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The Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program
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The Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program was launched in 2000 with a magnificent gift from Mrs. Mary Ann Smith in memory of her late husband. The scientific mission of the Smith Child Health Research Program is to address important clinical and public health problems of children, using state-of-the-art epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory methodology and interdisciplinary collaborations. The program engages in both population-based and clinical research in order to advance knowledge about the natural history, causes and psychosocial impacts of common and important child health problems and to identify childhood precursors of adult diseases. The program is also actively engaged in translating scientific knowledge into effective clinical and public health interventions and policy that can benefit children, their families and their communities. The program works to engage policy makers and the general public to jointly address child health problems. In addition, the program trains a new generation of child health professionals and researchers. The program is striving to become one of the leading national centers for child health research. The ultimate goal is to foster healthy children today and healthy adults tomorrow.
The Mary Ann and J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program consists of four core research programs that possess unique expertise and resources. Together, the core programs strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration and academic competitiveness. The program is well positioned as a leader and key participant in the area of population health, one of the four areas identified by Northwestern University as “targeted investments”.
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COMP was established in 2004 to coordinate and expand research on childhood obesity, and to integrate this research with the clinical and public education/advocacy aspects of obesity-related work at Children’s Memorial. COMP provides educational opportunities and facilitates the development of collaborative research projects. COMP seminars and journal clubs meet on alternating months between September and June.
The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), COMP’s community education and advocacy arm, a nationally recognized model, has the goal of mounting an effective effort to reduce childhood obesity in Chicago by building and mobilizing a coalition of organizations and individuals in the Chicago area. It supports the now eight-agency Chicago Interdepartmental Task Force on Childhood Obesity, which is led by the Department of Public Health.
Link to COMP
Link to CLOCC
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Established in 2008, the Center for Community Partnerships and Health Promotion is a hub of interdisciplinary collaboration for research that focuses on improving public health practice for children and adolescents in Chicago and Illinois. The Center has two primary goals: (1) to build a community of scholars that will optimize the commitment of Children’s Memorial, the research center and Northwestern University affiliated researchers working to build excellent community-based public health interventions for children and adolescents; and (2) to improve the health of children and adolescents in Illinois by expanding local and state governments’ capacity to make data-driven decisions in support of child health. The center builds on the important work of the Child Health Data Lab in providing data to policy makers and advocates to improve child health and well-being in Illinois and in evaluating Children’s Memorial-sponsored programs to reduce risk of injury to youth. In its first year of operation, the Center developed three affinity groups to facilitate faculty collaboration, build capacity and support external research funding. The affinity group topics were determined by faculty interest and advisory committee recommendation. The topics are: junior faculty development, school-based health research, and child abuse and neglect research.
Link to CHDL
Link to Center for Community Partnerships and Health Promotion
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The Pediatric Practice Research Group (PPRG) is a well-established, practice-based research network with over 450 Chicago-area clinicians from more than 75 primary care practices. The PPRG provides the Children’s Memorial research community with the supporting systems and expertise necessary to partner with community clinicians to study topics in primary care settings. Its extensive partnerships with community primary care clinicians allows for research of common conditions in their natural setting and provides for a laboratory to test ideas of relevance to primary care. In the past year, the PPRG has been moving to a partnership model of research, in which community clinicians are fully engaged in research processes. Additionally, we are strengthening ties with the newly-established Northwestern University internal medicine practice-based research network through the Community-Engaged Research Center of NUCATS. Binns and Ariza are leaders of CERC Practice-based Research Program. They also are leaders of practice based research nationally.
Link to PPRG
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The core currently consists of following investigators: Xiaobin Wang, MD, MPH, ScD; Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH; Binyan Wang, MD, PhD; Hui-Ju Tsai, MPH, PhD; Xin Liu, MD, PhD; Lester Arguelles, PhD; Xiumei Hong, MD, PhD; Guoying Wang, MD, PhD; Rong Liu, MD, PhD; Nataliya Kuptsova-Clarkson, MD, PhD.
Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics core is designed to bridge epidemiological, clinical and bench research through interdisciplinary collaborations and application of advanced methods in molecular biology, population genetics, bioinformatics and biotechnology. Its research focus is to elucidate the role of environmental/community factors, genetic and epigenetic factors, and gene-environment interactions in the development of complex human diseases, especially those diseases with prenatal and early life origins. Ongoing funded studies focus on adverse reproductive outcomes, food allergy and related conditions, and obesity and metabolic syndrome. These studies are supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and foundations, including the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the Food Allergy Initiative. This core has also trained and supported a growing number of K awardees and postdoctoral fellows.
Link to Molecular Epidemiology
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