Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Regular Team Members:
1. Irving Boime, PhD
Professor Depts. of Developmental Biology and
Obstetrics and Gynecology
2. Steven L. Brody, MD
Professor of Medicine
3. Vikas R. Dharnidharka, MD, MPH
Division Director, Pediatric Nephrology
4. Mary C. Dinauer, MD, PhD
Scientific Director, Children’s Discovery Institute
5. Ann M. Doyle, RN
Director Outpatient Research
6. Richard Head, MS
Associate Professor of Genetics,
Director of GTAC
7. Paul W. Hruz, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Cellular
Biology and Physiology
8. Sanjay Jain, MD, PhD
Associate professor of Medicine, Renal Division
9. John J. Kotyk, BS, MS, PhD
Associate Professor,
Assoc. Director Human Imaging Unit
10. Leslie D. McIntosh, BA, MPH, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology and
Immunology
11. Robert C. McKinstry, MD, PhD
Radiologist-in-Chief, St. Louis Children's Hospital
12. Kelle H. Moley, MD
Professor and Vice Chair of Obstetrics and
Gynecology
13. Margaret A. Olsen, BS, MPH, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
14. Ken B. Schechtman, BS, MS, PhD
Associate Professor of Biostatistics
Associate Professor of Medicine
15. Shalini Shenoy, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Medical Director, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant
16. Mark A. Watson, BA, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pathology and Immunology
17. Feliciano Yu, BS, MD, MS
Chief Medical Information Officer, St. Louis
Children's Hospital
18. Neil White MD, CDE
Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
19. Yi Zhang, JD, RN
Assistant Dean for Clinical Trials
1
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Backup/Ad Hoc Members:
1. Dennis J. Dietzen
Ad Hoc
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology &
Immunology Medical Director, Core Laboratory
2. Allan Doctor, MD
Ad Hoc
Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular
Biophysics, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
3. Brad Evanoff
K. Moley Backup
Dr. Richard A. and Elizabeth Henby Setter Professor of
Occupational, Industrial, and Environmental Medicine,
Director, Institute of Clinical and Translational Science,
Assistant Dean for Clinical and Translational Research
4. Jane Garbutt, MD
Ad Hoc
Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Medical Director,
WU PAARC
5. Brian Hackett, MD, PhD
Ad Hoc
Professor of Pediatrics
6. Mary E. Hartman, MD
M. Olsen Backup
Assistant Professor
Division of Critical Care Medicine
7. Robert Hayashi, MD
Ad Hoc Director
Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
8. Marc Haynes, RN
N. White Backup
Nurse Manager, Pediatric Clinical Research Unit
9. Mike Heinz, BS
R. Head Backup
Assistant Director of GTAC
10. Judith Lieu, MD, MSPH
Ad Hoc
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck
Director Associate Residency Program
11. Phil Miller, BA
K. Schechtman Backup
Professor of Biostatistics
12. Mukesh Sharma, PhD
L. McIntosh Backup
Biomedical Informatics Project Manager
13. Joshua S. Shimony, MD, PhD
Ad Hoc
Assistant Professor, Director, Spine Interventional
Service, Director, CT Imaging Service
14. Phillip Tarr, BA, MD
M. Dinauer Backup/Ad Hoc
Melvin E. Carnahan Professor of Pediatrics,
Professor of Molecular Microbiology
15. Brad Warner, MD
Ad Hoc
Jessie L. Ternberg, MD PhD Distinguished Professor of
Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Surgeon-in-Chief,
St. Louis Children’s Hospital
16. David B. Wilson, MD, PhD
P. Hruz Backup
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and
and Developmental Biology
17. Mary Uhlmansiek
L. McIntosh Backup
Adoption Manger, Clinical Research Data
2
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Regular Team Members:
Irving Boime, PhD, Professor Depts. of Developmental Biology and Obstetrics and Gynecology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Molecular endocrinology; Structure activity relationships of pituitary peptide
hormones; Protein secretion/sorting; development of biotechnology patents and multiple
commercial license agreements.
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Our primary research interest was the
expression of gonadotropin hormone genes of the pituitary. Our work also focused on the post-translational
processing of the hormones coupled to their secretion and sorting. In the course of these investigations
analogs were developed that are currently being used therapeutically.
Steven L. Brody, MD, Professor of Medicine
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Pulmonary, critical care, gene regulation, developmental biology,
nanomaterials, epithelial cells
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I have experience in both basic-translational (T1)
and clinical research. My clinical research experience is primarily in critical care medicine.
Our T1 research includes aspects of lung biology in chronic and acute airway disease are
our major area of work. We focus on mechanisms of airway epithelial cell differentiation
that characterize lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease,
bronchitis, bronchiectasis, post lung transplant bronchiolitis, respiratory virus and bacterial infection. We are
particularly interested in mechanisms of ciliated cell differentiation and cilia biogenesis. These studies are
linked to investigation of the genetic basis of lung disease in patient populations with known or suspected
defects in cilia, co-called ciliopathies. Our methods utilize both animal models and human samples.
Approaches involve techniques in cellular, molecular, and development biology and also employ genetic
methods in human and mouse analyses. We have additional projects focused on gene therapy and related
approaches, using viral vectors and non-viral nanoparticles for nucleic acid delivery and lung imaging in
collaboration with colleagues in radiology.
Vikas R. Dharnidharka, MD, MPH, Division Director, Pediatric Nephrology
Email, Website
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Back to top
Expertise: Pediatrics, nephrology, transplantation, epidemiology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I am a patient-oriented researcher with interests in
chronic renal failure, pediatric kidney transplantation and post-transplant infections. I
perform epidemiological analyses of very large national databases to elucidate risk factors
for events and the outcomes after events, typically infectious events. These large
databases include UNOS, USRDS, NAPRTCS. I also participate in multi-center clinical and
mechanistic research trials in the areas of chronic renal insufficiency, dialysis and
transplantation. My work gets funding from NIH institutes (NIDDK, NIAID) and industry. I am particularly
known for my work related to a post-transplant malignancy called post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder
(PTLD), caused in most cases by Epstein-Barr virus infection. These issues of infection and malignancy posttransplant have received a lot of attention as we gave our patients more immunosuppression in the hopes of
3
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
reducing acute rejection rates. My collaborators are numerous. For the prospective clinical trials, my
collaborators include pediatric nephrology colleagues at various centers such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins,
University of Pennsylvania, UCSF, University of Washington and UAB. For my epidemiological studies, I
collaborate with an adult nephrologist in the Army, with biostatisticians and epidemiologists at Emmes
Corporation and with a biostatistician at UNOS.
Mary C. Dinauer, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Scientific Director, Children’s Discovery Institute
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Hematology, neutrophil, inflammation, innate immunity, NADPH oxidase
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I have been an NIH-funded investigator since
1991. My research focuses on the regulation of oxidant production by the phagocyte
NADPH oxidase, its role in innate immunity and inflammation and inherited defects in
Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD), where we recently identified a new genetic
subgroup of this disorder. The NADPH oxidase is increasingly recognized to have
immunomodulatory functions in addition to its role in microbial killing. My laboratory is
investigating the regulation and assembly of NADPH oxidase in phagocytic leukocytes, its role in innate
immunity and inflammation, inherited defects in CGD, and strategies for treatment of CGD by gene
modification of hematopoietic stem cells. We have developed both a human myeloid cell line model and
mouse model of X-linked CGD using gene targeting for use as pre-clinical model systems, in addition to
studies in human neutrophils and marrow cells from healthy controls and patients with CGD.
Ann M. Doyle, RN CCRC, Director of Outpatient Research
Email
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Hematology, neutrophil, inflammation, innate immunity, NADPH oxidase
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I have been coordinating clinical trials for
more than 15 years; my area of was primarily Inpatient ICU trials along with outpatient
pulmonary clinical trials. My experience ranges from Procedural, to budgeting, to
regulatory to mentoring. In addition I currently am the director of the outpatient
research facility in the CAM, providing research space, support for researchers/
coordinators here at the university. We support a great deal of Phase I cancer trials
along with Phase II, III rheumatology, neuromuscular, pulmonary, gastroenterology, psychiatry, solid organ
transplant among other disciplines. Our goal is to provide dedicated space and personnel for researchers for
industry, departmental, and NIH sponsored trials.
4
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Richard Head, MS, Research Associate Professor of Genetics
Back to top
Email, Website
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Genomics, Inflammation & Immunology, Drug Development, Computational
Biology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: 17 years in pharmaceutical/medical
research. Currently the director of the Genome Technology Access Center (GTAC) and
director of R&D for Genomics and Pathology Services (GPS). My lab at Pfizer was
focused on all aspects of research in inflammation & immunology from new target
discovery to translational/clinical research with the use of multiple ‘omics technologies
and computational biology. Two of our major achievements were the determination of the
mode of action of the recently approved Xeljanz (JAK inhibitor) and the development of an extremely
sophisticated and detailed molecular/cellular level model of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Since returning to
Washington University two years ago, it has been my goal to apply those translational/clinical learnings more
broadly through the GTAC and GPS in multiple areas of disease research. Most recently we have
successfully moved multiple cutting edge assays from the research space to use in patient care and clinical
trials.
Resources: GTAC, Genomics and Pathology Services
Paul W. Hruz, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Cellular Biology and Physiology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Diabetes, HIV, Protein structure/function, Drug design, Membrane transporters
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Hruz is board certified in Pediatrics and
Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr. Hruz has clinical interest in a wide range of
endocrine disorders, with a special interest in diabetes mellitus. His research efforts are
directed toward understanding facilitative glucose transport as it relates to normal and
disordered glucose homeostasis. The laboratory is investigating the in vitro and in vivo
effects of HIV protease inhibitors on glucose transporter function. The goal of this
research is to identify the molecular mechanisms that lead HIV infected patients receiving
PIs to develop insulin resistance. The laboratory is also using these isoform-selective antagonists of the
insulin-responsive transporter GLUT4 to understand the role of glucose transport in insulin-responsive
tissues. Recent efforts have been directed toward understanding the role of glucose transport in the failing
heart. This has led to translational research into the understanding of the influence of insulin resistance in
pediatric heart failure.
Sanjay Jain, MD, PhD, Associate professor of Medicine (Renal Division), Pathology & Immunology;
Director-Kidney translational Research Core
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: molecular genetics, translational research, kidney and urological disease
research
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Our overall interest is to delineate molecular
signals that regulate normal development, injury and regeneration of the genitourinary
system. We use glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family ligands-Ret
receptor tyrosine kinase signaling system as a paradigm. This signaling system is
5
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
associated with a number of human diseases including developmental abnormalities, neurodegenerative
diseases and cancer syndromes. Using genetically defined Ret signaling mutants we have identified
molecular basis for signaling specificity in the development of urogenital system and autonomic nervous
system. A major area of interest is renal and urinary tract malformations and gene-environment interactions
between the GU and the peripheral nervous system. To this end we are using innovative mouse models,
genomic approaches in exome sequencing of patients with these disorders and genome wide expression
studies to understand fundamental mechanisms, causative genes and developmental programs necessary for
GU and nervous systems to work in harmony in normal and disease states.
John J. Kotyk, BS, MS, PhD, Research Associate Professor, Associate Director; Human Imaging Unit
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: imaging, biomarkers
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My interests include the development,
implementation, and validation of new in vivo MRI technologies as target, mechanism, and
outcome biomarkers of disease and measures of drug efficacy/intervention. Efforts focus
on translation of new preclinical or basic science methodology (image data acquisition &
analyses) into clinical protocols, specifically to: (1) assess whether or not therapeutic
agents hit &/or modulate the target, i.e., the receptor; (2) explore the mechanism of action
of drug candidates; (3) serially monitor disease progression & regression; (4) evaluate
drug candidate therapeutic efficacy; (5) validate/qualify preclinical methods developed using animal models of
disease (and toxicology) as imaging biomarkers in humans; and, (6) ultimately develop prognostic biomarkers
that are predictive of the future rate of disease progression which can be used to improve healthcare, therapy,
drug development, and as inclusion criteria for new clinical investigations.
Resources: ICTS Human Imaging Unit
Leslie D. McIntosh, BA, MPH, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Pathology and Immunology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My interests include using technology to translate
and disseminate health data; for example, developing on-line and computer aided surveys
in order to reduce input errors, decreasing the time to collect survey data, and increasing
user accessibility of the survey. By accessibility I mean modifying a survey (e.g. enlarging
the font size, offering voice-interactive modes) to make it more user-friendly. Additionally,
the lifecycle of surveys - the development, testing, deployment, and analyses of the
instruments and data –is of interest in my research endeavors. I would also like to develop
better ways to improve the presentation of data to end-users. I am always interested in
learning new techniques to analyze data, such as conjoint analysis and social network analysis.
Resources: ICTS CBMI core and informatics
6
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Robert C. McKinstry, MD, PhD, Radiologist-in-Chief, St. Louis Children's Hospital
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Medical imaging, magnetic Resonance Imaging, neuroscience, image
analysis, neororadiology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Imaging the developing brain and its response to
injury: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows for noninvasive evaluation of brain
development. Most studies performed to date have been descriptive in nature and
focused on clinical image interpretation. Recent advances in the speed of image
acquisition and image contrast have presented an opportunity to re-evaluate human brain
development using controlled, quantitative methods. Dr. McKinstry combines his clinical
interest in pediatric neuroradiology with his expertise in MRI for four ongoing studies at St. Louis Children’s
Hospital and in the Biomedical MR Laboratory at Mallinckrodt Institute’s East Building research facility.
“Pediatric Study Center for MRI Study of Normal Brain Development” is a multicenter effort to establish a
quantitative brain development database, “Evaluation of neonatal brain injury via water diffusion,” seeks to
improve our understanding of the mechanism underlying and the timing of newborn brain injury, the ”Silent
Infarct Transfusion Trial,” is a multicenter study which seeks to limit brain damage in children with sickle cell
disease and “Prefrontally-mediated memory in phenylketonuria,” is a multicenter effort investigating the
cognitive abilities of children with PKU. Future efforts will combine anatomical MR methods, DTI, and
functional MRI to improve the understanding of the relationship between structural and functional brain
development. Furthermore, Dr. McKinstry hopes to investigate neuroprotection schemes that may help limit
the sequelae of newborn brain injury. Members of this laboratory develop MRI protocols and use imageprocessing software to test hypotheses regarding brain development and brain injury. The lab’s research
team shares interests in medical imaging and neuroscience.
Resources: ICTS Human Imaging Unit
Kelle H. Moley, MD, James P. Crane Professor and Vice Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Professor, Vice Chair of Basic Science Research, Director, Basic Research Division
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Reproduction, development, biorepository, cell biology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Moley is a Reproductive Endocrinologist and
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is currently Vice Chair and Director of the
Division of Basic Science in Women’s Reproductive Science Research. She is also the
Co-Director of the Washington University Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
She is PI and Director of the Reproductive Scientist Development Program, a national
K12 training program now in its 26th year. She is Program Director of the Women’s
Reproductive Health Research Center and PI of a T32 in Reproductive Sciences at
Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Moley also co-founded the Women and Infant’s Health
Specimen Consortium (WIHSC) at Washington University in St. Louis, the largest longitudinal, pregnancy
tissue biorepository in North America. Dr. Moley’s research has impacted our understanding of reproductive
performance and glucose utilization in diabetic and obese animal models and how these findings are
applicable to the pathophysiology of diabetes in humans. Recently her work has focused on developmental
origins of adult disease, specifically the susceptibility of offspring to adult diseases such as metabolic
syndrome and cancer.
Resources: WIHSC repository
7
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Margaret A. Olsen, BS, MPH, PhD, Research Associate Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Epidemiology, infectious diseases, administrative data, observational data
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My primary area of research concerns the
epidemiology of healthcare associated infections, including the incidence of infection after
a variety of different surgeries, risk factors and outcomes of infection. I am also interested
in developing computerized methods of surveillance for surgical site infections and other
healthcare associated infections, using administrative and electronic data. I am using
large administrative databases to perform surveillance for healthcare associated
infections and for comparative effectiveness research. I am very interested in the use of these large
generalizable datasets to compare outcomes after medical and surgical treatments, including the role of
facility-level characteristics.
Resources: CADR core
Ken B. Schechtman, BS, MS, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Research Associate Professor
of Medicine
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: clinical trials design, statistical analysis of data, multicenter clinical trials,
epidemiologic methods
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My primary areas of interest involve clinical trials
research methodology, the conduct of clinical trials, and the statistical evaluation of
clinical trials data. Major areas of application include cardiology, obesity in children and
adults, exercise physiology, and asthma. My central concerns in these clinical and
translational research projects include developing and implementing study designs that
minimize bias and enhance the likelihood that the planned study will confidently address
the research questions of interest and ensuring that research projects are conducted using procedures that
further the goals of the study. Additional areas of interest include the design and conduct of epidemiological
research.
Resources: Research Design & Biostatistics Group (RDBG)
Shalini Shenoy, MD, Teresa J. Vietti MD Scholar in Pediatrics, Professor of Pediatrics, Medical
Director, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Expertise: patient oriented research, hematology and oncology, bone marrow transplant
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My academic focus is on the development of
safer less toxic methods of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children. Toward
this, I am investigating reduced intensity transplantation for children with
hemoglobinopathy (sickle cell disease and thalassemia) using the best available related
or alternate donors.
8
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Mark A. Watson, BA, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Pathology and Immunology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Genomics, Cancer, Biomarkers
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Application of whole genomic technologies (e.g.
DNA microarrays) and biomedical informatics approaches to the molecular
characterization of breast cancer and other malignancies. Development and validation of
genome-based biomarkers for the prognosis and targeted therapeutic management of
cancer.
Resources: ICTS Translational Pathology & Biomarker Development resource
Feliciano Yu, BS, MD, MS, Chief Medical Information Officer, St. Louis Children's Hospital
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Health informatics, health services research, healthcare information
technology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Feliciano “Pele” Yu, Jr., is a general
pediatrician with a background in health informatics and health services research. He is
also Associate Professor at the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hospitalist Medicine.
Dr. Yu’s primary focus lies in the intersection of health informatics, outcomes research and
quality of care. Dr. Yu actively contributes to healthcare quality and informatics activities
locally and at the national level. The common theme across Dr. Yu’s work relates to
helping clinicians make better decisions, provide quality care, and improve care delivery processes through
the use of health information and communications technology.
Resources/Interactions: Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMI)
Neil H. White, MD, CDE, Professor of Pediatric and Medicine, Director, Pediatric Clinic Research Unit
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: pediatrics diabetes, endocrinology, hypoglycemia
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: As the Director of the Pediatric Clinical Research
Unit (PCRU) for Washington University in St. Louis I am involved in numerous childhood
disease processes. My primary discipline is endocrinology, is involved on both the
national and international level for the research and treatment of diabetes. I am involved in
multiple facets of diabetes from prevention to treatment of the disease. My expertise also
includes Wolfram Syndrome a rare genetic variation of diabetes.
I am also supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award grant, and various
grants from pharmaceutical companies. I am also a principal investigator for institutionally-based fellowship
training (T32) and career-development (K12) grants from NIDDK.
Resources: Pediatric Clinical Research Unit
9
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Yi Zhang, JD, RN, Assistant Dean Clinical Trials
Email, Website
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Back to top
Expertise: Clinical research management; operational & financial expertise in managing
research units and research coordinators; FDA (GCP) and Common Rule related
regulatory experience; Contracts/budgets negotiations with industry.
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Interested in understanding and providing the best
operational infrastructure to support clinical and translational research. Have experience in
how to approach industry for clinical research funding and negotiate contracts/budgets.
Knowledgeable in FDA and OHRP regulatory requirements for human subject research.
Resources: ICTS CARS (Clinical Research Units), Contracts, Regulatory, Study Coordinator and
Recruitment oversight
10
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Backup/Ad Hoc Team Members:
Dennis J. Dietzen, PhD, DABCC Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology & Immunology
Medical Director, Core Laboratory; St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Expertise: Clinical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Immunoassay, Mass Spectrometry,
Mitochondrial Function, Inborn Errors of Metabolism.
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Dietzen is certified by the American Board of
Clinical Chemistry and directs the Core Laboratory at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Dr.
Dietzen’s interests focus on discovery, translation, and implementation of novel biomarkers
in clinical practice. Current discovery and translational efforts are focused on metabolomic
and proteomic definition of liver failure, hypoglycemia, pre-eclampsia, bone disease, and mitochondrial
disease. These studies lean heavily on the use of modern liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Implementation efforts include clinical trials for new in vitro diagnostic devices and defining reference intervals
for a broad range of biomarkers in children from infancy through adolescence.
Allan Doctor, MD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Associate Professor
of Pediatrics, Dept. of Pediatrics
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: critical care medicine, biochemistry & molecular biophysics, pathobiology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My research program is focused upon the novel
role of RBC based signaling in matching regional blood flow to metabolic need. The RBC
transport portfolio is newly appreciated to include 3 gases (O2, CO2, NO), and RBCs
appear to serve as vascular control elements by exerting O2 - responsive control over the
bioavailability of vasoactive effectors in plasma. My lab explores the biochemical and
molecular events critical to this process. This work extends to translational studies of RBC
dysfunction in human critical illness, transfusion medicine and blood substitute design.
Resources: Critical Care Medicine
Bradley Evanoff, MD, MPH, Dr. Richard A. and Elizabeth Henby Setter Professor of Occupational,
Industrial, and Environmental Medicine; Director, Institute of Clinical and Translational Science; and
Assistant Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, School of Medicine
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Assessment of musculoskeletal symptoms and functional status,
epidemiology, workplace intervention studies, community based research.
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Evanoff is Director of the Institute for Clinical
and Translational Sciences, which promotes research and research education to
improve clinical research and the translation of research findings to health improvement.
Dr. Evanoff is a researcher in the area of occupational health and safety whose research
has focused on the epidemiology and prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses,
and on workplace intervention studies.
Resources: Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences
11
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Brian P. Hackett, MD, PhD Professor of Pediatrics
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Newborn Medicine
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I am interested in diseases of the newborn, in
particular respiratory diseases of the newborn. My background is in clinical neonatology
and I have a long-standing interest in the molecular and cellular regulation of pulmonary
development.
Jane Garbutt, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Medical Director, WU PAARC, Dept. of
Medicine
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Community Health and Epidemiology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I am interested in community-based research
that is relevant to primary care and in collaborating to ensure that beneficial interventions
reach those who may benefit from them via dissemination and uptake research, and
working for policy change to improve the health of the community. My work is in changing
physician and patient behaviors to ensure that the best quality healthcare is delivered and
used by those who could benefit.
Resources: Clinical Research Training Center
Mary E. Hartman, MD, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pediatrics
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Epidemiology, health services research, outcomes of critical illness in
childhood
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My primary area of research concerns the
epidemiology and outcomes of critical illness in childhood. My area of expertise is in the
use of large datasets to examine trends in health services delivery and outcomes.
Previous projects have included the use of large administrative datasets to examine
variation in care for severe pediatric traumatic brain injury in several large US states,
trends in PICU care for pediatric status asthmaticus and the epidemiology of pediatric
severe sepsis. Current projects include using health insurance data to examine health
care utilization for children after prolonged PICU admissions and the use of a local ICU dataset to examine
the effect of rapid response team implementation.
Resources: Critical Care Medicine
12
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Robert Hayashi, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution:
Expertise: Hematology, oncology, patient oriented research
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Hayashi's research interest primarily focuses
on issues regarding the long term effects of cancer therapy. His efforts examine the nature
and spectrum of clinical conditions that effect childhood cancer survivors with the goal of
developing interventions that will improve the outlook of this patient population. He is
involved in both institutional and national efforts to gain insight in this rapidly evolving area
of investigation and he also directs The Late Effects Clinic at St. Louis Children’s Hospital
providing comprehensive care for patients afflicted with a broad scope of conditions. Dr.
Hayashi's clinical interests also include bone marrow transplantation, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). He is actively involved in national trials advancing the
treatment of patients in these areas.
Marc Haynes, RN, Nurse Manager, Pediatric Clinical Research Unit
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Pediatric research, Adult research coordination, Adult Emergency Medicine
Research
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My area of interest is pediatric clinical. As the nurse
manager of the Pediatric Clinical Research Unit (PCRU) for Washington University in St.
Louis I am very fortunate to be involved with some bedside research projects. The eclectic
research on our unit allows me and my team to be involved in numerous medical disciplines. The PCRU
supports NIH, investigator initiated, and industry sponsored research. The main area that I am involved in
predominantly is the logistical management of the unit operations and the staff of the PCRU.
Resources: Pediatric Clinical Research Unit
Mike Heinz, BS, Assistant Director GTAC
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Genomics, Project management
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Our focus at the Genome Technology Access
Center is to provide researchers with access to cutting edge genomic technologies. Our
services support research for many Washington University investigators. We offer nextgeneration sequencing, microarray analyses, and cutting edge PCR. In addition to
research, clinical sequencing, microarrays and PCR are done in CAP/CLIA certified
laboratories. Services are available at all stages of a project, including experimental design,
sample preparation, quality control, pcr/microarray/sequencing procedures, data refining,
and advanced analysis.
Resources: GTAC, Genomics and Pathology Services
13
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Judith Lieu, MD, MSPH, Associate Professor, Associate Residency Program Director, Dept. Of
Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: clinical epidemiology, pediatric otolaryngology, patient-oriented research
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Current research focuses on the effects and
consequences of hearing loss in children. I use clinical epidemiology research methods
and collaborate with colleagues in neuroscience, psychology, and auditory science to
investigate speech-language, cognition, educational effects, executive functioning, and
quality-of-life in children with hearing loss. I have engaged in research in a broad range
of otolaryngology topics, including sinusitis, otitis media, tonsillitis, head and neck
masses, and evaluation of surgical interventions used in otolaryngology.
J. Philip Miller, BA, Professor of Biostatistics
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Primarily involved in collaborative clinical and
translational research projects in a wide diversity of disciplines. Operate coordinating
centers for multi-institutional NIH studies, including clinical trials. General biostatistics,
study design and research data management.
Mukesh Sharma, PhD, Biomedical Informatics Project Manager
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Bioinformatics and molecular biology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: I studied intracellular lipid-binding protein genes
for my Ph.D. thesis in Biology (Molecular and Cell Biology) at Dalhousie University,
Halifax, Canada. For my post-doctoral research work at the Washington University School
of Medicine, I studied molecular genetic changes associated with formation and
progression of pilocytic astrocytoma (WHO grade I, brain tumors). Currently as part of
Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMI), my primary Interest is in conducting
collaborative in silico analyses including microarray based gene expression analysis,
mutational analysis, and next-generation sequencing based data analysis (including RNA-seq, ChIP-seq,
DNA-seq … etc).
Resources: ICTS CBMI core and informatics
14
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
Joshua S. Shimony, MD, PhD, Associate Professor or Neuroradiology, Director of Pediatric
Neuroradiology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: MRI, diffusion, perfusion, neuroradiology, neurophysiology, Alzheimer’s
disease, pediatric brain development
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Shimony's research focuses on imaging
applications in neuroradiology and neurophysiology, primarily using advanced MRI
techniques. Recent work has included applications of MR diffusion and perfusion
imaging techniques.
Phillip I. Tarr, BA, MD, Melvin E. Carnahan Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Molecular
Microbiology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Microbiome, gut microbes, pre-event resource collection
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Our work is focused on the intensive study of the
host, most particularly the child, and the host's intestinal microbiota in health and disease.
We study diverse aspects of this interaction, including specific pathogens (especially
diarrheagenic E. coli such as E. coli O157:H7), and human microbial communities, such as
in necrotizing enterocolitis, and sepsis.
Brad Warner, MD, Jessie L. Ternberg, MD PhD Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric
Surgeon-in-Chief, St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children’s Hosp.
Expertise: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, surgical nutrition, ulcerative colitis,
short bowel syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis, surgical oncology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: Dr. Warner's areas of clinical interest include
remedial surgical procedures for short gut syndrome as well as ileal pouch procedures for
children with familial polyposis and ulcerative colitis. Our specific research goals include
elucidation of the role of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its intestinal receptor (EGF-R)
as a central mediator of the adaptation response.
15
Research Forum-Child Health Team Members
June 2014
David B. Wilson, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Developmental Biology
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Hematology, Oncology, Endocrinology
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My basic research laboratory uses mouse models
to study cellular differentiation, organ development, and oncogenesis. My laboratory has
published many papers on the topic of GATA transcription factors. My clinical research
interest is in the area of bone marrow failure.
Mary Uhlmansiek, Adoption Manger, Clinical Research Data
Email, Website
Back to top
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Expertise: Clinical Informatics, regulatory
Area of Clinical or Research Interest: My primary interest is to support clinical and
translational research projects through the use of informatics tools, including ClinPortal,
CIDER, and caTissue. My research background is in the assessment and treatment of
PTSD and other sequela of interpersonal violence in both pediatric and adult populations,
including data management for several large-scale NIH grants. In addition, I have
expertise in research regulations through my previous IRB involvement.
Resources: ICTS CBMI core and informatics
16