January 30, 2025

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Developing Careers and Strengthening Community through the Early-Career Child Health Scientist Forum

As a leading pediatric research institute, we support our investigators through resources such as our Research Career Studio seminar series, scientific peer review process, and internal funding grants and awards that provide the building blocks for successful careers. The Early-Career Child Health Scientist Forum series uniquely aims to support early-stage researchers at Manne Research Institute. It is a collaborative effort between Todd Florin, MD, MSCE, Scientific Director for Research Development and Associate Division Head for Academic Affairs and Research, Emergency Medicine, and Lucia De Almeida, PhD, Research Scientist Navigator. The Early-Career Child Health Scientist Forum series brings together peers to create a vital community and introduces early-career scientists to the administrative processes and the resources that can support their success.

Kicking off a new season of Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute's In Pursuit podcast, Dr. Patrick Seed talks with Dr. Bria M. Coates about her research in pediatric critical care medicine and respiratory infections in children. Dr. Coates shares insights into the challenges and unpredictability of viral respiratory illnesses in young patients, the impact of these infections on long-term lung health, and how her research aims to reshape the field.

SCIENCE SHOWCASE

Dr. Jennifer Jao Named Co-Chair of International Maternal Pediatric and Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network

Jennifer Jao, MD, MPH, was selected as Co-Chair of the International Maternal Pediatric and Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Jao will serve alongside Dr. Sharon Nachman in guiding the Network’s critical work to improve the health and well-being of infants, children, and pregnant/postpartum individuals affected by HIV and its co-morbidities worldwide.

Dr. Jao has been involved with the Network as Protocol Co-Chair of IMPAACT P1115, which reported promising findings last year that children born with HIV who started treatment promptly after birth surpassed a year of remission after pausing antiretroviral therapy.

Debra E. Weese-Mayer Wins Paula H. Stern Award for Outstanding Women in Science and Medicine

NEWS FROM THE RESEARCH PILLARS

Systemic changes needed to focus on Black children and their families to improve developmental trajectories

Early care and education (ECE) programs were created to support the social, emotional and academic development of young children before they enter kindergarten. Yet, there are marked disparities and inequities in how Black children and their families are perceived and treated in ECE, according to a review article published in a special issue on Racism in the Early Years in Early Childhood Research Quarterly journal from Courtney Zulauf-McCurdy, PhD (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago), Olivia R. Nazaire (Loyola University Chicago), Tunette Powell, PhD (Arizona State University) and Iheoma Iruka, PhD (University of North Carolina).

The authors argue that anti-Blackness is the mechanism leading to inequalities in early childhood outcomes for Black children and their families. They define anti-Blackness as a specific form of racism that devalues, minimizes, and marginalizes people racialized as Black. It includes cultural and structural racism as well as interpersonal forms of racism reflected in interactions of teachers with Black kids and families. These forms of racism and interactions, according to the authors, often fuel what they call the “deficit perspective.”

A recently published study in the journal Social Science & Medicine investigated gender differences in parent responsibilities for child healthcare-focused tasks and found that mothers were twice as likely as fathers to be primarily responsible for the tasks.

The cross-sectional study reports on data from the Voices of Child Health in Chicago survey, in which the researchers asked 1,142 parents about child healthcare responsibilities, specifically who was primarily responsible for scheduling child healthcare appointments, taking the child to well-child visits, and taking the child to sick visits.  

The first randomized control trial of the school-based intervention called Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG) shows significant reductions in depression, anxiety and behavior problems among refugee and immigrant students. The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, was co-led by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Loyola University, in partnership with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Results were published in the American Journal of Community Psychology. Key findings are summarized in an infographic.

STRONG is a trauma-informed mental health intervention for newcomer youth in kindergarten through 12th grade designed to support positive adjustment during resettlement and improve access to mental health services. It includes 10 weekly small group sessions and an individual session, with a focus on recognizing internal strengths, identifying social supports, practicing relaxation and mindfulness, developing cognitive coping and problem-solving skills, and fostering social belonging and cultural pride. STRONG is widely disseminated nationally and internationally.

“We are excited to provide robust scientific evidence that STRONG intervention achieves what it is designed to do – help newcomer students from diverse backgrounds feel more connected and emotionally resilient as they adjust to their new environment,” said Co-Principal Investigator Tali Raviv, PhD, Director of School Mental Health at the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children’s and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “As more communities welcome newcomer students, our research shows that expanding STRONG to more schools can foster positive integration and mental health.”

MANNE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN THE MEDIA

• ‘A Powerful Connection’: Northwestern, Lurie Create Choir of Children Born With Heart Condition - Chicago Tribune
• U.S. Hospitals Lost Almost 30% of Pediatric Inpatient Capacity Over a Decade - Newswise
• Chicago Health Officials Confirm City’s First Pediatric Seasonal Flu-Related Deaths of 2025 - WGN TV
• Infectious Disease Expert Jennifer Jao to Help Lead AIDS Clinical-Trials Network - Northwestern News Network
• Here Are Four Takeaways About What Could Happen to Vaccines in Illinois as Donald Trump Takes Office - WBEZ
• Ketogenic Diet Adherence Improves Seizure Burden in Pediatric Aicardi Syndrome - Neurology Advisor
• Empowering Kids with Chronic Pain: Gut-Brain Connection and Mindfulness Role - WGN TV