Our team of doctors, nurses, researchers and health care professionals are dedicated to making life better for kids. We aren’t just caring for their immediate needs, but researching advancements to pave the way for healthy futures.
In the summer of 2020, Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU launched the Child Health Research Institute to encourage research and collaboration between specialists in four focus areas – neurosciences; emergency, pulmonary, intensive care and cardiology; health and healthcare equity; and translational and personalized medicine.
With funding from the community, the Child Health Research Institute builds on the success of the Children's Hospital Foundation Research Fund, which was established in 2014 to improve the research competitiveness of CHoR faculty. Since its inception, the CHF Research Fund has provided nearly $240,000 through more than 30 grants of $10,000 or less. These grants allowed faculty to apply for additional research support, ultimately receiving $4.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense and other organizations. Research from funded grants has focused on infectious diseases, dental heath, prematurity, and neurological and pulmonary function in children in Virginia, the nation and the world.
The goals of the Child Health Research Institute include bringing investigators together to create integrated projects that are attractive to funders like the NIH, creating opportunities for enhanced education and providing patients with opportunities to access the latest advances in care.
The Institute's 5-year goals include increasing external funding from $11 million to $31 million, increasing NIH funding from $1.4 million to more than $6 million, increasing clinical trials and participants by 50%, and increasing publication of academic papers by 50%.
"At the end of the day, we conduct research because we know that is how we're going to improve care for children today and for future generations, not just in Central Virginia but worldwide," said Dr. Henry Rozycki, professor of pediatrics and vice chair for research.
