Researchers Receive Grant to Optimize Brain Development in Babies with CHD

Researchers receive $2.5M grant to optimize brain development in babies with CHD Richard Jonas, M.D., Catherine Bollard, M.B.Ch.B., M.D., and Nobuyuki Ishibashi, M.D., have been awarded a $2.5 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct a single-center clinical trial at Children’s National. The goal of the study will be to optimize brain development in babies with congenital heart disease (CHD) who sometimes demonstrate delay in the development of cognitive and motor skills. This can be a result of multiple factors including altered prenatal oxygen delivery, brain blood flow and genetic factors associated with surgery including exposure to the heart lung machine.

Antonio R. Porras, Ph.D., awarded NIH grant Antonio R. Porras, Ph.D., a staff scientist in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, has received the prestigious Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant funds Dr. Porras’ research for the next five years, enabling him to develop two bone growth models that will better inform clinicians treating patients with craniosynostosis and help to optimize outcomes. Autism’s heterogeneity on display at INSAR 2019 Researchers from Children’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD) presented nearly 20 scientific panels, oral presentations and posters at the 2019 International Society for Autism Research’s (INSAR) annual meeting. Among them was Lauren Kenworthy, Ph.D., CASD’s director, who shared some of her key takeaways from the meeting with the ASD-focused publication Spectrum. Focusing on the “little brain” to rescue cognition Children’s National researchers and their colleagues recently published a review article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience that covers the latest research about how abnormal development of the cerebellum leads to a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and and Down syndrome. DoD grant funds vision loss research Marius George Linguraru, D.Phil., M.A., M.Sc., was recently awarded a Department of Defense grant that will allow him to develop a novel quantitative MRI application that can inform treatment decisions by accurately identifying which children with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and optic pathway glioma (OPG) are at risk of losing their vision. Fighting lethal cancer with a one-two punch New research could lead to a promising way to treat neuroblastoma by enabling the immune system to recognize these tumors, in order to spark an anti-tumor immune response. Anthony D. Sandler, M.D., and colleagues reported on these results using an experimental model of the disease. “Liquid biopsies” could track diffuse midline gliomas A multi-institutional team led by researchers at Children’s National showed that quantifying the amount of circulating tumor DNA possessing key mutations characteristic of diffuse midline gliomas could reliably predict the tumors’ response to radiotherapy.

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