Research at Georgetown University Children’s Medical Center

The research program in the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Medical Center is the second largest research program, and the largest research department among all clinical departments at Georgetown University. It is ranked in the top 25% nationally for NIH funding for pediatric departments.

Over the past 3 years our research program has shown significant growth, with increased number of faculty and funded grants. Georgetown University Medical Center announced in early 2004 its 3 major areas of focus: Cancer, Neuroscience and Child & Human Development

The following are research areas where projects currently underway:

	Adolescent Medicine
	Psychosocial evaluation Substance use and abuse Adolescent sexuality and gynecology Hepatitis vaccine dosing schedule Adolescent Pregnancy ADHD	Cigarette Smoking Teen Depression Teen Violence Eating disorders Contraception STD's/HIV

	Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
	Website: International Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Immunology
	Medical treatment of Allergic Rhinitis Dietary Restriction and Nutritional Supplements to Treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Fetal Transplant, Stem Cell, Cord Blood Food Allergies Multiple Sclerosis and Bee Venom	Cytokine Research Vaccine Development Nutritional Supplements Environmental Control SAR and Asthma

	Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
	Vascular dysfunction in septic shock Catecholamine precursors in prenatal heart development Mechanisms of hypertension	Pediatric ethics Hemorrhagic shock

	Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine
	Cystic fibrosis Chronic lung disease	Pediatric pulmonary function Mucin gene expression

	Child Development
Website: http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/
	Over the past 10 years, The Child Development Center at Georgetown has obtained over 100 million dollars to conduct activities related to translational research (from research to practice to policy). Sources have included US Department of Health, US Department of Education and multiple foundations such as Robert Wood Johnson, David and Lucille Packard, Hasbro, and Annie. B. Casey foundations. Dr Phyllis Magrab’s research is founded on social justice principles, addressing underserved or unserved groups. Research has targeted health care reform, child mental health service system development, welfare reform, racial disparities, and early childhood research questions. Other research focuses on changing Maternal/ Child Health legislation towards a family centered, culturally competent, community based model Initiating a multi-billion dollar federal program to support state systems of services for children with serious emotional disturbance Internationally establishing reformed health care and educational systems for children in central and eastern Europe, and in United Nation efforts to establish best practices for assuring educational for all in developing nations.

	Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Website: http://www.georgetown.edu/departments/ pediatrics/diabetes/Diabetes
	Treatment of Growth delay Diabetes Research and Education Program

	Gastroenterology
	Vitamin D metabolism in the perinatal period

	Genetics/Metabolic Disorders
	Natural history of genetic disorders Medical aspects of mental retardation and prenatal effects of valpraic acid on the developing fetus

	Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
	Treatment of childhood cancer as affiliate member of Children's Oncology Group (COG) Pediatric bone marrow and stem cell transplantation Solid tumors of childhood Late effects in cancer survivors Sickle Cell Disease	Treatment of rare coagulation disorders Infections in immunocompromised hosts C. W. Bill Young D.O.D. Bone Marrow Program Recruitment of military Bone marrow donors, HLA typing, research on HLA genes and military contingency planning

	Infectious Disease
	Treatment of AIDS Treatment of autoimmune disease	Strep research into treatment alternatives, immune response, and diagnostic Testing

Integrated Biodefense Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center, Georgetown University Medical Center

The Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center is a medical research and development organization at Georgetown University Medical Center that specializes in information and imaging technology for personal healthcare, public healthcare, and national biosecurity. The Division of Integrated Biodefense (DIB), a division of the ISIS center, is comprised of a multidisciplinary group that includes individuals with public health, epidemiology, medicine, information systems and technology, geography, foreign language, applied mathematics, policy science, and other backgrounds.  A major, biosurveillance program within DIB concerns that development of a cueing and alerting capability based on the monitoring of publically available media. This research complements both traditional and experimental surveillance activities in support of global early warning of human, animal and plant emerging infectious diseases. The project recognizes the importance of language and regional specificity and utilizes social disruption theory in a taxonomy-based approach to disease detection. This project reports biological events to a diverse community via an https password-protected Internet watchboard. DIB welcomes collaboration with other Georgetown University departments, outside Universities and the USG community.  DIB has hosted numerous Georgetown University and DC area graduate students on various biosurveillance related research projects.  For more information, please refer to the following websites or contact the project leaders. ISIS Center Website: http://www.isis.georgetown.edu/ Division of Integrated Biodefense Website: http://biodefense.georgetown.edu/ Contact:  David M. Hartley, PhD, MPH Director, Division of Integrated Biodefense, ISIS Center, GUMC PH: 202/687- 9337 FAX: 202/687- 7231 Email: hartley@isis.georgetown.edu Contact: Noele P. Nelson, MD, PhD Deputy Director for Research and Operations, Division of Integrated Biodefense, ISIS Center, GUMC and Attending Physician, Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Hospital PH: 202/687- 2649 FAX: 202/687- 7231 Email: nelson@isis.georgetown.edu

	Neonatology
	Website: Neonatology Research Program
	Infant mortality reduction - This is a cooperative Community-Based Perinatal Studies and Interventions in Minority Populations, a multi-site, multicenter, multi-departmental research focused on reducing infant mortality or markers on infant mortality. The Principal Investigator’s efforts include training and supervising junior scientists and other trainees in the conduct of research. RSV immunoprophylaxis Effectiveness of high-flow nasal cannula as a CPAP delivery system Use of nitric oxide in prevention of chronic lung disease in preterm infants Treatment of pulmonary hypertension of the newborn with nitric oxide Surfactant trials in premature infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome Trace elements matabolism in Neonates Gastroesophageal reflux and its relationship to apnea and brachycardia in the preterm infant Synchronized mechanical ventilation and Colume-targeted ventilation	High frequency ventilation in newborns Effect of nucleotide supplementation in preterm infant growth High-risk infant follow-up Sleep studies and documented event monitoring as a screening tool for the home cardiorespiratory monitoring in the high-risk infant Maternal and immunologic factors in pediatric AIDS Neonatal pulmonary function Surfactant replacement in potential ECMO candidates Staphylococcal sepsis in neonates Role of antibodies in neonatal infection

	Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension
	Dopamine Receptors in the Pathogenesis of Hypertension Identification of genes that cause salt sensitivity and/or hypertension Development of mouse models of human essential hypertension	Understanding the molecular, biochemical, and pathophysiological mechanisms of hypertension Development of new therapeutics to prevent or treat salt sensitive hypertension

	Pediatric Neuroscience
	Autism treatment Cognitive neuroscience (in both human and animal models) Computational neuroscience Cellular and molecular neuroscience (including drug design and molecular modeling). Exploring brain mechanisms underlying reading, motor and executive function development Developing new techniques for early detection of cognitive and motor disabilities in children and adults with developmental disorders Probing the neural mechanisms responsible for cognitive and motor recovery following stroke, utilizing MRI, near-infrared spectroscopy and transcranial magnetic stimulation Examining interactions among metabolic abnormalities, cognition, motor behavior, brain structure and brain function in individuals with inherited neurometabolic disorders	Center for the Study of Learning - Neurobiological Mechanisms of Learning Disabilities Analysis of sensorimotor functions Multi- disciplinary effort of established investigators with wide clinical and scientific experience (pediatrics, neurodevelopment, neuropsychology, and brain imaging) Partnership with Bowman Gray School of Medicine and Gallaudet University Application of modern behavioral & imaging methods to the investigations of the brain mechanisms of reading in hearing and deaf populations as well as the classification and diagnosis of reading disabilities