Arthur Slutsky
Dr. Arthur Slutsky is Professor of Medicine, Surgery and Biomedical Engineering (University of Toronto) and was Director of the Respiratory Division (1990-1999), as well the inaugural Director of the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Toronto (2000-2013). The UoT critical care division is viewed as one of the top 2 or 3 academic critical care programs in the world
From 2000 – 2018 he was the inaugural Vice President (Research) at St. Michael’s Hospital (SMH), where he played a key role in recruiting world class scientists, increasing CIHR funding by about 18-fold, and increasing the profile and impact of research carried out by SMH researchers.
His personal research has been highly translational, focusing on basic discoveries including: (1) importance of atelectrauma (injury caused opening-closing of lung units), (2) discovery of biotrauma (pulmonary mediators released during mechanical ventilation can lead to distal organ dysfunction), and (3) COVID-19 related lung injury. These findings were followed by clinical research and multi-centered RCTs addressing lung protection in patients with ARDS, as well as demonstrating that protective lung strategies can increase the number of donor lungs available for transplantation. His work has also impacted how patients with normal lungs are ventilated in the ICU and operating room.
Dr. Slutsky has published >750 original papers, 70 books/chapters, and many randomized controlled trials which have changed clinical guidelines and practice. He has a (Google Scholar) H-index = 165, and his work has received >165,000 citations. He has a Highly Cited Researcher (as designated by Clarivate) for a number of years. He has won numerous awards including ATS Critical Care Lifetime Achievement Award (2012), Dame Margaret-Turner Warwick Respiratory Lecturer Award of the U.K. National Heart and Lung Institute (2014), Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Health Researcher of the Year (2014), Election to the Royal Society of Canada (2015), and appointment to the Order of Canada (2018).