Research Bulletin
News from the Child Health Research Institute
May 2021
|
|
CHRI Pediatric Research Forum Features
Shared Research and Insights from Keynote Speakers
|
|
Researchers and trainees attended the 19th Annual Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) Pediatric Research Forum on May 13 and 14. Participants submitted nearly 100 research projects. Continuing Medical Education credits were offered for both days of the forum.
To complement the research reporting, the event showcased the works of Medicinal Musings, an outlet for healthcare professionals and scientists to express themselves through art. More than 40 works of original poetry, prose, photography, art and musical composition were collected and shared on the event site.
Kate Heelan, PhD, kicked off the forum with her engaging presentation on ‘Building Healthy Families,” an evidence-based pediatric weight management intervention program being disseminated across communities in Nebraska.” Next, Gwenn Skar, MD, assistant professor, Pediatrics, UNMC, inspired trainees with her speech, “Developing your path in research,” by explaining her non-linear pathway toward finding interest in research and providing practical tips to be successful and resilient during research projects. The day concluded with the announcement of awards for trainee research and Medicinal Musings.
The second day began with Pediatric Grand Rounds at 8 a.m. on Friday, including Rachel Marlow, MD, UNMC, speaking on “Clinical characteristics distinguishing bronchiolitis patients requiring mechanical ventilation and my experience figuring it out,” followed by the medical student award ceremony.
Click here for instructions to access the virtual CHRI Research Forum Poster and Medicinal Musings site.
Top right image: Medicinal Musings Photography/Graphic Art Winner - Caring for the Carer - Ryan Corlett
|
|
|
|
Click on the poster image to the left to see the winning CHRI Pediatric Research Forum posters . Click here to read the winning Medicinal Musings Poetry and Prose entries.
Pictured below - Medicinal Musings Original Art Winner - Ready Portrait by Arwa Nassir, MD
|
|
CHRI Priorities & Activities:
Update from Ann Anderson Berry, MD
|
|
This month, Ann L. Anderson Berry, MD, PhD, interim executive director, Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) looks back on the recent CHRI Pediatric Research Forum and provides advice about the NIH Biosketch changes.
|
|
New Feature:
Meet a fellow CHRI Member
|
|
|
|
Tammy Kielian, PhD, is the Choudari Kommineni,PhD, DVM, Professor of Pathology, in the UNMC department of Pathology and Microbiology, with courtesy appointments in the
Departments of Pediatrics and Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience.
What is your current primary area of research?
I am an immunologist, and my laboratory studies the crosstalk between Staphylococcus aureus biofilm and innate immunity in the context of craniotomy infection and prosthetic joint infection.
Please share information on a current research project.
Neurosurgery for brain tumor resection or epilepsy treatment requires a craniotomy to gain access to the brain. Despite prophylactic measures, infectious complications occur at a frequency of 1-3%, with approximately half caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) that forms a biofilm on the bone flap and is recalcitrant to antibiotics. Our laboratory has developed a mouse model of S. aureus craniotomy infection that shares features with human disease, including similarities in biofilm structure on the bone flap as revealed by scanning electron microscopy and inflammatory changes as seen by magnetic resonance imaging, supporting its translational relevance. We are exploring why craniotomy infections persist in an immune competent host and are leveraging ongoing collaborations with UNMC neurosurgeons to identify immune signatures in tissues from patients with craniotomy infection.
What has been the primary benefit of CHRI membership?
Keeping informed about research developments pertinent to the CHRI mission through newsletters.
|
|
David F. Mercer, MD, PhD, is a professor of Surgery, at UNMC.
What is your current primary area of research?
I am Director of the Intestinal Failure Program at UNMC, caring for children from all over the country with short bowel syndrome. My current research in pediatrics studies the impact of short bowel syndrome on the quality of life, and of its impact on relationship stability and family structure. I am also involved in clinical trials of novel intestinal growth factors and/or the application of surgical techniques to improve outcomes in children with short bowel syndrome.
Please share information on a current research project.
We have recently started a three-year project to study the impact of the diagnosis of short bowel syndrome on quality of life of children and their families. What is most unique and exciting about this project is that it is developed and driven by the national community of patients and their families; we believe it may be the first instance of a large clinical project being conducted not by medical institutions, but rather by the actual patients themselves.
What benefits would you like to receive through your CHRI membership?
I am new to CHRI, and hope it will provide me with a forum to learn what projects other researchers are working on and find partnerships within our own local groups to further our research mission as a University.
|
|
|
Thank you, Drs. Kielian and Mercer, for your time and responses. At this time, we are randomly selecting the members to be profiled, but if you would like to be featured, please email chri@unmc.edu. |
|
UNMC Core Facility Profile:
Animal Behavior Core
|
|
As part of the Child Health Research Institute internal strategy, the CHRI Research Bulletin will feature a profile on one UNMC Core facility each month. This month we are featuring Animal Behavior Core and Director Mystera Samuelson, PhD.
What kind of services can you provide CHRI investigators?
The Animal Behavior Core is well-suited to provide guidance for researchers in every stage of research involving ethology and comparative cognition. Located in the Durham Research Center at UNMC, we provide researchers with the expertise, equipment and software needed to produce rigorous and reproducible research with both rats and mice.
In addition to this service, . . .
Click here to read Dr. Samuelson's complete responses.
|
|
Dr. Ling Li Authors Article in International Journal of Cardiology |
Dr. Ling Li Authors Article in International Journal of Cardiology
Your paper reports on research into hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in children and young adults. How does this disorder affect patients?
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic disorder characterized by an increase in left ventricular mass. Although HCM is a serious problem, the health effects vary widely both in age of onset and severity. Often, there are mild or no symptoms until late childhood or the teenage years. The most common symptom is low stamina with shortness of breath and chest pain during exercise. In some, during later adulthood, the heart’s chronic overwork causes heart enlargement and symptoms of congestive heart failure.
What were your main goals, or research questions, in this study?
We sought to identify how mitral valve structure and function are different in children and young adults with HCM versus normal peers, using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE). A secondary objective was to explore the associations of 3DE features of this HCM cohort with adverse cardiovascular events.
Which conclusion(s) from this project do you feel are most significant?
It is feasible to evaluate papillary muscles and mitral valve annulus geometry in children and young adults with HCM using 3DE. The morphologic and functional changes of anterolateral papillary muscle may occur in the absence of mitral valve annulus changes. Prospective validation will be required to determine if left ventricular lateral wall length and left ventricle mass may be used as predictors of adverse events.
|
|
Important Notice:
NIH Biosketch SPAdmin Deadlines Changed
|
For ALL investigators, staff, etc., who are listed as a key person for grant submissions in the JUNE CYCLE (late May – June), their new revised biosketch must be submitted to SPAdmin by May 15, 2021, in order to be thoroughly reviewed for compliance (and compared to the individual’s COI on record) prior to the submission deadline.
The new biosketches must include:
- The revised format.
- All positions and scientific appointments, paid AND unpaid, domestic AND foreign, must be included and listed in reverse chronological order.
- Section D: Scholastic Performance is only to be used for Fellowships, dissertation research grants and research supplements.
In addition, SPAdmin is requiring all persons who may be participating on future submissions as key personnel to submit their revised biosketch to SPAdmin by June 30, 2021, for compliance review. Revised biosketches may be forwarded to Valarie Warner and/or Shamaere Ashby for internal review and revision prior to forwarding to SPAdmin.
|
|
PRO Education Committee Tip of the Month:
Did you know??
|
Children who reach the age of assent (age 13) while actively participating in an IRB-approved study must give their written assent to continue participation in the research at their first visit after reaching that age, if they are capable of providing assent.
- Have the subject sign and date the assent signature blank on a parental consent form
- Parent(s) may sign; however, it is not required
- Give the subject a copy of the signed consent form
- Document the informed assent process. Send to subject’s EMR. Update the study binder and/or electronic files
See IRB Policy section 4.4, Research Involving Children, section 9.0
|
|
Disseminating Discoveries:
April Publications
|
Take a minute to check out the wide range of research published by CHRI members in April. |
|
|
Natural History of Disorders Screenable in the Newborn Period (R01 Research Award)
Funder: NICHD | Jun. 5, 2021 / Oct. 5, 2021 | Up to $500,000/yr, max 5 years | Grant Information
Pichichero Family Foundation Research Award in Pediatric Infectious Diseases Request for Proposals
Funder: Pichichero Family Foundation | Jul. 15, 2021 | $50,000/max. 2 years | Grant Information
2021 Young Investigator Grant
Funder: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer | Jul. 12, 2021 | $50,000/max. 3 years | Grant Information
Basil O’Conner Starter Scholar Research Awards
Funder: March of Dimes | Jul. 9, 2021 | $150,000 for 2 years, including 10 percent indirect costs to sponsoring institutions | Grant Information
For more funding opportunities, please review the CHRI grant calendar available here.
|
|
Child Health Research Institute
986847 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6847
402-559-4032 or 402-955-7907
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
