Hasbro Children's Hospital joins Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network

One of only 18 hospitals across the country to participate

The emergency medicine department at Hasbro Children's Hospital has received a grant that will support its participation in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). This is the nation's first federally funded pediatric research network focused on the prevention and management of acute illnesses and injuries in children of all ages. Hasbro Children's Hospital is now one of only 18 pediatric emergency departments in the country to be part of PECARN.

Under the direction of Thomas Chun, M.D., M.P.H., a pediatric emergency medicine physician and researcher, Hasbro Children's Hospital will join a "node" of PECARN along with children's hospitals in Pittsburgh and Delaware to form the PRIDENET Node. The annual funding for the node is $630,000.

Chun says, "In its 10-year history, PECARN has published seminal work in the areas of head and spine injuries, cardiac arrest, uncontrolled seizures, asthma and psychiatric emergencies, among others. Their work is changing the emergency care of children, and we are honored to join this prestigious group of researchers and institutions."

Chun, who is also an associate professor of emergency medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, adds, "The significance of PECARN's work lies in the fact that many important problems in pediatrics are difficult to answer because they occur infrequently. Multicenter studies are necessary to be able to identify enough patients and investigate these problems."

PECARN is funded through grants from the Emergency Medical Services for Children, a branch of the Health Resources Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The initial grant in 2001 was renewed in 2005, 2008 and 2011. To date, the researchers in the PECARN network have produced 33 research publications and 68 presentations at national scientific meetings. Current research underway through PECARN includes studies on head trauma, bronchiolitis, pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis and other important areas of children's health.