Pediatrics Research

Translating research in the laboratory into better treatment at the bedside has long been a focus of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. New technology is helping researchers discover exciting breakthroughs for diagnosing and managing disease while research programs offer exceptional opportunities for collaborations among basic scientists, translational scientists, and physicians.

To develop novel molecular based-therapies, basic science researchers in our department are currently working on a variety of protocols, including:

• Genetics and epigenetics, factors outside the genome, of cancer
• Proteomics - the roles played by proteins, the building blocks of life, in the activities of the cell
• Understanding the basic mechanisms of heart disease at a molecular and genetic level and understanding why children are born with heart abnormalities
• Understanding both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and the effects of both diseases on children and their future development
• Developing ways to prevent and combat secondary diseases after pediatric organ transplant.
• Visit the pediatric divisions to learn more about faculty research

Clinical research takes basic science breakthroughs and transforms them into treatments that provide better outcomes for our pediatric patients. Work underway is providing:

• Improved healthcare management for HIV/AIDS (Baylor physicians treat more children with the disease than does any other program in the world)
• Better ways to treat babies born prematurely
• New ways to treat children with cancer
• New information on neurological disorders such as epilepsy, stroke, and autism
• New approaches in reducing drug-resistant bacteria and recognizing new bacterial and viral diseases
• Use of genetic knowledge to better treat and diagnose children born with a variety of diseases
• Groundbreaking advances into understanding the development of the brain

The following are research and diagnostic labs associated with the Department of Pediatrics:

• Cain Foundation Laboratories
• John Welsh Cardiovascular Diagnostic Laboratory
• Laboratory for Regenerative Tissue Repair