Research
Research plays an important role at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. Remarkable advances have emerged from both laboratory studies and the investigations of new therapies or medicines in the clinical phase. These investigations make it possible for our physicians, surgeons and other healthcare professionals to offer pediatric patients more options for life-saving care and improved health than ever before.
Our dedicated research physicians and surgeons, all of whom are on the faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, have made extraordinary contributions that position the Hospital at the forefront of pediatric research. Among the investigations at the Hospital are those that have focused on such areas as:
- The role of genetics in Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, connective tissue disorders, cancer, and obesity
- Methods for preventing cerebral palsy in infants due to oxygen deprivation
- Prenatal diagnosis and treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Nutrition-related risk factors to prevent cardiovascular disease
- Understanding the cause of pediatric cancers
- Obesity, including primary prevention in childhood
- Autoimmune diseases, including psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus
- Retinal diseases of childhood
- Pediatric epilepsy
For more information on current research in each medical, surgical and emergency care specialty, visit our Healthcare Services pages.
We also have a clinical trials network to ensure that children throughout the metropolitan region have access to medicines and therapies that are on the cutting edge. Clinical trials take place under the most stringent guidelines. Children who participate benefit from closely supervised monitoring and have their care provided at no cost.
Among current clinical trials are those evaluating stem cell treatment for cancer and for sickle cell disease; new types of cancer medications; drugs to treat pulmonary and renal hypertension; a vaccine to prevent the development of juvenile diabetes and new medications to reverse new-onset Type I diabetes; anti-viral therapies and drugs to prevent the development of infections in children with AIDS; and new treatments for pulmonary disease, including asthma and cystic fibrosis.
Clinical Research Centers
As the second largest recipient of pediatric research funding in the nation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and through pivotal individual, foundation and corporate philanthropy, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and its medical college affiliate is able to influence the fundamental practice of pediatrics. The Hospital is the site of NIH-funded General Clinical Research Centers (GCRC) for pediatrics that was among the earliest funded and today is the largest in the country. These Centers, which contribute to new understanding and treatment of childhood diseases and are well equipped with resources including dedicated inpatient and outpatient units for patient-oriented studies, nursing and research personnel, laboratory support, and a bioinformatics system.
All patients from grades K through 12 who spend time in the Center's inpatient units can keep up with their schoolwork through the Hospital's school program. The Child Life Program is also available to ease each patient's stay--making their time at the centers more comfortable and as pleasant as possible by providing entertaining, age-appropriate diversions to keep their spirits up. In addition, one parent may stay overnight with his/her child.
The Irving Center for Clinical Research at Columbia University Medical Center--which was established over 30 years ago--includes a four- to six-bed pediatric inpatient unit in Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital for patients from infancy to 19-year-old and an outpatient unit on the third floor of the Vanderbilt Clinic (168th Street between Broadway and Ft. Washington Avenue). This facility includes three fully equipped examination rooms, a small laboratory for processing samples, and three other rooms that can accommodate research nurses or other research activities.
The Irving Center has research laboratories including a GCRC Core Laboratory that performs research-grade assays and a Clinical Pharmacology Shared Facility, jointly supported by the GCRC and Columbia Presbyterian's Comprehensive Cancer Center. Its Informatics Core Unit offers clinical investigators access to experienced design, data management and statistical analysis services.
Among the major areas of study in pediatrics are those focusing on the effects of diet on plasma lipids; nutrition and heart disease in children; formulas for low birth-weight newborns; cognitive development in children with neonatal brain damage; and attention deficit disorder. Clinical research also involves pulmonary hypertension in which patients can spend two to three days in the inpatient unit to insure they are following the best therapy for them.
Researchers are investigating a drug - hOKT3 - that may decrease the use of insulin in diabetic Type I populations. Patients participating in this clinical research stay in the inpatient unit for two weeks. The Center sometimes admits adults to its studies. For example, if the mother has certain neurodegenerative disease that may have been passed on to a child, she may be admitted along with her child, as long as she is not too ill.
The outpatient program is available from 8 am to 4:30 pm, with occasional evening and weekend hours.
Contact
- Irving Center
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Phone: (212) 305-6638
