America's next top pediatric research hospital
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is also moving up in the area of pediatric research. The Atlanta, GA-based institution has been working to enhance its research for several years and has built a strategic enterprise of researchers from collaborating institutions, including nearby Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology.

In March of 2009, Dr. Paul Spearman was named chief research officer for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and vice chair of Emory School of Medicine, and just recently received a $30 million grant from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation to help Children's advance their research organization and to fund continuing research in autism.


"This partnership is moving along quite quickly," says Dr. Spearman. "We are focused on developing child-health related research and the $30 million donated from the Joseph B Whitehead Foundation will enable us to build a brand new research building, and $5 million of that will be going to develop Children's Marcus Autism Center."

Children's already has the Aflac Cancer Center (yes, sponsored by the insurance provider Aflac), but will also be focusing on the development of seven new research centers-in immunology and vaccines, transplant immunology, engineering and translational research, cystic fibrosis, developmental lung biology, cardiovascular biology and endothelial cell biology. In addition to grants from the community, Children's has also received $12 million from the National Institutes of Health to drive the hospital's next generation of research.

"We have a plan to become a top-ten research institute by 2018," says Spearman. "This funding will really enable us to be able to do that. We already have a number of research strengths and will be reorganizing our pediatric focus areas. It's a very exciting time."

The Marcus Autism Center is also being staged for future research. "That element is still at an early stage, but we have a very, very strong commitment," says Spearman. "We know that the incidence of autism is increasing. The Center will be a place to learn more about autism and what causes it."

Additional research centers will be focusing on pediatric neurosciences, and clinical and translational research, and other organizations, like the Center for Drug Discovery and Outcomes and Wellness Research Center, will be sure to take Children's to the next level as a competitive pediatric institution.

Into the future
The Sanford Children's Hospital, Montreal Children's Hospital and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta all represent a new wave in pediatric facilities, from design and function to research and treatment. Innovative architecture, advanced technology and a commitment to exploring and finding new ways to treat-and cure-pediatric disease is what it's all about.

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