Application deadline for the PHEOT and AGP fellowships is approaching! For more information about the programs, including how to apply,  click here  or contact  Natalie Schroeder.

How Do You Measure Up: Quality Measurement for Improving Patient Care and Establishing the Value of Infectious Diseases Specialists.

 The shift from volume-based to value-based reimbursement has created a need for quantifying clinical performance of ID physicians. Nationally recognized ID specialty-specific quality measures will allow stakeholders, such as patients and payers, to determine the value of care provided by ID physicians and will promote clinical quality improvement.

The use of echinocandins in hospitalized children in the United States.

Echinocandins are used for treatment of invasive candidiasis, but data on their use in children are limited. CPCE researchers performed a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized children exposed to ≥1 day of a systemic antifungal agent to assess the rate of antifungal agent prescribing over time. While the crude rate of systemic antifungal prescribing decreased during the study period, echinocandin prescribing increased from 2.2 to 7.2 per 1000 admissions. This research shows that echinocandin use has increased significantly over time, accounting for an increasing proportion of systemic antifungal prescribing in children.

Missed Opportunities for HIV Screening Among a Cohort of Adolescents With Recently Diagnosed HIV Infection in a Large Pediatric Hospital Care Network.

Routine human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening reduces HIV progression and transmission. This study from CPCE & PolicyLab faculty member Nadia Dowshen and colleagues examined prevalence and factors associated with prior HIV screening among a cohort of youth living with HIV. Researchers identified high rates of missed opportunities for HIV testing and sexual history documentation in the year prior to diagnosis, underscoring the need for routine HIV screening in adolescents.

Self-reported fatigue in children with advanced cancer: Results of the PediQUEST study.

Pediatric cancer-related fatigue is prevalent and significantly impairs health-related quality of life, yet its patterns and correlates are poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to describe fatigue as prospectively reported by children with advanced cancer and to identify the factors associated with fatigue and associated distress.

Emergency Department Visits by Children With Congenital Heart Disease.

Data related to the epidemiology and resource utilization of congenital heart disease (CHD)-related emergency department (ED) visits in the pediatric population is limited. The purpose of this analysis was to describe national estimates of pediatric CHD-related ED visits and evaluate medical complexity, admissions, resource utilization, and mortality.

See more...

CHOP Frontier Programs (due October 18)

Designated Frontier Programs must have three essential components: Distinctive clinical program that provides extraordinary care; associated translational research that advances the clinical program and has potential to generate the next breakthrough; and return on investment that can support our ongoing innovation in the years to come.

RWJF Culture of Health Prize (due November 1)

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has issued a Call for Applications for its 2018 Culture of Health Prize, an annual program that honors outstanding community efforts and partnerships that are helping people live healthier lives. Through the program, up to ten communities will be awarded a $25,000 cash prize and have their accomplishments celebrated and shared broadly, with the goal of raising awareness and inspiring locally driven change across the country. Community partners can decide together how to use the funds to benefit their community.

Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation (due November 1)

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.

 

Gerber Foundation Pediatric Research Grants (concept paper due November 15)

The Gerber Foundation is accepting concept papers for research projects focused on improving the health, nutrition, and/or development of infants and young children. In particular, the foundation is looking for practical solutions that can be rapidly implemented on a broad scale and within a predictable time frame to clinical application. Major target areas include new diagnostic tools, new treatment regimens, symptom relief, preventative measures, assessment of deficiencies or excesses (vitamins, minerals, drugs, etc.), and risk assessment tools or measures for environmental hazards, trauma, etc. Grant amounts will range up to $350,000.

American Kidney Fund Clinical Scientist in Nephrology Program (due November 30)

The goal of the American Kidney Fund Clinical Scientist in Nephrology (CSN) fellowship program is to improve the quality of care provided to kidney patients and to promote clinical research in nephrology. The CSN program enhances the training of nephrologists who wish to pursue an academic career and whose primary professional commitment is to scholarship in the provision of patient care. The fellowship may be granted yearly, with a maximum duration of two years for each fellowship. The maximum level of funding of $80,000 per year shall be used principally to support the candidate and his or her career development, including salary.

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Physician-Scientist Training Award (due December 3)

The annual program provides physicians who wish to pursue a career in cancer research with the opportunity for a protected research training experience under the mentorship of a highly qualified mentor after they have completed their clinical training. The award program will provide up to $460,000 over four years in financial support. In addition, the foundation will retire up to $100,000 of any outstanding medical school debt owed by a grant recipient.

ACOG Women's Health Policy Research Award (due December 15)

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is accepting applications for the 2015 Warren H. Pearse Women's Health Policy Research Award. The annual program includes a single grant of $10,000 for research that explores an aspect of healthcare policy that assists, defines, or restricts the ability of a physician to deliver health care to women in either the general population or a specific area. Applicants must be a junior fellow or fellow of the college at the time of application.

OnPAR Program for Unfunded NIH Proposals

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.