September 17, 2025

Today, one in six children and adolescents in the United States has obesity, and the numbers increase linearly each year. Fifty percent of school-age children with obesity will become adults with obesity. Even worse, for adolescents with obesity, 70–80 percent will develop adult obesity, making the treatment of childhood and youth obesity a national priority. In the latest Manne Research Institute president’s message, President and Chief Research Officer Patrick Seed, MD, PhD, introduces us to a talented team of research professionals and clinical trial experts led by Justin Ryder, PhD. By focusing on treatment options, their research is generating insights into opportunities to improve health outcomes for youth with obesity.

SCIENCE SHOWCASE

Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute announces the recipients of the spring 2025 internal funding opportunities. Manne Research Institute provides internal grant and award opportunities to a faculty member or other person who has principal investigator-eligible status to develop projects that will lead to a highly competitive extramural application for sustained research support within 18 months of receiving the award. Funding opportunities vary depending on the year and cycle. Pediatric research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute.

The 2025 INSPIRED Symposium, Insights in Pediatric CAR T-cell Immunotherapy: Recent Advances and Future Directions, was hosted by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago on September 8–9, at Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital. Convening more than 350 physicians in the pediatric CAR T field—including the head of the National Cancer Institute’s pediatric oncology branch, the physician-scientist who performed the first pediatric CAR T-cell infusion, and the investigator behind the first FDA-approved CAR T trial—the symposium brought together experts form 16 countries and 84 pediatric institutions for two days of talks and panels. More than 40 speakers, including Dr. Kevin McNerney (pictured inset), Attending Physician, Hematology, Oncology, Neuro-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Lurie Children’s, spotlighted cutting-edge work in leukemias, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases, with emphasis on current best practices and unmet needs. Co-chaired by Dr. Liora Schultz of Stanford University, and Dr. Nirali Shah of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research, the INSPIRED Symposium served to unite the pediatric and young adult CAR T community, provide an opportunity to reflect on more than a decade of clinical advances, and strengthen collaboration toward improving future outcomes for young patients.

NIH Awards K23 Grant to Monica Bianco

Monica Bianco, MD, Attending Physician, Endocrinology, at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, recently received a K23 award from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The award in the amount of $944,519 will support her study Developing a Predictive Risk Score for Pre-Diabetes in Youth. 

Youth onset type 2 diabetes is associated with rapid progression to diabetes-related complications suggesting a more aggressive disease process in children. The medications that are available to treat youth onset type 2 diabetes in children are limited, reducing the ability to improve health outcomes. The objective of Dr. Bianco’s study is to develop an early life prediction risk score for impaired glucose tolerance/youth onset type 2 diabetes to ultimately implement targeted interventions that will result in decreased morbidity and mortality from the disease. 

Dr. Bianco is also an assistant professor of pediatrics (endocrinology) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her mentors on this project are Jami L. Josefson, MD, at Lurie Children’s; William L. Lowe, Jr., MD, at Feinberg School of Medicine; Denise Scholtens, PhD, at Feinberg School of Medicine; and Marie-France Hivert, MD, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Pediatric research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. 

Lesley Ramos Honored with APAC's Bridge Builder "Admy" Award

Lesley Ramos, Senior Administrative Assistant, Research Business Operations, has been honored with the Bridge Builder "Admy" Award by Lurie Children's Administrative Professionals Advisory Council. The Bridge Builder recognition celebrates the ability to adapt communication with care, maintain dialogue even in challenging moments, and generously share knowledge and strengths with others. The ADMY Awards are designed to spotlight individuals who go above and beyond, exemplify organizational excellence, live out our core competencies, and make an impact with their team and colleagues. Please join us in congratulating Lesley on this well-deserved achievement.

NEWS FROM THE RESEARCH PILLARS

Medicaid-insured kids with anorexia hospitalized for medical stabilization remain in hospital longer than peers with private insurance despite similar illness severity, according to a study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago published in the Journal of Eating Disorders. Authors highlight poor access to post-discharge care – such as residential treatment, partial hospitalization or outpatient services – as the most likely reason for the disparity.

“We found that a financial issue is causing a concerning inequity in anorexia care,” said senior author Gregg Montalto, MD, MPH, Associate Division Head for Clinical Practice, Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Lurie Children’s and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Medicaid too often does not cover needed services for anorexia, or the problem might be that reimbursement to providers is so low that many anorexia programs don’t accept patients covered by Medicaid.”

Children residing in “very low-opportunity” neighborhoods are up to 20 times more likely to be hospitalized for gun injuries than those living in the most advantaged areas, reports a new multi-state study published in Pediatrics.

The study also found that most hospitalizations for gun injuries among children under 18 are the result of unintentional shootings — incidents caused by mishandling or accidental discharge of a gun.

“The fewer opportunities a child has in their neighborhood, the greater their odds of ending up in the hospital with a firearm injury,” said co-author Dr. Mehul Raval, Head of Pediatric Surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Professor of Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is the Orvar Swenson Founders' Board Chair in Pediatric Surgery at Lurie Children’s.

This is the first study to examine, across multiple states, how children’s neighborhood conditions are linked to firearm injuries, which is currently the leading cause of death among U.S. children.

Children who are expelled from preschool are subsequently more likely to experience academic failure and enter what scientists and advocates call the “cradle-to-prison pipeline,” meaning that these children tend to follow a trajectory away from school and toward the criminal justice system. Preschool expulsion may be less likely, however, if a teacher perceives parents to be cooperative during discussions about the child’s challenging behavior, according to a study published in Prevention Science by Drs. Courtney Zulauf-McCurdy, Rechele Brooks and Andrew Meltzoff.

“Our findings show that a collaborative parent-teacher relationship may help reduce the number of preschool expulsions,” said lead author Courtney A. Zulauf-McCurdy, PhD, pediatric psychologist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This insight can guide simple interventions to encourage relationship building between preschool teachers and parents. The impact on children could be profound in the long term.”

MANNE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN THE MEDIA

• Child Gun Wounds More Common in Poor Neighborhoods - U.S. News & World Report
• Commonly Available Products Are Being Used in Preteens’ Self-Harm, Study Shows - CNN
• Illinois Health Leaders to Create State COVID Vaccine Policy as Federal Guidance Shifts - ABC 7
• The Hepatitis B Vaccine Has Sharply Cut Infections in Children. Why Are Some Against It? - NBC News
• COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive at Chicago Pharmacies as Pediatricians Wait for Doses, Guidance - WBEZ
• Gov. JB Pritzker Signs Executive Order to Protect COVID-19 Vaccine Access Under RFK Jr. - Chicago Sun-Times
• Expert Weighs in on Lawsuits Challenging Marketing of Toddler Milks - FOX 32
• Talking to Children About School Shootings: Experts Offer Guidance - WGN