Children's Memorial Research Center: News

InTouch Winter 2010

The Winter 2010 issue of InTouch With Research at Children's Memorial Research Center is available (PDF 800kb).  InTouch is the quarterly newsletter for the research center.

Previous issues

Research shows Chicago teens exercise less than teens statewide

Chicago--- A new study by Children's Memorial Research Center finds that fewer than one-third of Chicago teens exercise, compared to the Illinois average of slightly fewer than half. As a result, researchers fear Chicago’s youth could be at risk for chronic illness as adults.

The research, conducted by Jenifer Cartland, PhD, director of the research center’s Child Health Data Lab, and Tracie L. Smith, MPH, Child Health Data Lab, reveals the percentage of Chicago teens participating in the amount of physical activity recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is strikingly low. The CDC recommends a number of activities including running or walking 60 minutes a day to improve one’s bone strength, reduce fat, maintain weight and increase mental health. Read the full story.

February 16, 2010
Listen to WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio's coverage of the story.
2009 Annual Report cover

Children's Memorial Research Center annual report

The 2009 Children’s Memorial Research Center annual report is available. Visit www.childrensresearchreport.com to view the online content, scroll through a web-enabled document or download the entire PDF.
 

Children's Memorial Hospital publications

On a monthly basis, we compile a list of journal publications by Children's Memorial Hospital authors. View the list (September 2009 to the present).

Scientific Membership Application - Now Online

Children’s Memorial Research Center has begun its latest membership drive and is now accepting membership applications for its six different programs and 10 centers through the following web based application form. After completing this form, please send a copy of your latest NIH Biosketch or a brief resumé to Peg Rainey at: prainey@childrensmemorial.org.

Research Center Halsted building

About Children's Memorial Research Center

Established in 1986, Children's Memorial Research Center is the research arm of Children's Memorial Hospital, the pediatric teaching hospital for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. The research center is also one of 29 interdisciplinary research centers and institutes of the Feinberg School, where principal investigators who are part of the research center are full-time faculty members.

Over 200 investigators, 500 staff and numerous trainees contribute to the six growing Programs in Basic Research and Translational Medicine. In addition, there are ten Centers of Excellence.

Our History

The Medical Research Institute Council and the MRIC PavilionResearch Center Halsted building

The Medical Research Institute Council (MRIC) was established in 1951 as a private, independent initiative to raise funds for innovative biomedical research. In 1991, the MRIC became affiliated with Children's Memorial, and since that time has raised more than $33 million. The generous support of the MRIC has been responsible for construction of Phase II of the Children's Memorial Research Center laboratory building on Halsted Street in Lincoln Park, endowed professorships for: the president and scientific director, the Neurobiology Program, the Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program, and the Bernard L. Mirkin Research Scholar. MRIC funding has led to advanced investigations in cancer, heart disease, genetics, microbiology and neonatology.

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The Six Research Programs

To encourage a synergy of ideas among investigators in various disciplines, the research center's work is organized around six interdisciplinary research programs:

  1. Cancer Biology and Epigenomics 
    Four locations 

    Children's Memorial Research Center
    Four Locations
  2. Smith Child Health Research 
  3. Developmental Biology 
  4. Clinical and Translational Research 
  5. Human Molecular Genetics  
  6. Neurobiology 

The Ten Centers of Excellence

  1. Chicago City-wide FOCIS Center of Excellence 
  2. Clinical Trials Research
  3. Community Partnerships & Health Promotion 
  4. Digestive Diseases & Immunobiology 
  5. Falk Brain Tumor Center 
  6. HIV/AIDS Research 
  7. Obesity Management and Prevention    
  8. Neuroblastoma Research
  9. Pediatric Critical Illness & Injury 
  10. Pediatric Practice Research Group 

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