The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute

Dr. Peter Kurre, physician-scientist at CHOP, is in search of the cause and cure for Fanconi anemia, a rare inherited condition with prominent blood cell production complications. Learn more about his research, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health, on Cornerstone. https://www.research.chop.edu//chop-physician-scientist-in

How can we improve chlamydia screening and contraceptive access for adolescents? What do low-income parents think of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax? How do immigration policies affect population health? These are just some of the projects our researchers are pursuing with support from the Pilot Grant Program, a partnership between our Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness and PolicyLab. In a new Cornerstone Q&A, we reached out to recipients of the grant to learn, in their own words, how they’re driving change in policy and practice through these studies. https://www.research.chop.edu//driving-change-in-practice-

Start your weekend with some science straight out of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute with our bi-weekly collection of research news. In this edition, we cover our scientists’ discovery of a cellular pathway and drug involved in stimulating tissue repair in lung disease, highlight a precision medicine treatment that resolved symptoms of a severe lymphatic disorder, share our hospital’s commitment to addressing the impact of structural racism, and much more. https://www.research.chop.edu//in-the-news-lung-repair-lic

This week marks #PediatricNursesWeek and we can't be prouder of our incredible nurses at CHOP, many of whom are also nurse scientists asking critical research questions about how to improve care and support for patients and their families. If you haven't already, meet some of these multi-talented nurse scientists in our year-long nursing research Q&A series, which celebrates 2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife. https://www.research.chop.edu//improving-outcomes-inspirin

CAR T-cell therapy is a relatively new therapy for some hard-to-treat blood cancers that involves taking a patient’s T cells from the blood, modifying them in the lab, and then giving them back to the patient to kill cancer cells. In some cases, however, the T cells in the blood are not robust enough to create the therapy. New research from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia identified a T-cell reservoir in the lymphatic fluid that is rich in the naive T cells needed for mak...ing CAR T-cell therapy. This is exciting because we have many patients who want to undergo CAR T-cell therapy, but are unable to do so because their T cells just won’t expand enough to produce CAR T cells, said Dr. Jessica Foster, attending physician in the Division of Oncology at CHOP. This opens up a completely different avenue to get T cells from those patients. Find out more about the study on Cornerstone. https://www.research.chop.edu//snapshot-science-can-t-cell

In developing research, Dr. Njoroge, child psychiatrist and researcher with the Lifespan Brain Institute at CHOP and the University of Pennsylvania, seeks to understand how culture, race, and ethnicity influence developing children and families, and she looks at ways in which social determinants of health and systemic racism affect early neurodevelopment. Learn more about her relevant and timely research on Cornerstone. https://www.research.chop.edu//researcher-studies-how-race

Dr. Robert Avery first developed an interest in optic pathways gliomas during his clinical training. Now a pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist at CHOP, he is focused on creating better outcomes for patients with these unique brain tumors that often cause vision loss. Using advanced imaging, Dr. Avery is investigating if specific biomarkers might help predict when vision loss is imminent and determine the optimal treatment window. Read more on Cornerstone. https://www.research.chop.edu//identifying-biomarkers-as-p

A handheld device can identify pupillary changes that may identify student athletes with concussion, researchers from CHOP found. We know the visual system is affected after a sports-related concussion, and this is something that patients can’t intentionally control or hide, said Dr. Christina L. Master, co-lead of the Minds Matter Concussion Research Program at CHOP. We may have an opportunity for objective assessment where data is easily obtained via a handheld device i...n clinical and sports settings. Read more about this study, and others, in this week’s In the News, on Cornerstone. https://www.research.chop.edu//in-the-news-mass-shootings-

Join us in celebrating the people who work in the background to ensure breakthrough research projects run smoothly from start to finish: Research administrators. Sept. 25 is National Research Administrator Day, which recognizes the professionals who lead, manage, and support the research enterprise. Their work enables faculty and researchers to dedicate a greater focus to scholarship, which paves the way to discoveries and new knowledge to help prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure children with diseases. Thank you to all of our talented research administrators! Learn more about their important contributions to CHOP Research Institute: https://www.research.chop.edu/about/research-administration

Almost daily we hear the experiences of not just clinicians, but families, across the country who are facing numerous challenges in the provision of human milk in the hospital setting. But what we have found through our research is that many of these obstacles can be overcome if clinicians, not just nurses, are educated and empowered to provide evidence-based lactation care and support from the prenatal period through discharge. Dr. Elizabeth Froh, a nurse scientist in the Center for Pediatric Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice at CHOP. We invite you to learn more about Dr. Froh’s impactful work in human milk science in a new Q&A, the latest in our series recognizing 2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife, as designated by the World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.research.chop.edu//enabling-the-best-possible-

Thought to be a post-viral hyperinflammatory response related to COVID-19, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) has some clinical overlap with Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory condition that causes rash, fever, and inflammation of the blood vessels in children. However, the two conditions differ in important ways, particularly when it comes to cardiac involvement. Using sensitive parameters to assess cardiac function, researchers at CHOP found that cardiac ...involvement in MIS-C differs from Kawasaki disease and is associated with myocardial injury. The findings appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Learn more in a Cornerstone Q&A with Anirban Banerjee, MD, FACC, an attending cardiologist at CHOP. https://www.research.chop.edu//researchers-detect-subtle-c

Meet the co-chairs of the CHOP Postdoctoral Alliance (CPA), which just finished its first year! The purpose of the CPA is to support the success of the many postdoctoral researchers at CHOP. In this post to kick off National Postdoc Appreciation Week, Sept. 21-25, Dr. Daniel Blumenthal, and Dr. Joseph Dybas, co-chairs of the CPA, reflect on the CPA’s first year, and what the CPA will accomplish in its second year. Read more on Cornerstone. https://www.research.chop.edu//meet-the-co-chairs-of-the-c