Your donations in action: Pilot Research Awards
Recently, your donations to Children’s Hospital have funded two research projects highlighted here and copied below. Dr. Kinsella, Owen’s doctor, helped identify which projects to fund to make the most impact. We’re exited to follow the research complete by these young investigators.
Charles Simpkin, DO: Owen McKinnon Pilot Award for Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension Research
“Advanced Echocardiographic Evaluation of Neonates with Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Intra-Atrial Shunts: A Pilot Study of 3-Dimensional Stroke Volumes and Blood Speckle Tracking”
Our team uses echocardiograms every day in the neonatal intensive care unit to look for pulmonary hypertension in babies. However, when a baby has a hole between the top chambers of the heart, the extra blood that flows across it can make it seem like the resistances in lungs are higher than they really are. This creates a risk of incorrect diagnoses and treatments plans. The goal of this study is to test new echocardiology technologies to more accurately measure the amount of blood that is crossing to the right side of the heart and evaluate blood flow patterns in the lungs in infants with pulmonary hypertension.
Hui Zhang, MD, PhD: Owen McKinnon Pilot Award for Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension Research
“Mechanistic Insights into Epigenetic Inflammatory Memory and Its Role in Late-Onset Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension in High-Risk Infants”
Pediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe condition with few treatment options, and early-life oxygen deprivation (perinatal hypoxia) is a major risk factor. Researchers believe that past inflammation leaves a long-term "memory" in lung blood vessel cells, making them more prone to severe inflammation when exposed to future stressors. By using advanced genetic, epigenetic and molecular techniques in animal models, researchers aim to understand how these inflammatory memories form, persist, recall and contribute to PH progression. The findings could help develop new treatments targeting these epigenetic changes to prevent or reduce the severity of PH in high-risk infants.
