Pilot Research Program

Shepherding promising projects to the next stage

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