Cal Robinson

Title:: Staff Physician, Division of Nephrology
Designations:: MBChB, PhD, FRCPC, FASN
Email:: cal.robinson@sickkids.ca
Alternate Contact Name:: Carla Santos
Alternate Email:: carla.santos@sickkids.ca
U of T Positions:: Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics

Hospital Positions

Staff Physician, Division of Nephrology

Research Positions

Scientist-Track Investigator, Child Health Evaluative Sciences
Director, Kidney Health Clinical Research Unit (KID-CRU)

Biography

Dr. Cal Robinson is a clinician-scientist whose work focuses on improving care for children with kidney disease. His research aims to ensure that children have access to safe, effective treatments that are supported by high-quality evidence. Dr. Robinson leads clinical studies and uses large-scale health data to better understand how kidney conditions affect children throughout their lives. He is particularly interested in developing new approaches to paediatric clinical trials and evaluating how treatments perform in real-world settings. Through collaborations across Canada and internationally, Dr. Robinson works to advance research that improves health outcomes for children and families affected by kidney disease.

Research

Many medicines used to treat kidney disease in children have been studied only in adults, making it difficult for health-care teams and families to know which treatments work best for children. Dr. Robinson's research focuses on closing this gap by designing and leading clinical trials specifically for children with kidney conditions. He uses innovative research methods that help answer important questions with fewer participants than traditional studies, making paediatric research more practical and accessible. Dr. Robinson also studies long-term outcomes by analyzing large health databases to understand how childhood kidney disease can affect health later in life. His work compares treatments used in everyday clinical practice and helps identify opportunities to improve care. In addition, he is helping build research programs and national collaborations that increase opportunities for children and families across Canada to participate in research. Patients and families play an important role in shaping this work to ensure research addresses the outcomes that matter most to them.

Education and experience

2024–2026: Postdoctoral Fellowship, KRESCENT (Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training Program), Canada
2024–2025: Doctoral Fellowship, Increasing Capacity for Maternal and Paediatric Clinical Trials (IMPaCT) Training Platform, Canada
2022–2026: PhD, Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2023–2024: Career Development Fellowship, Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) Consortium, USA
2023: Researcher Management and Leadership Training, Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
2022: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Surveillance Practicum, Global Research and Training (GREAT) Network, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2020–2024: Fellowship, Paediatric Nephrology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2021–2022: Chief Fellow, Paediatric Nephrology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2017–2020: Residency, General Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
2016–2017: Academic Foundation Doctor, NHS Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2013–2016: MBChB (Honours with Distinction), University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
2009–2013: BSc, Medicine (First Class Honours), University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom

Achievements

2026: Thomas and Edna Naylor Memorial Award, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2025: Claire Bombardier PhD Gold Award, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2025: Andrew Sass-Kortsak Award, The Hospital for Sick Children, Research Institute,Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2024: Fellows Research Award, American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, United States.
2024: Fellows Clinical Research Award, Society for Pediatric Research, United States.
2023: Early Career Investigator Award, Pediatric Research Journal.
2023: Trainee Research Award, Division of Nephrology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2023: Trainee Research Award, Canadian Association of Paediatric Nephrologists, Canada.
2022: Trainee Research Award, Canadian Association of Paediatric Nephrologists, Canada.
2021: Trainee Research Award, Division of Nephrology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2021: Trainee Research Award, Canadian Association of Paediatric Nephrologists, Canada.
2019: Resident Research Award, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
2016: Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
2016: Tom Donaldson Memorial Award, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
2016: Medical Student Award, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, United Kingdom.

Publications

Robinson CH, Hussain J, Jeyakumar N, Smith G, Birken CS, Dart A, Dionne J, Garg A, Kandasamy S, Karam S, Marjerrison S, South AM, Thabane L, Wahi G, Zappitelli M, Chanchlani R. Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Children and Adolescents With Hypertension. JAMA Pediatr. 2024 Jul 1;178(7):688-698. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.1543. PMID: 38709137
Robinson CH, Jeyakumar N, Luo B, Askenazi D, Deep A, Garg AX, Goldstein S, Greenberg JH, Mammen C, Nash DM, Parekh RS, Silver SA, Thabane L, Wald R, Zappitelli M, Chanchlani R. Long-Term Kidney Outcomes after Pediatric Acute Kidney Injury. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2024 Nov 1;35(11):1520-1532. doi: 10.1681/ASN.0000000000000445. Epub 2024 Jul 17. PMID: 39018120
Robinson CH, Aman N, Banh T, Brooke J, Chanchlani R, Cuthbertson BH, Dhillon V, Fan E, Langlois V, Levin L, Licht C, McKay A, Noone D, Pearl R, Radhakrishnan S, Rowley V, Teoh CW, Vasilevska-Ristovska J, Heath A, Parekh RS. Comparative Efficacy of Nonsteroid Immunosuppressive Medications in Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome. JAMA Pediatr. 2025 Mar 1;179(3):321-331. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.5286. PMID: 39869322
Robinson CH, Aman N, Banh T, Brooke J, Dhillon V, Garner M, Licht C, McKay A, Pearl R, Radhakrishnan S, Rasool K, Selvathesan N, Teoh CW, Vasilevska-Ristovska J, Parekh RS. Challenging Clinical Practice Guideline Definitions in Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol (2025). doi: 10.2215/CJN.0000000842
Robinson CH, Carter S., Aman N, Bruno V, Chan S, Cuthbertson B, Garner M, Fan E, Licht C, McKay A, Radhakrishnan S, Rowley V, Teoh CW, Vasilevska-Ristovska J, Heath A, Parekh R. Establishing core outcomes and minimal clinically important differences for childhood steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome clinical trials: results from a Delphi consensus process. Pediatr Nephrol (2025). doi: 10.1007/s00467-025-06960-6

See all Dr. Robinson's publications

Funding

2026–2029: REduced-dose Steroid PrOtocol for childhood Nephrotic SyndromE (RESPONSE): A Multicentre Bayesian Adaptive Randomized Controlled Trial, Principal Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant (Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health); Kidney Foundation of Canada Kidney Health Research Grant.
2024–2026: REduced-dose Steroid PrOtocol for childhood Nephrotic SyndromE (RESPONSE): A Pilot Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial, Principal Investigator, NephCure-Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium Pediatric Glomerular Disease Accelerator Grant; Pediatric Centers of Excellence in Nephrology Pilot and Feasibility Program.
2026–2030: PACE-BP Pilot Trial: Feasibility and Safety of a Pragmatic Comparative Effectiveness Trial of First-Line Antihypertensive Therapies in Children, Co-Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant.
2026–2027: Real-World Comparative Effectiveness of First-Line Antihypertensive Regimens in Children and Adolescents (CLEARLY-BP), Co-Investigator, Hamilton Health Sciences Research Bridge Funding.
2023–2028: Insight Into Nephrotic Syndrome: Investigating Genes, Health, and Therapeutics, Co-Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant.
2023–2025: Effectiveness of MedsCheck Diabetes in Ontario: A Target Trial Emulation Using Administrative Data, Co-Investigator, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Dalla Lana School of Public Health New Initiative and Innovation Award, Network for Improving Health Systems.
2022–2024: Long-term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Children and Adolescents Diagnosed with Hypertension in Ontario, Co-Investigator, McMaster University Department of Pediatrics CoRE Builder Team Grant.
2021–2026: Deriving Normative Data on 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring for South Asian Children, Co-Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant; Hamilton Health Sciences Early Career Investigator Award.
2021–2026: The KIdney aNd blooD prESsure ouTcomes – Determining best fOllow-up in hospitalized Children (KINDEST-DOC) Study: A National Study of the FILTR-CKD Study Group, Co-Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant.
2020–2022: Long-term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Children with Kawasaki Disease, Co-Investigator, Hamilton Health Sciences New Investigator Fund Award; Kawasaki Disease Canada Research Award; McMaster University Pediatric Resident Research Award.
2019–2021: Epidemiology, Long-term Outcomes and Healthcare Utilization Following Acute Kidney Injury in Neonates and Children in Ontario, Co-Investigator, Kidney Foundation of Canada Biomedical Research Grant; Hamilton Health Sciences New Investigator Fund Award.