Department of Medicine

University of Pittsburgh

Mark Unruh, MD, MSc
photo

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Office: PUH C1111
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
 
Phone: 412-647-2571
Fax: 412-647-6891
E-mail: unruhm@dom.pitt.edu
Education
B.A., University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, 1992
M.D., University of Chicago, 1996
M.S., Tufts Sackler School, 2002
Training
Internal Medicine Residency, University of Pennsylvania, 1999
Clinical Nephrology Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 2000
Nejphrology Clinical Research Fellowship, New England Medical Center, 2002
Area of Specialization/Research Interest  
Sleep Disorders in chronic kidney disease
Quality of life and fatigue in chronic kidney disease
blood pressure treatment in chronic kidney disease
Metabolic Changes following kidney transplantation
Treatment of acute kidney injury
Secondary data analysis of clinical trials
 
Profile
My research group is interested in the care and treatment of those with chronic kidney disease. Our primary focus is the link between sleep disorders and daytime functioning among those with chronic illness. We are studying the severity of sleep problems such as sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and insomnia among those with chronic kidney disease. We are examining the relationship between the nighttime sleep quality and quality of life,stress, depression, and cognitive performance of those with CKD. We are also examining the interaction of nighttime medical therapies such as dialysis on sleep quality. Our group is participating in studies of the treatment of acute renal failure and we are supporting the Frequent Hemodialysis Network as the Quality of Life Core.
Lab Personnel and Web page
Lee Anne Mandich RN Maria-Eleni Roumelioti MD Christos Argyropoulos MD PhD Sheena Dohar BA Francis Pike MS Abdus Sattar ABD
Recent Grants
Title: Sleep and Health in Peritoneal Dialysis
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount:
Funding Agency: Fresenius Medical Care Young Investigator Grant of the National Kidney Foundation
Start Year: 2006
End Year: 2008
Title: Sleep and Health: Influence of Hemodialysis
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount:
Funding Agency: Paul Teschan Research Foundation
Start Year: 2005
End Year: 2008
Title: Quality of Life Assessment Center for the Frequent Hemodialysis Network
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount:
Funding Agency: Frequent Hemodialysis Network
Start Year: 2005
End Year: 2008
Title: Quality of Life Core for the Frequent Hemodialysis Network
Role: PI
Amount: $307,826.00
Funding Agency: NIH
Start Year: 2004
End Year: 2009
Title: Sleep and Daytime Functioning in Chronic Kidney Disease
Role: PI
Amount: 709,055
Funding Agency: NIDDK
Start Year: 2004
End Year: 2009
Title: Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program
Role: Site-Principal Investigator; Principal Investigator: Paul Palevsky
Amount:
Funding Agency: NIH/NIDDK
Start Year: 2003
End Year: 2007
Title: Intensive versus Conventional Renal Support in Acute Renal Failure
Role: Site PI
Amount:
Funding Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program (CSP #530) and NIDDK
Start Year: 2003
End Year: 2007
Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications
Title: Sleep Quality and its Correlates in the First Year of Dialysis
Author(s): ML Unruh, DJ Buysse, MA Dew, IV. Evans, AW. Wu, NE. Fink, NR. Powe, KB. Meyer
Year: 2006
Journal: CJASN
Volume: 1
Page(s): 802-810
Title: Quality of Life in the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension: Effects of Blood Pressure Management.
Author(s): JP Lash, X Wang, T Greene, CA. Gadegbeku, Y Hall, K Jones, JW. Kusek, M Sika, ML Unruh
Year: 2006
Journal: AJKD
Volume: 47(6)
Page(s): 956-64
Title: Hemodialysis Timing, Survival and Cardiovascular Outcomes in the HEMO Study
Author(s): Y Ng, KB Meyer, JW. Kusek, G Yan, MV Rocco, PL Kimmel, RL Benz, S Beddhu, JT. Dwyer, RD Toto, G Eknoyan, ML Unruh
Year: 2006
Journal: AJKD
Volume: 47(4)
Page(s): 614-24
Title: Health-related Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.
Author(s): K Kalantar-Zadeh, ML Unruh
Year: 2005
Journal: Int Urol Nephrol
Volume: 37(2)
Page(s): 367-78
Title: Comorbid Conditions in Kidney Transplantation (KTX): Association With Graft And Patient Survival.
Author(s): Christine Wu, Idris Evans, Raymond Joseph, Ron Shapiro, Henkie Tan, Amit Basu, Cynthia Smetanka, Ahktar Khan, Jerry McCauley , ML Unruh
Year: 2005
Journal: JASN
Volume: 16
Page(s):
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