormal blood pressure patterns and how this could adversely affect health. This non-invasive tool can be used in many groups of patients and currently we are studying blood pressure abnormalities in pediatric chronic kidney disease patients and pediatric long-term cancer survivors with many other future applications available.