Prof. Dr. Martin Kluckow

PhD 2000 University of Sydney. The hemodynamic basis of intraventricular haemorrhage

 

1995-Present Senior Staff Specialist in Neonatology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney

2016-Present Professor of Neonatology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Uni of Sydney

2002 –Present Neonatal care consultant to Primates at Taronga Zoo

 

Professor Martin Kluckow (MBBS, FRACP, PhD, CCPU) is a full-time neonatal clinician and a Professor of Neonatology. He has had a long-term commitment to clinical research in the area of the circulatory transition and perinatal care in preterm infants. His research group described for the first time the relationships between cardiovascular function, pulmonary blood flow and cerebral injury in the preterm infant. He has been a leader in the area of the timing of umbilical cord clamping and clinical translation of the knowledge from animal models. He is considered a world expert and opinion leader in the area of physiology based cord clamping. He has been closely involved with teaching and education at all levels with experience in the field in Vietnam and in Dien Bien province.

 

Contributions to field of research: Prof Kluckow’s present research focuses on using point of care ultrasound at the bedside, to understand the physiology of transition and assess the effect of various interventions on prevention of brain injury in premature and term infants. These include development and completion of the DETECT (Ductal echocardiographic targeting and early closure trial) – a national 3 centre trial to answer one of the current key questions in Neonatology – when is the best time to treat the ductus arteriosus. Development and completion of the multi-centre PDA (Paracetamol Duct Action) Trial, a 3 centre randomised controlled trial assessing the usefulness of a new therapy – paracetamol – in the treatment of patent ductus arteriosus. He has been involved in 6 multicentre collaborative clinical trials as a trial principal investigator or site chief investigator, in the past 5 years, all of which have been completed or are nearing completion. Prof Kluckow’s research into the normal physiology of the transitional circulation of the preterm infant using point of care ultrasound has been adopted by most Neonatal units in ANZ with measures of SVC flow becoming standard and a trial outcome. The original articles by Dr Evans and Prof. Kluckow describing these techniques have been cited over 450 times.

 

Prof Kluckow has a long standing collaboration with several university and basic science research groups in the area of health and education research and health literacy in Women and Children’s Health. Prof Kluckow has participated in several teaching trips to Vietnam (Dien Bien Phu). In 2008 Prof Kluckow commenced a strong and productive collaboration with a basic science research team led by Professor Stuart Hooper that has resulted in several landmark insights into perinatal cardiovascular physiology subsequently translated into clinical practice. This collaboration has resulted in numerous important publications and almost $5million of peer reviewed funding.

 

Prof Kluckow is Chair of the CCPU (Certificate of Clinician Performed US) training group setting up practical US training workshops in Australia, the Middle East and India. He is a highly respected senior neonatologist and serves on the board of a major children’s charity.

 

International Standing: Prof Kluckow has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts (33 in the past 5 years) in clinical and physiological journals that are highly respected for his research field. Publications include original animal and human research, state of the art reviews and several editorials. He has a further 14 book chapters and is co-editor of a major new Elsevier Hemodynamics text book. Prof Kluckow has been invited to speak or present his research at 8 National and 36 International meetings since 2014. These include invitations to the Society for Pediatric Research-SPR (USA) and Hot Topics in Neonatology – one of only a handful of Australians invited to speak at this conference. He is co-chair of the Neonatal Hemodynamics Club, setting the international hemodynamic agenda each year at the SPR and has served on the International Neonatal Consortium Hemodynamic adaptation group working with the FDA to standardise cardiovascular management in the preterm infant.