this--take two pills a day, for example, and see dramatic improvement for cystic fibrosis," says Dr. Scanlin. are an improvement on top of the daily regimen," says Dr. Scanlin. The cystic fibrosis study is approved for patients as young as 12 years old, and the therapeutic development net- work is getting geared up to do research with children who are 6 or older. "It's exciting if in the future, after a newborn screen- ing, we can start the child on medications before scarring begins on his or her lungs," the doctor adds. that looks at a new drug to treat sickle cell crisis. The are in crisis. The study is a placebo trial that involves a 48-hour infusion. Researchers look at pain medications used and the last dose in comparison to patients not getting the drug. The many of whom we've known since they were babies," says Richard Drachtman, MD, professor of pediatrics and chief, division of pediatric hematology and oncology. "They are will- ing and excited to participate in this research." treating sickle cell crisis by attacking the inflammatory compo- nent. A number of patients are already enrolled. Dr. Drachtman, like Dr. Gaur, emphasizes the importance of pedi- atric research. "It's very important to get these trials done," he dysplasia (BPD) is a threat to babies who were born weigh- lem in neonates who are on prolonged mechanical ventilation due to respiratory distress syndrome. "These babies often go home on oxygen with saturation monitors and are prone to infection," says Maya Ramagopal, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics. Dr. Ramagopal, who is spearheading research on BPD through the PCRC, says the infants often undergo tra- cheal aspiration--an invasive method to suction the airway-- selves, how could we make things better for these babies? Ramagopal. Older children with asthma can breathe into an RTube to obtain exhaled breath condensate (EBC), in which indi- cators of airway inflammation can be measured. Dr. Ramagopal Department of Pediatrics, and Robert J. Laumbach, MD '97, health, Rutgers School of Public Health, collected EBC and tra- cheal aspirates from neonates and measured cytokines and nitrite levels in EBC and tracheal aspirators are correlated, EBC might eliminate the need for the invasive method. dysplasia (BPD) is the most common chronic problem in to respiratory distress syndrome. "We asked ourselves, how could we make things better for these babies?" says Maya Ramagopal, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, who is spearheading research on BPD through the Pediatric Clinical Research Center at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. |