Research focus areas

Emergency care/intensive care/cardiac/pulmonary

Leader – Oliver Karam, MD, PhD 

Critical care is a continuum, from birth through neonatal care for our youngest patients, from out-of-hospital care through pediatric intensive care in older children. In any age group, the development and pathologies in the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Drawing on resources and research strengths from the Pauley Heart Center, the College of Engineering, and many other partners, CHoR researchers from neonatology, emergency care, cardiology, critical care, and pulmonology are advancing our understanding and care of some of our sickest children.

Health equity

Leader: Tegwyn Brickhouse, DDS, PhD

The health of children is strongly influenced by social and economic factors as has been extensively documented over the last several decades. We now must move toward finding solutions to disparate health and health care, to investigate the means to make the best care available to all children. Our families and communities, neighborhood organizations and researchers from, the VCU Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation, the Center for Healthcare Disparities, the departments of family medicine and epidemiology, sociology, and many others partner with us.

Neurosciences

Leader: Nicholas Johnson, MD

From molecular and cellular mechanisms, through injury and repair, to behavior and illness, neuroscience research engages many in both the CHoR and greater VCU community. There are major projects in traumatic brain injury in collaboration with the departments of anatomy and neurobiology and physical medicine and rehabilitation, breakthroughs in genetic therapies for neuromuscular diseases in partnership with the department of neurology, multiple studies in addiction medicine with the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, among many others.

Translational and personalized medicine 

Leader: Rita Shiang

We bring discoveries made in the laboratory to the bedside to directly benefit children, using powerful tools in genetics and informatics to direct care to the characteristics of the individual. There are active clinical trials in almost every clinical department within CHoR. We work with researchers from the Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Department of Human Genetics, across multiple departments at VCU to find the best ways to treat each child.