Research

Research on asthma is led by Elizabeth Matsui, M.D., MHS. Her group studies the role of environmental exposures in asthma, including racial and ethnic disparities in the condition.

The research group includes students, postdoctoral fellows and early career faculty and has projects that span outdoor air pollution; housing and housing-related environmental exposures; the role of environment in respiratory virus infections and asthma exacerbations; and app-based support for Latina/o/x families with children with asthma. Work in this space is funded by several grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Allergy research is led by Pooja Varshney, M.D. The team maintains an active roster of projects, including multicenter clinical trials, multidisciplinary collaborations, database analysis, food allergy patient registry, quality improvement and evidence-based outcomes research.

Areas of inquiry include treatment and prevention of food allergy in infants and children; characteristics of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome; food insecurity and access to allergen-free foods; immunological basis of food allergy phenotypes; anaphylaxis outcomes; and penicillin allergy relabeling.

Additionally, the department works closely with Dell Children’s Medical Center to conduct allergy research, which is nationally recognized as a Clinical Research Center of Distinction in the Food Allergy Research and Education Clinical Network.

Additionally allergy research includes:

• Research to discovery better strategies in preventing allergic disease in infants by evaluating the efficacy of a prebiotic.
• Peanut allergy research focused on following toddlers long term who received immunotherapy exposure on their skin to help determine effectiveness of therapy.
• Investigation of food insecurity in the allergy population, studying the impact of food allergy and access to food in children who require specialized diets.
• Collaboration with the Institute for Human immunology and Proteomics to study IgE repertoire analysis in pediatric food allergy.
• Study of epinephrine use and anaphylaxis management in schools to evaluate if current protocols can be improved and allow for better treatment.
• Collaboration with infectious disease and antimicrobial stewardship on penicillin allergy products.

Michelle Gallas, M.D., one of the founders of the Center Parenting Research Network, leads the Centering Parenting Program at CommUnityCare Health Centers in Pflugerville and works with colleagues across the nation to study the effects of the program on participants.

Megan Gray, M.D., MPH, studies prenatal and early childhood nutrition and excess weight gain, including responsive feeding and health sleep practices in infants and toddlers. Work in this space is funded by the American Diabetes Association to evaluate varying levels of parent coaching on healthy infant sleep and feeding in a community health setting.

Additional research includes food insecurity, perinatal COVID, breastmilk immunology and qualitative research with immigrant families.

Ryan Lowery, M.D., studies health care provider perspectives on drivers of health in community clinics, including qualitative research on physician practice and perception on screening and response systems for drivers of health or health-related social needs for pediatric patient populations.

Alefiyah Malbari, M.D., leads medical education research that focuses on curriculum design, implementation and assessment. Active research includes a hands-on, resident-led clinical curriculum for preclinical medical students.

Additional research assesses a parenting curriculum that promotes early relational health between caregivers and their children, as well as research on a new therapy for RSV.

Michael Hole, M.D., MBA, leads research projects focused on building organizations that serve people experiencing poverty and other social ills in an effort to address issues such as food insecurity, gaps in education and medical debt. Programs are facilitated through The Impact Factory.

The Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease’s health transformation design team, led by Jeremy Affolter, M.D., works to redesign care for patients and families with congenital heart disease by investigating the hypothesis that outcomes and overall well-being of patients may be optimized by a multidisciplinary management paradigm that includes and responds to family values and shared decision-making.

Andrew Well, M.D., MPH, leads research efforts to identify outcomes that matter most to patients and families, with the goal to develop methods to measure these outcomes over time and achieve sustainable, long-term patient-centered health solutions.

Research studies within the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, led by Paul Sheeran, M.D., and Christopher Schneller, M.D., include multicenter clinical trials, large retrospective reviews, quality improvement projects, curriculum evaluations and registry research.

Michael Cronin, M.D., MPH, collaborates on a national, multisite longitudinal cohort study assessing children with post-intensive care syndrome.

In collaboration with Dell Children’s Medical Center and the National Emergency Airway Registry for Children, Hunter Daigle, M.D., leads a quality improvement project with the goal of improving airway management practice for critically ill children and reducing adverse events.

Samantha Dallefeld, M.D., studies medications administered to patients in the hospital to better characterize their action in the bodies of children (as compared to adults) with a goal of optimizing dosing recommendations and improving safety data.

Nidhi Patel, M.D., leads a quality improvement project to better understand delirium sedation and ways to improve education of staff and weaning protocols.

Amanda Puro, M.D., researches potential “hot spots” associated with hospital readmissions through geospatial analysis.

Paul Sheeran, M.D., researches changes in resident curricula that lead to improved outcomes.

Elizabeth Wei, M.D., studies patients requiring renal replacement therapy via long-term retrospective chart reviews and works to collect data on critically ill children requiring renal replacement therapy.

Dermatology research within the department is dedicated to the advancement of new treatments for pediatric skin conditions by participating in national and cutting-edge sponsored studies that focus on the development of new therapies, drugs and devices. Lucia Diaz, M.D., Moise Levy, M.D., and Jennifer Ruth, M.D., lead research on epidermolysis bulls, eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo and more.

Within the department’s dermatology research efforts, residents and research associates are encouraged to participate in the creation, design and execution of impactful research projects. Residents are offered the opportunity present research findings at national dermatology conferences.

Current studies on epidermolysis bullosa are focused on a Phase 3 injectable gene-based therapy to determine effectiveness to treat this condition. The department also participates in a national EB registry collaboration with the goal of advancing knowledge of the disease to improve future care, expand clinical research and find an eventual cure for EB. The EB registry tracks clinical data on patients 1 to 22 years old with EB.

Research on atopic dermatitis includes an open-label extension study to assess the long-term safety and efficacy of dupilumab in patients six months to less than 18 years of age.

The Division of Emergency Medicine hosts research programs focused on improving care to emergency room patients, led by both faculty and fellows. Projects range from surveys to better inform safe weapon storage at home to identifying better pharmacological therapies for bronchiolitis.

Jonathan Eisenberg, M.D., co-leads the quality improvement domain within the Pediatric Pandemic Network as well as the Disaster Networking Collaborative, focusing on enhancing overall pediatric disaster preparedness within hospitals.

Kate Remick, M.D., FAAP, leads system-based quality improvement efforts to enhance emergency care systems to meet the needs of children. Work in this space includes development of national guidelines and data registries to demonstrate the link between everyday readiness and outcomes.

Sujit Iyer, M.D.,directs Dell Med’s Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship. His research interests include projects in quality improvement, community pediatric readiness and innovative educational curriculum.

Erin Munns, M.D., has research interests in simulation and medical education.

Tim Ruttan, M.D.,direct’s Dell Med’s Transitional Year Residency and is the assistant director for pediatrics for AMPATH Puebla. His research interests include social emergency medicine, health related social needs, education and global health.

Sindhu Sudanagunta, M.D., researches resuscitation education and quality improvement.

Brent Troy, M.D., MPH, FAAP,has research interests in advocacy and injury prevention initiatives.

Matthew Wilkinson, M.D., MPH, is the research director for Dell Med’s Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship and the assistant chair of clinical research for the Department of Pediatrics. He mentors fellows, residents and faculty on research design methodology, analysis/biostatistics and manuscript writing. His research interests include the management of acute asthma and bronchiolitis in the emergency department and the evaluation of febrile infants.

Research done by fellows in the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship, led by Iyer and Wilkinson includes the following areas of inquiry:

• Use of artificial intelligence for academic writing.
• Efficacy of hypertonic saline for mild traumatic brain injury in pediatric patients.
• Approaches to analgesia with pediatric patients in the emergency department.
• Video-assisted informed consent for neonatal lumbar puncture.
• IV placement efficiency.
• Home nebulizer therapy and standard of care for bronchiolitis.
• Pediatric emergency room resuscitation.
• Firearm storage practices.

Anees Siddiqui, M.D., leads research on medication to improve irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in children.

Clinical research for genetic disorders is led by James Gibson, M.D., Ph.D. A primary focus is on Niemann-Pick disease, a rare metabolic disorder that affects many of the body’s organs and systems, including the central nervous system, to provide a treatment opportunity for children.

Basic and translational research in the department and Dell Pediatric Research Institute assess genetic-related diagnoses.

• Ryan Gray, Ph.D., studies the basic biology and therapeutic interventions related to hydrocephalus and scoliosis.

• Sung Eun Kim, Ph.D. investigates genetic pathogenesis and develops intervention strategies of neural tube defects and birth defects.

Virginia Harrod, M.D., Ph.D., and Shannon Cohn, M.D., lead clinical research on blood and cancer diagnoses. Areas of inquiry include anemia; blood disorders such as neutropenia and thrombocytopenia; bone tumors; brain and spine tumors; hemophilia; kidney cancer; leukemia and lymphoma; sarcoma; sickle cell disease; and other childhood cancers.

Basic and translational research on blood and cancer diagnoses span the department, the Dell Pediatric Research Institute and the Cockrell School of Engineering:

John DiGiovanni, Ph.D., leads research that seeks to understand cancer development and progression as well as the identification of novel targets, mechanisms and strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. Additional research assesses how diet and obesity influence cancer development and progression and resistance to therapy.

Zhengrong Cui, Ph.D., leads research that seeks to improve the efficacy of anticancer drugs as well as treatment of tumor chemo resistance using nanotechnology and improved vaccine delivery.

Linda deGraffenried, Ph.D., studies the link between obesity and tumor development and resistance to investigate the impact of weight on cancer treatment interventions.

John Powers, Ph.D., works on RNA therapies for pediatric neuroblastoma and personalized cancer vaccines with low-cost delivery to patients.

Stefano Tiziani, Ph.D., studies the metabolic alterations that occur in childhood leukemia to identify liabilities that can be exploited therapeutically.

Karen Vasquez, Ph.D., studies genetic instability in cancer and ways to improve gene targeting methods for cancer treatment.

Adam Bush, Ph.D., studies novel MRI methods, novel blood flow and oximetry methods in anemic disorders and cancer to further improve cancer treatment strategies.

Infectious disease research in the department is led by Sarmistha Hauger, M.D., and Marisol Fernandez, M.D. Areas of inquiry include antimicrobial stewardship, cytomegalovirus testing for failed hearing screens, Kawasaki disease, parechovirus infection and quality improvement, including diagnostic stewardship in conducting blood cultures and respiratory cultures.

Additionally, the department works with the International Pediatric Fungal Network Collaborative to investigate invasive fungal infections in children by evaluating therapy of uncomplicated candidemia.

Infectious disease researchers in the department also investigate the use of a MasSpec Pen as a tool to identify bacteria in bone and joint infections.

Research in neurosciences, neurology and neurosurgery includes includes neuropsychology, neuro-ophthalmology, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Research in neurosurgery is led by Elizabeth Tyler Kabara.

Areas of inquiry focus on treatments and outcomes in epilepsy, headache, movement/neuromuscular disorders, neuroimmunology, genetics and traumatic brain injury. Other research topics include addressing health care disparities using nonmedical determinants of health care outcomes, use of ADI in research, evaluating neuropsych assessments and measures, and access and transition of youth with special health care needs.

Studies and research efforts include multicenter clinical trials, chart reviews, multisite registries, case studies, quality improvement and program-maintained databases and registriess.

Neonatal research is facilitated by the Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship, led by Alan Groves, M.D. Studies include multicenter clinical trials, vital sign analytics, medical device development and retrospective chart reviews.

Additional areas of inquiry within the department include bronchopulmonary dysplasia, pulmonary hypertension, apnea of prematurity, hemodynamic assessment, point-of-care ultrasound, pharmacokinetics, breast feeding/lactation support, parent education and more.

Steve Abrams, M.D., focuses on child nutrition and health with his work on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. As editor-in-chief of Advances in Nutrition, the review journal of the American Society for Nutrition, his research expertise on neonatology and pediatric nutrition are critical.

Research led by Molly Bray, Ph.D., focuses on the interaction between genetic variation and lifestyle factors such as exercise, nutrition and circadian patterns of behavior in determine energy balance.

Tom Brenna, Ph.D., and his research group lead the department’s work in understanding the role of dietary fatty acids in neurocognition, health and disease progression.

Megan Gray, M.D., MPH, leads an early life obesity prevention research program that studies obesogenic factors related to feeding and sleep in Hispanic families, including social determinants such as food insecurity. Gray collaborates with Beth Widen, Ph.D., to develop and evaluate intervention to promote responsive feeding in early childhood.

Chris Jolly, Ph.D., leads research on anti-inflammatory dietary approaches to alter metabolism to prevent and treat autoimmune diseases such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Jolly also studies ketone body supplementation as an adjunct anti-inflammatory therapy in treating irritable bowel disease patients in collaboration with Linda Feagins, M.D.

Heather Leidy, Ph.D., examines the impact of nutrition on the metabolic, hormonal and neural signals that promote satiety, healthy eating behaviors, glycemic control and weight management across the lifespan, with a focus on adolescents.

Research led by Beth Widen, Ph.D., works to elucidate the role of nutrition in early life and short- and long-term health. Additionally, interdisciplinary intervention programs in this space aim to improve nutrition and health during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood.

Active studies assess drivers of adipose tissue changes in pregnancy and postpartum and factors supporting health growth, as well as healthy growth, dietary quality, responsive feeding and child development.

Akua Afriyie-Gray, M.D., Noor Zwayne, M.D., and Katherine Boos, MPH, APRN, lead the department’s research on pediatric adolescent gynecology. Areas of inquiry focus on the relationship between sickle cell anemia and dysmenorrhea, the association of hormones and seizures, polycystic ovary syndrome and amenorrhea considering eating disorders, as well as guidelines for obesity and contraception.

The department’s cystic fibrosis research program, led by Jason Fuller, M.D., maintains an active roster of IRB-approved multidisciplinary research projects. As a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-sponsored Therapeutic Development Network, the research program has access to multicenter clinical trials, large retrospective reviews, and database and registry research.

The department’s graduate medical education research efforts focus on curriculum improvement and program development.

Projects include designing and implementing a pediatric resident curriculum on the impacts of climate change on health, drug use screening and diagnosis by pediatric residents, evaluating pediatric resident perspectives using social media for advocacy, and improving faculty skills and knowledge for working with residents with disabilities.

Research efforts at the Simulation Center at Dell Children’s Medical Center are led by Ada Earp, D.O., CHSE, FAAP, and focus on improving simulation training, clinical education and patient outcomes.

Areas of inquiry include RCDP involving PALS education, CPR quality improvement, emergency medicine resuscitation innovation involving Pedi STAT, workplace violence and firearm safety education, resident education and knowledge retention for programs such as the American College of Surgeons’ Stop the Bleed.

Research within department’s pediatric orthopaedic surgery group focuses on improving patient outcomes and experiences by studying simple fractures, complex disorders and more:

• Matthew Ellington, M.D., leads research on best practices for ligament injuries and fracture care.

• Brain Kaufman, M.D., studies the impact of different treatments on spinal surgery recovery times.

• Hilton Gottschalk, M.D., assesses the impact of mental health on orthopaedic outcomes.

• John Heydemann, M.D., works with the University’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education to research the impacts of leg strengthening surgery.

• Kirsten Ross, M.D., leverages a national multicenter database to track and improve outcomes for robotic-assisted spinal surgeries.

The Dell Children’s Trauma and Injury Research Center, led by Karla Lawson, Ph.D., MPH, focuses on the following areas of inquiry:

• Pediatric trauma clinical care.
• Child abuse recognition, treatment and prevention.
• Behavioral determinants of injury, including risky alcohol consumption.
• Interventions for injury prevention.
• Developmental and psychological outcomes of pediatric trauma.

Additional research on child abuse is led by Katherine Snyder, M.D.

Jessica Naiditch, M.D., leads Dell Children’s participation in the ATOMAC+ Pediatric Trauma Research Network, a research consortium of Level I pediatric trauma centers across the country that collaborates on research projects.

Pediatric trauma researchers also contribute to pediatric trauma guidelines and the development of standards of care.