CPCE is accepting applications to our Pilot Grant Program through April 2.
Find out more about how to apply and past projects or contact us with questions.
Spotlight on: Dr. Theo Zaoutis

CPCE Director Theo Zaoutis, MD, MSCE received a 2017-2018 Fulbright Scholar Grant to conduct research at the National School of Public Health in Greece, one of the first schools of public health in Europe. It was founded in 1929 with the mission to “promote post-graduate studies and research in public health.”

Dr. Zaoutis’s Fulbright project focused on infection prevention and implementing antimicrobial stewardship interventions in Greece. This is a particularly important line of research in Greece, since it has high rates of HAI and among the highest rates of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic use in Europe. This area of work is particularly significant given the dire financial situations of many hospitals across the country.

Dr. Zaoutis will discuss his sabbatical experience on Monday March 12 at 9:00 am at the Roberts Center, second floor, room 2-180. CPCE faculty and staff are invited to attend. 
Upcoming Events
Patient Safety Awareness Week
Dates: March 11-17, 2018
CHOP is celebrating Patient Safety Awareness week with a variety of events and ways to participate. Learn more here.

Improving Your Chances of Grant Proposal Success: NIH F and K Awards
Date: April 12, 2018
Time: 2:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Abramson Research Center (ARC), Room 124
Matthew Weitzman, PhD, Professor, Division of Cancer Pathobiology will leverage his extensive experience writing and reviewing grant applications to help you significantly improve your chances of creating an application that stands out and is fundable. This session will specifically focus on the Specific Aims and Biosketch sections of NIH grants. Space is limited. To register, e-mail Janet Stuart. Learn more here.

Save the Date: 10th Annual CHOP Research Safety Day
Date: April 19, 2018
Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Location: Colket Translational Research Building lobby and conference rooms
Formal invitations and more details will follow soon. Please feel free to contact Research Safety with any questions at (267) 426-2272 or at researchsafety@email.chop.edu.

K Awards: Day-Long, Hands-on Workshop
Date: May 4, 2018
Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Location: Abramsom Research Center (ARC), Room 123ABC
Dr. Beth Schachter holds a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology. She currently dedicates her time to her consulting work and has over ten years’ experience presenting grant-writing workshops at the Perelman School of Medicine. Register here.

CHOP Quality and Safety Day 2018
Date: May 15, 2018
Time: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: Stokes Auditorium, CHOP Main Hospital
Paula Davis-Laak, JD, MAPP, will present the keynote address, “Thriving in Healthcare: Your Blueprint for Stress Resilience.”  Register for the conference or submit an abstract that highlights the way your team has applied the CHOP Improvement Framework, Safety Behaviors for Error Prevention, or other strategies. Abstracts are due Friday March 30, 2018 at 5:00 pm.

Penn MSHP 2018 Implementation Science Institute
Dates: June 19 - 21, 2018
Location: Jordan Medical Education Center
The purpose of the Implementation Science Institute is to provide participants with the tools to design and execute rigorous implementation science research. The Institute will give an introduction to the foundations of implementation science, cover implementation strategies and sustainability, tips for grant writing and skill development. Limited scholarships will be available for affiliates of CHOP. Register here or contact mshp@mail.med.upenn.edu for more information.
CPCE in
the News!
Recent Publications
Cardiac transplantation is the definitive treatment for pediatric patients with end-stage heart failure. This research from Dr. Joseph Rossano and colleagues describes the prevalence, characteristics, and outcomes in pediatric patients with chromosomal anomalies undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation. Cardiac transplantation in individuals with chromosomal anomalies appears to be a relatively rare phenomenon. Although the sample size is small, orthotopic heart transplantation patients with chromosomal anomalies generally have similar rates of mortality when compared to patients without chromosomal anomalies, meaning the presence of chromosomal anomalies is not associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality for a child undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation. 

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability in the US, and pediatric TBI can lead to lifelong problems that affect the lives of children and their families. While older children commonly have motor vehicle crash (MVC)-associated brain injuries, non-MVC-associated injuries and abusive head trauma are the predominate causes of TBI in young children. Children with abusive head trauma are at particular risk for cervical spine injuries, but there is currently little information on the percentage of young children with non-MVC-associated TBI and concurrent cervical spine injuries. This study evaluated cervical imaging practices among young children with non-MVC-associated TBI and explored potential selection biases in imaging decisions. Additional research is needed to define the risk of cervical injury in children with TBI and to inform development of imaging guidelines.

Urinary stone disease (nephrolithiasis) has historically been considered an adult disease. However, the incidence of pediatric nephrolithiasis has increased dramatically over the last 25 years. The shift in disease onset to childhood has resulted in uncertainty of how to best evaluate children with suspected urinary stones. Many patients with nephrolithiasis initially present to the emergency department (ED), but the ED revisit rate for children with urinary stones was previously unknown. This research determined the ED revisit rate among children with urinary stones and examined the association between urology consultation and ED revisit. Dr. Tasian and colleagues concluded that among children who presented to the ED with urinary stones, urology consultation at the initial visit was associated with fewer revisits, fewer pain complaints, and less CT imaging. 

Pediatric sepsis is a major cause of mortality of children worldwide. Sepsis can be challenging to recognize because the signs and symptoms are similar to common febrile illnesses of childhood. These challenges are increased further due to the biologic complexity of sepsis. Clinically accessible biomarkers are needed to identify patient populations most likely to benefit from targeted therapies. 
Some children with sepsis exhibit a sustained hyperinflammatory response that can trigger secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis/macrophage activation syndrome. Dr. Fran Balamuth and colleagues investigated hypofibrinogenemia, a shared feature of sepsis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, as a potential screening biomarker to identify patients with sepsis/secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis/macrophage activation syndrome overlap.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy joints, causing symptoms that may include pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of physical function. Low muscle density has been observed in patients with RA and is associated with greater disease activity within this population and is linked to a number of adverse long-term outcomes in the general population. This study assessed associations between muscle density, body composition, muscle strength, and physical functioning in patients with RA and a reference group. Low muscle density seen in patients with RA was associated with low muscle mass, excess adiposity, poor strength, and greater disability leading researchers to conclude that interventions to address poor muscle quality could potentially affect important functional outcomes. 

Monitor alarms occur frequently but rarely warrant intervention. Frequent physiological monitor alarms in the hospital setting can lead to alarm fatigue; when healthcare workers become overwhelmed, distracted by, or desensitized to an excessive number of alarms. New research from CPCE's Dr. Chris Bonafide aimed to determine if a safety huddle-based intervention reduced unit-level alarm rates or alarm rates of individual patients whose alarms are discussed. While safety huddle-based discussions did not influence unit-level alarm rates, they were effective in reducing alarms for individual patients.

Funding Opportunities
Frontier Programs differentiate CHOP as innovators because of their unique combination of translational research and exceptional clinical care of children with highly complex conditions. These programs are vital to CHOP’s mission, reputation and financial well-being and contribute to our success regionally, nationally and internationally. Selected programs will be eligible to receive up to $1M in the first year and $1.5M per year for 1-2 additional years. If selected, the funding will be effective July 1, 2018.

The mission of the Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation is to improve the lives of patients and their families through nursing-driven innovation. The foundation currently is accepting proposals for innovative patient- and family-centered approaches that challenge conventional strategies, improve health outcomes, lower costs, and enhance the patient and family caregiver experience. The foundation is particularly interested in the areas of maternal and child health, care of the older adult, and chronic illness management. Two grants of up to $600,000 will be awarded in 2018.

The Institutional Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at CHOP/Penn announces funding to support pilot projects relevant to elucidating the causes of and/or developing potential new therapies for intellectual or developmental disabilities. These pilot projects may be basic, translational, or clinical research. Applicants must hold a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor for less than four years from the date of appointment by July 1, 2018. The center expects to issue three awards of up to $50,000 per year for two years.

The Thrasher Research Fund provides grants for clinical, hypothesis-driven research that offers substantial promise for meaningful advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of children's diseases, particularly research that offers broad-based applications. The fund is inviting concept papers for its Early Career Awards Grants program. Through the program, the fund awards small grants of up to $25,000 to new researchers to help them gain a foothold in the area of pediatric research. The program will consider a variety of research topics important to children's health but will give priority to applicants who show great potential to impact children's health through medical research.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has joined together with the Sohn Conference Foundation, dedicated to curing pediatric cancers, to establish the Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellowship Award. This award provides funding to basic scientists and clinicians who conduct research with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of one or more pediatric cancers.

The purpose of the foundation is to support patient safety education for healthcare professionals in training and in practice, as well as patient safety research with clinically useful applications. To advance this mission, the foundation is accepting applications for research and education programs and projects designed to enhance patient safety. Grant amounts will be determined on an individual basis based on project budget and availability of funds.

Grants of up to $20,000 are available to help support the research of faculty members or post-doctoral researchers affiliated with non-profit human service organizations in the United States and Canada. Areas of interest to the Fund are: studies to develop, refine, evaluate, or disseminate innovative interventions designed to prevent or ameliorate major social, psychological, behavioral or public health problems affecting children, adults, couples, families, or communities, or studies that have the potential for adding significantly to knowledge about such problems.

CPCE offers awards twice each year through its Pilot Grant Program. The purpose of this program is to promote and support CHOP investigators in clinical effectiveness pilot research studies that will attract external support for large-scale studies. Selected proposals will be supported for up to a maximum of $10,000 for one year. Projects should be able to be completed within one year.

The American Cancer Society is accepting proposals for research projects with the potential to generate new knowledge of the effects of the United States healthcare system structure and the role of insurance in both access to and the outcomes of cancer screening, early detection, and treatment services. Awards will not exceed $200,000 per year (direct costs) for up to four years. Independent investigators at all stages of their career are encouraged to apply.

The foundation awards grants for research focused on issues faced by care providers that, when implemented, will improve health, nutrition, and/or developmental outcomes for infants and young children. Projects can address the etiologic mechanisms of disease; new, improved, or less invasive diagnostic procedures; the reduction or elimination of side effects; the alleviation of symptoms; new, improved, or less invasive therapies or treatments; dosage or dosing requirements or mechanisms for drugs, nutrient supplementation, or other therapeutic measures (under or overdosing); and preventative measures. The total requested grant size should be no more than $350,000.

The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation supports organizations that contribute to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual welfare of children. The foundation awards grants for the dissemination of information about new and innovative programs designed to benefit youth or information already possessed by well-established organizations. Projects must have the potential to help American children in a large geographic area (more than one state).

Last year, the NIH received approximately $30 billion in federal support. In spite of this amount, about 42,500 grants were not funded. To address these unfunded proposals, the NIH has a new Pilot Program that is designed to match researchers with nonprofit disease Foundations or with investments from private companies. Through a new collaboration between the NIH and the private contractor Leidos, researchers can now upload their unfunded NIH Proposals into an online portal at the Online Partnership to Accelerate Research (OnPAR). Foundations and other potential funders can review the NIH scores, and decide whether they might be interested in funding the Projects. Currently, this Pilot Program allows researchers with priority scores better than the 30th percentile to submit their abstracts. Interested Foundations might ask that a researcher send their full NIH Application along with its scores. The consensus opinion is that there are a lot of worthy grants being submitted to the NIH, but there is only so much funding available. OnPAR is one way of trying to match researchers with private Foundations. 
About CPCE
We are a pediatric research center dedicated to discovering and sharing knowledge about best practices in pediatric care by facilitating, organizing and centralizing the performance of clinical effectiveness research -- research aimed at understanding the best ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases in children. CPCE’s multidisciplinary team conducts research on a diverse range of clinical effectiveness topics grouped within four areas of research: