Paul Spearman, MD
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will invest $75 million in pediatric research centers of excellence over the next five years. Paul Spearman, MD, Children’s chief research officer and vice chair for research in Emory’s Department of Pediatrics, announced eight key priority areas today.
These include the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s, along with seven new priority areas: immunology and vaccines, transplant immunology and immune therapeutics, pediatric healthcare technology innovation, cystic fibrosis, developmental lung biology, endothelial cell biology and cardiovascular biology. Planned priority areas for the near future include drug discovery, neurosciences, autism, outcomes/wellness, and clinical and translational research.
“Through clinical and translational research, Children’s can continue to provide leading-edge care to patients and create an innovative environment for physicians,â€Â Spearman says.
Children’s will collaborate with its academic affiliates, including Emory, to become a pre-eminent research enterprise. The new research centers will take advantage of existing strengths and capabilities at Children’s, Emory, Georgia Tech, Morehouse School of Medicine and other leading institutions in Georgia.
“These new pediatric research centers will provide an important new focus for strengthening pediatric research at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University and in Atlanta, says David S. Stephens, MD, vice president for research in Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center. “Our faculty focused on pediatric research will have key leadership roles in these new centers and we look forward to continuing to expand the quality and depth of our pediatric research program with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.â€
