By Irene Yeh 

July 17, 2024 | After more than 50 years of working together, Children’s Hospital Colorado has established a formal partnership with University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to launch the Colorado Child Health Research Institute. The Institute aims to unite more than 500 physician-scientists, researchers, nurse-scientists, and other investigators and enable them to develop treatments that improve the lives and health of child patients. The Institute also brings together six health professional schools at CU Anschutz Medical Campus, including School of Medicine, College of Nursing, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, the Colorado School of Public Health, and the Graduate School. 

“While we’ve always worked together, the Colorado Child Health Research Institute was established to formalize the partnership between Children’s Colorado and CU Anschutz in support of child health research,” says Ronald J. Sokol, MD, chief scientific officer of Child Health at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Now as an established brand, the Institute can be recognized on a local, regional, and national scale. 

The Institute has eight major functions: research strategy and administration, research operations administration, research education, regulatory affairs, research business services, internal grant awards, clinical research contracting, and research informatics and data science. By providing these services, interdisciplinary teams can solely focus on creating innovative treatments and delivering them to patients.  

Already Making Great Progress 

The Institute covers dozens of specialties with research programs and centers that touch all aspects of child health, according to Sokol. Already, their programs have exhibited “high impact” in different areas of research, he says. One example is brain tumor research. Children’s Colorado collaborated with pediatric physician-scientists to create an international registry of data and tissue samples for collaboration with leading scientists around the world to identify how tumors develop and developing new treatment therapies. 

Another accomplishment was achieved in cystic fibrosis (CF) research. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation selected a team of experts from campus to lead clinical trials of treatments that target the abnormal protein pathways of CF. The trials proved the safety and effectiveness of new drugs that are now available to patients ranging from infants to adolescents. The team transformed CF from a fatal childhood disease to something manageable into adulthood. 

“Through team science and innovative research approaches, these two programs have changed the trajectory of care for children with brain tumors and have been involved in the development and testing of transformational new treatments for children affected by cystic fibrosis,” comments Sokol.  

Future Goals 

In addition to continuing their efforts to advance research and treatment development, the Institute also works closely with their Precision Medicine Institute and Experimental Therapeutics Program at Children’s Colorado to refine workflows that allow testing for new genetic, RNA, biologics, and other therapies that can be implemented into clinical care once they receive FDA approval, says Sokol. He also mentions that the Institute will continue to foster an environment that allows investigators and study teams to thrive, as well as invest, train, nurture, and challenge the next generation of child health researchers. 

“It solidifies the shared commitment from both parties to advance the shared vision that was defined in our child health research strategic plan: ‘Together, through our campus partnership and commitment to child health research, we will profoundly transform the lives of children and the populations we serve across the lifespan.’”