Awni Al-Subu, MD

Education

MD, Al-Quds School of Medicine, Abou-Dies, Palestine
Residency, Pediatrics, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
Fellowship, Pediatric Critical Care, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Professional Activities

Dr. Awni Al-Subu is associate professor (CHS) in the Division of Critical Care. He is the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) medical director and medical director of pediatric respiratory care at American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH). As the PICU medical director, Al-Subu regularly collaborates with critical care, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, and surgical health care professionals to standardize evidence-based care for all critically ill children admitted to the PICU. He also leads quality improvement initiatives to develop and implement clinical care guidelines.

Clinical Interests

Al-Subu is a pediatric intensivist interested in acute lung injury, pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS), post-cardiac arrest care, and point of care ultrasound (POCUS).

Research Interests

Al-Subu’s research focuses on advancing real-time, noninvasive monitoring technologies in critically ill neonates and children, particularly during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). His goal is to translate experimental and preclinical findings into impactful clinical practices that improve outcomes for infants and children experiencing cardiac arrest, both in- and out-of-hospital. Over the past decade, he has developed novel pediatric swine model for acute lung injury (ALI) and hypoxic ventricular fibrillatory arrest to investigate physiological responses during CPR. His work has demonstrated that combining volumetric capnography with two-site regional oxygen saturation monitoring can optimize CPR quality and detect return of spontaneous circulation, forming the basis for future clinical applications.

On the clinical research front, Al-Subu collaborates with national networks such as the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) and Pediatric REspiratory and VENTilation PALISI SubGroup (PREVENT) to study mechanical ventilation, lung-protective strategies, and resuscitation outcomes. He is also engaged in NIH-funded research and multi-institutional quality improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing airway management and ventilator practices in the pediatric ICU. In addition, he is a recognized leader in the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in pediatric critical care, having published extensively on lung ultrasound and led national education and research initiatives through PALISI and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).