Pilot Research Program

The goal of CHDI’s pilot research program awards is to support development of new interdisciplinary research into early life factors that contribute to long-term health and disease. We have been pleased to support the following research teams:

CHDI-CTSI Child Health Equity Program Pilot Projects
El Faro: Addressing Mental Health Inequities among Latinx Children with ADHD in Durham
Investigators: John Mitchell, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Community Partners: El Futuro

Sleep Regularity to Advance Youth Health Equity: Contextual Pathways and Community Voices
Investigators: Jessica Lundsford-Avery; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Community Partners: Durham Public Schools; Durham Children’s Initiative

Duke-Reinvestment Partners Healthy Homes Breathe Easy Community Collaborative (DRC)
Investigators: Jason Lang, Department of Pediatrics
Community Partners: Reinvestment Partners

2019 TDH-CHDI Pilot Program and TDH-Cardiology
Determining the role of the WNT/β-catenin signaling in genetically elusive arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathic disease
Investigators: Andrew Landstrom, Department of Pediatrics

Defining heritability risk in families following a sudden infant death using cord blood
Investigators: Andrew Landstrom, Department of Pediatrics, Cardiology; Joanne Kurtzburg, Department of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology; Andrew Allen, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics

2019 TDH-CHDI Pilot Program
Optimizing and Exploring New Data Opportunities in Obesity Research at Duke
Investigators: Charlene Wong, Department of Pediatrics

Population-based insights into children with medical complexity in North Carolina: Building a foundation for care integration
Investigators: Sudha Raman, Department of Population Health Sciences; David Ming, Department of Medicine and Pediatrics

Environmental Modifiers of Severity in Children with Sickle Cell Disease
Investigators: J.J. Strouse, Department of Medicine, Hematology

Enabling Pediatric Research from the DAP?MADRA Registries
Investigators: Megan Clowse, Department of Medicine, Rheumatology

Maternal Predictors of Infant Bacterial Colonization or Invasive Infection in Early Childhood  
Investigators: Ibukun Akinboyo, Department of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases; Michael Smith, Department of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases; Rebecca Young, Department of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases

2019 Triangle Center for Evolutionary medicine (TriCEM) – CHDI Pilot Program
Fitness bottlenecks as a therapeutic vulnerability in osteosarcoma
Investigators: Jason Somarelli, Department of Medicine; Thomas Schultz, Nicholas School of the Environment, Marine Science and Conservation

DNA Metabarcoding to Track Diet in Obese Children from Durham, NC
Investigators: Sarah Armstrong, Department of Pediatrics; Lawrence David, Department of Molecular genetics and Microbiology; Herman Pontzer, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology

2019 MEDx – CHDI Pilot Program
Handheld Adaptive Optics Optical Coherence Tomography for Imaging Individual Photoreceptors in Young Children
Investigators: Sina Farsiu, Department of Ophtalmology, Pratt School of Engineering; Joseph Izatt, Department of Ophtalmology, Pratt School of Engineering

2018 TDH-CHDI Pilot Program
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals During Pregnancy: Exposure Mixture Monitoring and Impacts on Children’s Health
Investigators: Kate Hoffman, Nicholas School of Environment; Leonardo Trasande, New York University

Intergenerational Transmission of Resiliency to Adverse Childhood Experiences
Investigators: Bill Copeland, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Ken Dodge, Sanford School of Public Policy

Extremely Preterm Infants Cohort: Mechanisms of Early Life Growth Failure and its Impact on Early Childhood Outcomes
Investigators: Noelle Younge, Department of Pediatrics; Charles Wood, Department of Pediatrics; Elizabeth Hauser, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics; Patricia Ashley, Department of Pediatrics; Sarah Armstrong, Department of Pediatrics; Chris Newgard, Duke Molecular Physiology Institute; Mike Cotton, Department of Pediatrics

Incentivizing an integrated community-clinic pediatrics obesity treatment program
Investigators: Charlene Wong, Department of Pediatrics; Sarah Armstrong, Department of Pediatrics; Gary Bennett, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; Peter Ubel, Fuqua School of Business

Exploratory Analysis of Provision and Utilization of Multidisciplinary Team-Based and Community-Based Care for Cleft Lip and/or Palate in North Carolina
Investigators: Alexander Allori, Department of Surgery; Jonathan Routh, Department of Surgery

CHDI Faculty Fellows

7 junior faculty were supported in the K-to-R transition or in application for an NIH career development award application by providing pilot funding and structured grant development support. Support for awardees has included:

• Guidance on program officer interactions
• Funding opportunity identification
• Preliminary data development
• Specific aims development and concept review
• Community engagement and advisory board development
• Regulatory Support
• Collaborator identification