NIH awards Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children additional $9.5M research grant

Expansion and growth of pediatric translational research programs at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

The Center for Pediatric Research (CPR) at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children was recently awarded an additional 5-year, $9.5-million Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). This competitive award will allow Nemours to continue to expand the CPR and support the recruitment of additional faculty to this diverse pediatric clinical and research facility.

The Center for Pediatric Research was established to not only sustain translational research programs by clinicians and scientists, but also to build independent, cutting-edge programs at Nemours. This funding has assisted Nemours Biomedical Research in the development of eight such Center programs, including Applied Clinical Genomics, Cardiac, Orthopedic, Childhood Cancer, Clinical Diagnostics, Clinical Pharmacology, Pediatric Auditory and Speech, and Pediatric Lung Research.  

"Grant applications and renewals are intensely competitive," said Dr. Thomas H. Shaffer, Director and Principal Investigator of the CPR. "Grants like this from the NIH help fulfill a main goal of the Center for Pediatric Research—to attract some of the best and brightest translational researchers to Delaware, while building state-of-the-art pediatric research programs and expanding our existing programs on pediatric disorders."

A central component of the CPR's mission is to provide junior faculty entering their research careers with the resources and the academic environment needed to maximize their potential. To date, investigators leading a diverse group of studies in areas such as cardiology, orthopedics, and genetics have shown remarkable academic progress. This is demonstrated by their publications, grant support, and academic activities, such as mentoring students and postdoctoral fellows.

Funding from this recent NIH COBRE grant renewal will allow three new target investigators and one transitional investigator to begin research programs as well as recruit additional mid- and senior-level translational researchers to facilitate the program. Additionally, the program will support pilot projects in order to grow new research programs within Nemours.

"We look forward to another five years of meaningful research," said Dr. Shaffer and Dr. Carolyn Schanen, Co-Director of the Center. "It's our mission to support our investigators with their COBRE projects, ultimately moving the science forward toward more cures and better lives for our patients."