Department of Pediatrics

Research

The Department of Pediatrics has a wonderful tradition for research dating back to the work of Dr. Jonas Salk on the polio vaccine. The program has grown at a particularly dramatic rate over the last three years, from $5 to $17.7 million per year of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and over $33 million per year in total extramural funding.

New areas include the molecular basis of respiratory host defense, inborn errors of energy metabolism, hepatocellular carcinoma in pediatric genetic liver disease, mechanism of fat digestion and regulation of body weight, pathogenesis and novel preventive/treatment strategies for diabetes, origin of stem cells and use of cells for transplantation therapy of muscle and liver diseases of childhood, new strategies for treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis as well as a new program in developmental biology.

The hub of pediatric research is the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center. Here, scientists are racing to find cures for a wide range of childhood diseases and disabilities. They have undertaken nearly 700 research studies representing academic pursuits in every major discipline. Children’s General Clinical Research Center, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, has supported leading-edge investigations since 1962.

To ensure that Children’s has the facilities to accommodate future pediatric research pursuits, a magnificent new 220,000-square-foot center is planned for the hospital’s new campus in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh now under construction.

To learn more about research at Children’s, visit the links below:

Selected Presentations from the 2006 Winter Research Retreat
Researchers, Projects and Areas of Study
“Opening New Doors for Children” Brochure (PDF)
Endowed Research Program
Pediatric Clinical and Translational Research Center (PCTRC)