info about Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Timeline of Research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

1855

The nation's first hospital dedicated exclusively to children is founded by Dr. Francis W. Lewis, with Hewson Bache and R.A.F. Penrose. The 12-bed Hospital treats 63 patients in its first year.

1866

Children's Hospital moves to its second location at 22nd Street between Walnut and Locust. Beds increase to 35.

1910s

“Department for the Prevention of Disease” is established, the first such department in the nation.

The Hospital relocates to its third building at 18th and Bainbridge Streets. The complex expands over the coming decades.

1920s

Research “Department” is established in the basement at Bainbridge Street – a 14-by-16-foot room with one centrifuge.

1930s

Society of Pediatric Research is founded.

Discovery of the whooping cough vaccine, the first in a series of vaccines pioneered at Children's Hospital that has worldwide impact on childhood disease.

1940s

Center for Research in Children's Growth is established.

1940s-1950s

Vaccines for influenza and mumps are discovered by husband-and-wife team of Drs. Werner and Gertrude Henle. Additionally, along with Joseph Stokes Jr., MD, they develop the first convincing demonstration of vaccination against influenza and mumps – 100,000 eggs a year were used in the study of viral diseases. They are also the first to prove the effectiveness of gamma globulin in preventing paralytic polio and the first to develop a method to prevent hepatitis.

1950s

“Rheumatic Fever and Virus Research Building” the first research building is built for $800,000, including equipment. It is more commonly known as “The Research Building.”

Development of a “control shunt” to drain fluid, designed and tested for treating hydrocephalus. This device is now used throughout the world.

1950-1960s

With his research on the prevention of polio, Dr. Lewis L. Coriell begins to lay the groundwork for the development of the Salk vaccine. Dr. Coriell and associates also invent a laminar airflow system to keep operating rooms sterile.

1960s.

The Clinical Research Center (CRC) is established for hard-to-diagnose, hard-to-treat pediatric diseases and use of new treatments. CRC is the forerunner of the General Clinical Research Center, which has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 40 years.

1970s

The Research Institute is created. It includes 70,000 square feet dedicated to research.

One of the nation's first centers for pediatric craniofacial surgery opens. Techniques for repair of cleft lip and palate developed here gain international acceptance.

Hospital named by the federal government as one of only three pediatric cancer research and treatment centers.

The Hospital moves to its current location at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard.

The first DNA Laboratory in Philadelphia is established.

1980s.

General Clinical Research Center establishes a program of scatterbed nurses to extend the reach to the GCRC to the sickest patients – a first among GCRCs.

Dr. William Carey elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Dr. Graham Quinn and associates are coleaders in proving the value of freezing retinal tissue (cryotherapy) to destroy abnormal vessel growth for the prevention of blindness in premature infants.

A Liver Transplant Program is established. The Hospital's first liver transplant is performed in 1989.

Early 1990s

Dr. Stuart E. Starr shows that a combination of antiviral drugs provides strong, sustained control of HIV infection in children.

Drs. John Maris, Eddie Attiyeh and Garrett Brodeur identified three genetic abnormalities that are characteristic of certain neuroblastomas. The presence of these genetic changes can predict outcome and help the treating physicians select the most appropriate intensity of therapy for these patients.

The Hospital is designated a Human Genome Center by the National Institutes of Health and awarded a major federal grant for the mapping of chromosome 22 (completed in 1999).

Dr. Terri Finkel and colleagues are the first to show that HIV does more than infect T cells. The virus also seems to prime uninfected T cells for suicide, reducing the ability to fight infection. They are also the first to show that HIV renders some of the cells it infects death-resistant, thereby prolonging the life span of these virus factories.

1995

The Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center opens on the Hospital's Main Campus, consolidating all the laboratory research of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute.

The Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition is at the forefront in the identification, diagnosis and treatment of Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) — a new allergic GI disease in children.

1997

Drs. Nancy Spinner, David Piccoli and Ian D. Krantz discover the gene responsible for Alagille syndrome, a disorder associated with congenital liver, heart, kidney, spine, eye and pancreatic disease..

Dr. Michael Grunstein and colleagues are the first to demonstrate that a receptor for IgE is present in airway smooth muscle, making it asthmatic in nature. They further found that a protein that is also present in airway smooth muscle can protect it from developing an asthmatic response.

Drs. Flaura K. Winston and Dennis R. Durbin initiate Partners for Child Passenger Safety. Their research shows that young children who use age appropriate restraints, such as a booster seats, have a 59 percent lower risk of injury in a crash. They also show that rear seats of compact extended cab pick-up trucks are particularly dangerous. These findings lead to a wide range of enhanced legislation, safety regulation, and automobile and child restraint design.

1998

Children's Clinical Research Institute (CCRi) is established as the nation's first non-profit comprehensive clinical research organization dedicated to pediatric clinical trials.

Steven Ludwig, MD, and N. Scott Adzick, MD, are elected as members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

1999

Dr. Beverly Emanuel's efforts contribute to the complete sequencing of chromosome 22, making it the first human chromosome to be fully sequenced. Defects in genes on chromosome 22 are implicated in certain leukemias and other pediatric tumors, mental retardation, numerous birth defects and the 22q11 deletion syndrome.

Based on Dr. Katherine High's groundbreaking studies on AAV-mediated gene transfer for hemophilia, Dr. Catherine Manno and Dr. Alan Flake perform the first human gene transfer studies for hemophilia B using an AAV vector expressing Factor IX in people with hemophilia.

The Clinical Trials Office (CTO) is established to facilitate clinical research studies conducted at Children's Hospital.

Children's Hospital becomes one of 13 academic sites designed by the NIH as a Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit (PPRU). PPRUs are established to conduct studies of drug disposition and action in pediatric patients, and address the lack of pharmacological information about drugs used in children.

2001

The Hospital begins a $1.2 billion facilities expansion in response to enormous demand for services. The project will nearly double the size of the main campus, adding significant patient care and research space.

Dr. Beverly Lange and associates devise a strategy that has about a 70 percent salvage rate for recurring acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This has been successful in getting children into remission until another therapy (e.g., bone marrow transplant) is available.

2002

The first tandem transplantation of peripheral stem cells performed in a pediatric oncology center.

Dr. Alan Flake, along with his colleagues, achieves high levels of donor cell engraftment after in utero transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells into mice. This is associated with donor specific tolerance which allows postnatal boosting to 100 percent donor cell engraftment without toxicity or graft vs. host disease (GVHD).

2004

Dr. Ian Krantz leads a team that identifies the gene that causes Cornelia de Lange syndrome, (CdLs) which leads to a genetic test. CdLs symptoms include mental retardation, growth failure, hearing loss, and physical defects affecting the limbs, face, heart, intestines and other structures.

2005

Dr. Vivian Cheung identifies genomic regions that contain the transcriptional regulators for about 1,000 genes. These results provide a better understanding of transcriptional regulation in human cells and may be applicable for discovering the genetic basis of other complex human traits and diseases.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia celebrates its 150^th anniversary.

2006.

The Hospital breaks ground for a $400 million, state-of-the-art research facility dedicated to translational research.

Dr. Robert J. Levy shows that gene vectors can be delivered from the bare metal surfaces of stents without a polymer coating, a finding that could prove useful for virtually any metallic prosthesis and decrease the chances of an inflammatory response.

2007

Drs. Paul Offit, H Fred Clark and Stanley Plotkin are awarded the Gold Medal of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia-the Hospital's highest honor-for their work on the rotavirus vaccine.

Children's Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania began collaboration for a Clinical and Translational Science Award center, part of a nationwide effort to transform translational biomedical research.

http://stokes.chop.edu/about/timeline/

C.H.O.P hospital (Mission and Vision)-advance the health of children by turning scientific discovery into medical innovation.

• All research activities at Children's Hospital are administratively organized under the aegis of the CHOP Research Institute.(mission)
  
• The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute is world-renown, leading research breakthroughs and medical innovations for more than 80 years. The Institute continues its dedication to translating innovative research findings to outstanding patient care.(vision)
  

money and awards/donations 

• The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute is home to one of the largest pediatric research programs in the country with more than $100 million in total federal awards and an annual budget of more than $200 million
  
• With a phenomenal increase in research staff, space and external funding, doubling twice in the past decade alone and exceeding the growth of the NIH's extramural budget, the Research Institute at Children's Hospital continues to build upon its rich research history and continue its pursuit to improve the health of children throughout the world.
  

  founder of Children's hospital 

http://stokes.chop.edu/about/overview/