A Letter from the Director

Mary J.C. Hendrix, PhD
President and Scientific Director, Children’s Memorial Research Center,
and Medical Research Institute Council Professor, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine

On behalf of the faculty, staff and trainees of Children’s Memorial Research Center, it is my privilege to present our annual report highlighting the basic and translational research discoveries advancing our mission—developing new therapies for pediatric health care.

Our research investigators have worked tirelessly to secure $34.8 million in extramural funding, which represents a 9.7 percent increase compared with last year’s portfolio. This noteworthy accomplishment underscores the novel and competitive nature of our researchers’ work and the supportive administrative infrastructure provided for grant submissions, management and regulatory oversight.

The research center’s six major programs remain strong with over 200 faculty members in: Cancer Biology and Epigenomics, led by Dr. Bento Soares; Clinical and Translational Research, led by Dr. Ram Yogev; Developmental Biology, led by Dr. Philip Iannaccone; Human Molecular Genetics, led by Dr. Ann Harris; Neurobiology, led by Dr. Martha Bohn; and Smith Child Health Research, led by Dr. Xiaobin Wang. The Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training Program, led by Dr. Hans-Georg Simon, has grown to 16 graduate students, 24 postdoctoral fellows, and 10 clinical fellows. All of these programs are part of a Collaborative Opportunities Initiative with our colleagues at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, thereby fostering an exchange of scientific ideas in thematic areas of common interest leading to unique synergies and funding competitiveness.

To further support our basic, clinical and translational investigators, we established the Biostatistics Research Core in partnership with the Faculty Practice Plan and the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. This collaborative effort culminated in the recruitment of the core’s first director, Dr. Deli Wang. This important new resource will provide high quality statistical analyses, including the development of study designs with sufficient sample size to yield significant power calculations. This service is particularly helpful in the application of the translational research tool XenoBase* for personalized pediatric medical therapies.

I end on a note of acknowledgement and appreciation for the long-standing partnership we are privileged to share with the Medical Research Institute Council (MRIC), which has raised more than $45 million for the Research Center since 1991. I would like to especially thank Gary Wolfson for his remarkable leadership of the MRIC, as we look forward to Hilary Sallerson taking the helm in 2010. Our gratitude is also extended to philanthropists David and Denise Bunning whose generosity continues to support the Children’s Memorial Food Allergy Study, and to Mrs. Mary Ann Smith who generously continues her commitment to the Smith Child Health Research Program. We are gratefully indebted to all our generous donors who support today’s research for tomorrow’s healthcare.

 

*XenoBase is the unique, advanced bioinformatics system that integrates data analysis—from molecular to clinical—employing cross-mapping, data based predictions and other analysis tools to generate hypotheses, troubleshoot and problem-solve.