Researcher | Research Overview
Dr. Agus is engaged in clinical research activities that attempt to address unanswered questions concerning endocrine homeostasis in critically ill children. His most recent work has focused on investigation of the value of controlling blood sugar levels in critically ill children. Dr. Agus co-led the team, along with Dr. Vinay Nadkarni at CHOP, to complete HALF-PINT, a thirty-two-center randomized controlled trial of tight glucose control in medical-surgical (non-cardiac) patients in pediatric ICUs across the US and Canada. They sought to determine whether close management of blood sugar in a sick child will enhance and hasten recovery. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and summarized by the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
He previously completed a prospective, randomized controlled trial of euglycemia in 980 post-operative cardiac surgery patients below three years of age at two centers. The technology developed in this trial, including use of continuous glucose monitoring and a computerized insulin algorithm, has enabled participants to have the lowest severe hypoglycemia rate of any published prospective trial to date in adults or pediatrics.
Dr. Agus and his group are also involved in several other areas of clinical research, including developing new devices for pediatric critical care, research in diabetic ketoacidosis, and adrenal insufficiency in the pediatric ICU.
Researcher | Research Background
Dr. Agus is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, both undergraduate and medical school. He trained in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology at Boston Children's Hospital, and in Pediatric Critical Care at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the founding Division Chief of the Division of Medicine Critical Care within the Department of Medicine. The Division provides the clinical coverage of the 16-bed Medicine Intensive Care Unit (MICU) and the 12-bed Intermediate Care Program (ICP), both of which he is the founding Medical Director. He serves as Co-Medical Director of BCH Biocontainment Unit, supporting BCH's designation by CDC as an Ebola Treatment Center. Dr. Agus also serves as an Attending Physician in the Endocrinology Division, both in the hospital and in clinic. He has been elected into several honorary societies, including Society for Pediatric Research, American Pediatric Society, and American College of Critical Care Medicine. He holds the Endowed Chair in Critical Care.