Research benefitting the health of children requires training a new generation of pediatric physician-scientists prepared for independent careers in basic biomedical research. The collaborative research enterprise of Emory University and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is committed to meeting this need. During the past five year cycle of funding for the NICHD Child Health Research Career Development Program, the Atlanta Pediatric Scholars Program enrolled 8 outstanding young investigators, 3 of whom are currently continuing their K12 appointments. The 5 Scholars who have completed their appointments have been tremendously successful; one has received both R56 and R01 grants, 2 have received K08 awards, and the other 2 have K08 applications that have been reviewed and received scores in the fundable range. Collectively, APSP Scholars have published 57 manuscripts during the project period. For this renewal application, we have expanded the training faculty to 30 basic science investigators, each with an active laboratory research program, with total extramural grant support of $29.6 M and an additional $27 M in resources from start-up funds. Reflecting the program's multidisciplinary approach, 9 prospective mentors are outside the Department of Pediatrics, in other Emory departments, including the Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint department between Emory and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Robust fellowship programs in the Department of Pediatrics and continued recruitment of junior faculty provide a large pool of outstanding Scholar candidates. The formal training curriculum is grounded in intensive laboratory research in areas of basic and translational science relevant to child health, mentored by experienced investigators, and supplemented by didactic coursework, career development training, and participation in scientific exchange. The APSP marshals Emory's extensive resources for faculty career development toward the goal of training pediatric physician-scientists. The strengths and resources of the Emory research enterprise, along with partnership with Georgia Tech, bolster a critical mass of investigators working in a variety of child health-related disciplines within the Emory Department of Pediatrics to create an ideal environment for basic research career development. The research infrastructure to support this program is therefore in place, and robust partnerships among Emory, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Georgia Tech continue to support recruitment and expansion of the research enterprise. Training of physician-scientists from minority and underprivileged backgrounds is a particular focus of this program, and will be facilitated by existing strengths and partnerships in Atlanta. The program includes a rigorous system for tracking and assessing progress. The Atlanta Pediatric Scholars Program is an important component of a growing academic enterprise in Atlanta focusing on child health, and is poised to provide outstanding career development for the next generation of leaders in child health research.

Public Health Relevance

The Atlanta Pediatric Scholars Program will train physician-scientists in fundamental research on child-health related problems. This career development program is a collaboration between Emory University and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The program seeks to train outstanding, independent physician-scientists to be the next generation of leaders in pediatric research.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Physician Scientist Award (Program) (PSA) (K12)
Project #
5K12HD072245-08
Application #
9825549
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHD1)
Program Officer
Bremer, Andrew
Project Start
2012-03-09
Project End
2022-11-30
Budget Start
2019-12-01
Budget End
2020-11-30
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Emory University
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
066469933
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30322
Carden, Marcus A; Connelly, James A; Weinzierl, Elizabeth P et al. (2018) Severe Congenital Neutropenia associated with SRP54 mutation in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Results in Correction of Neutropenia with Adequate Immune Reconstitution. J Clin Immunol 38:546-549
Eckard, Allison Ross; Raggi, Paolo; O'Riordan, Mary Ann et al. (2018) Effects of vitamin D supplementation on carotid intima-media thickness in HIV-infected youth. Virulence 9:294-305
Chandrakasan, Shanmuganathan; Prahalad, Sampath (2018) Revisiting Type 1 Diabetes as a Comorbidity in Patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. J Pediatr 192:6-7
Grunwell, Jocelyn R; Stephenson, Susan T; Tirouvanziam, Rabindra et al. (2018) Children with Neutrophil-Predominant Severe Asthma Have Proinflammatory Neutrophils With Enhanced Survival and Impaired Clearance. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract :
Grunwell, Jocelyn R; Travers, Curtis; Fitzpatrick, Anne M (2018) Inflammatory and Comorbid Features of Children Admitted to a PICU for Status Asthmaticus. Pediatr Crit Care Med 19:e585-e594
Eckard, Allison Ross; O'Riordan, Mary Ann; Rosebush, Julia C et al. (2018) Vitamin D supplementation decreases immune activation and exhaustion in HIV-1-infected youth. Antivir Ther 23:315-324
Chiang, Samuel C C; Vergamini, Sue M; Husami, Ammar et al. (2018) Screening for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome by flow cytometry. J Allergy Clin Immunol 142:333-335.e8
Rostad, Christina A; Stobart, Christopher C; Todd, Sean O et al. (2018) Enhancing the Thermostability and Immunogenicity of a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Live-Attenuated Vaccine by Incorporating Unique RSV Line19F Protein Residues. J Virol 92:
Ke, Zunlong; Dillard, Rebecca S; Chirkova, Tatiana et al. (2018) The Morphology and Assembly of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Revealed by Cryo-Electron Tomography. Viruses 10:
Eckard, Allison Ross; O?Riordan, Mary Ann; Rosebush, Julia C et al. (2017) Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in HIV-Infected Youth. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 76:539-546

Showing the most recent 10 out of 37 publications