Harvard Clinical Nutrition Research Center

Core Facilities

CRC at Children's Hospital

Dr. Richard Grand
Principle Investigator

In recognition of the distinct medical needs of children, the NIH has recently issued guidelines requiring the use of children as subjects where possible in all government-sponsored clinical research. However, the HCNRC specifically, and the Boston medical community in general, has no facility specifically designed to support and promote pediatric clinical nutrition research. In view of the unique demands of clinical investigation involving children, the lack of such a facility clearly limits the quality of research into pediatric illness and would be expected to adversely impact all nutrition-related clinical research in the future. For this reason, we propose the creation of a Pediatric Clinical Nutrition Core, based at Children’s Hospital, run jointly by the HCNRC and the General Clinical Research Center at Children’s Hospital. We anticipate that this facility will also provide an environment for training in clinical nutrition research for young investigators seeking expertise in this area.

The Boston medical community currently contains several state-of-the-art clinical research centers, including those based at M.I.T., NEMC, MGH, and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. None of these centers, however, is specifically designed to support pediatric research. The External Advisory Committee of the HCNRC as well as the HCNRC Executive Committee recently met and have agreed that the establishment of a pediatric facility for applied nutrition research has been a recent priority for the HCNRC.

Clinical research involving children presents unique opportunities to study the effects of nutrition on health and disease for several reasons. First, children suffer primarily or exclusively from several nutritional conditions, including failure-to-thrive, rickets and anorexia nervosa. Second, nutrition may play a fundamental role in the development and/or prognosis of many pediatric illnesses, among them prematurely, inborn errors in metabolism, cystic fibrosis and certain cancers. Third, obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension, dyslipidemias and other chronic conditions are in a dynamic stage of development during the pediatric years. Fourth, the effects of nutrition and related factors on growth, neurologic development and sexual maturation can only be studied in children.

Conversely, clinical research with children, especially nutrition-related investigation, presents several challenges. The nutritional requirements of children change dramatically from infancy through adolescence. Children are generally less dependable study subjects than adults are, compliance may be unpredictable, and collection of clinical samples (blood, urine, and stool) may be arduous. Moreover, pediatric research involves ethical considerations not generally present with adult subjects, deriving from the child’s inability to provide true informed consent. For these reasons, pediatric research requires specific expertise in the care of children, preparation of palatable and age-appropriate foods, judicious collection of clinical samples, and minimization of risk. Such expertise is generally available only in the context of a pediatric medical center. Of particular relevance, recent NIH guidelines stipulate that children should be used as subjects in a clinical research where possible. Thus, creation of a special facility dedicated to support nutrition-related clinical investigation at Children’s Hospital would be important not only to pediatrics, but also to the HCNRC and the field of nutrition in general.

Several HCNRC investigators at the city’s other research research facility (e.g., Dr. Bruce Bistrian, Dr. George Blackburn, Dr. Vernon Young and others who have international reputations for nutrition research in adults) have voiced particular enthusiasm for the establishment of a nutrition Core especially designed for pediatric subjects. Dr. Irving Rosenberg, member of the External Advisory Committee of the HCNRC and Director of the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, has also expressed a specific commitment for collaboration among scientists and facilities at the Tufts and Harvard Centers.

Specific Aims of the Core

Establish a state of the-art pediatric applied nutritional research facility within the Harvard CNRC.
Support clinical investigation into the early relationship between diet and health in childhood.
Promote collaboration among the broad range of pediatric specialties at Children’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical Community.

Administrative Structure

inpatient CRC
outpatient CRC
core GCRC laboratory
biostatistics local support
database management and analysis system

Access to Core

Core facilities would be available to all HCNRC Investigators and Associate Investigators throughout the Harvard campus. Other members of the Boston medical community engaged in innovative pediatric research would also be able to use the facilities if time and resources permit. Potential investigators will be identified by their participation in the city’s two NIH Nutrition Research Centers (Harvard and Boston Medical Center), as well as the Tufts USDA Nutrition Center. Fliers, emails, and announcements at the many Longwood area medical conferences would publicize the Nutrition Core.

Dr. Duggan, as Core Co-Director, would be primarily responsible for monitoring access to the Core by HCNRC investigators outside of Children’s Hospital. In his role as Director of the Clinical Nutrition Service at Children’s, he is familiar with the nutrition research interests of a large number of Children’s faculty members. He would screen all applications for use of the Core, and identify Children’s Hospital faculty members with similar research interests who could collaborate with investigators without a primary appointment at Children’s. This process would optimize collaboration across the HCNRC, would help insure adequate pediatric representation among federally funded trials, and would be crucial in the attainment of Children’s Committee on Clinical Investigation (IRB) approval of proposed studies.

For more information about this core, please contact:

Richard J. Grand, M.D.
Program Director, General Clinical Research Center
Children's Hospital
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115

Email: richard.grand@tch.harvard.edu

Dr. Grand’s biographical sketch is linked here.


	Harvard Clinical Nutrition Research Center Center Leadership Biomedical Base Core Facilities Genomics Cell Biology Mass Spectrometry Biostatistics CRC at Children's Hospital Pilot Feasibility Projects					Harvard Clinical Nutrition Research Center Core Facilities CRC at Children's Hospital Dr. Richard Grand Principle Investigator In recognition of the distinct medical needs of children, the NIH has recently issued guidelines requiring the use of children as subjects where possible in all government-sponsored clinical research. However, the HCNRC specifically, and the Boston medical community in general, has no facility specifically designed to support and promote pediatric clinical nutrition research. In view of the unique demands of clinical investigation involving children, the lack of such a facility clearly limits the quality of research into pediatric illness and would be expected to adversely impact all nutrition-related clinical research in the future. For this reason, we propose the creation of a Pediatric Clinical Nutrition Core, based at Children’s Hospital, run jointly by the HCNRC and the General Clinical Research Center at Children’s Hospital. We anticipate that this facility will also provide an environment for training in clinical nutrition research for young investigators seeking expertise in this area. The Boston medical community currently contains several state-of-the-art clinical research centers, including those based at M.I.T., NEMC, MGH, and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. None of these centers, however, is specifically designed to support pediatric research. The External Advisory Committee of the HCNRC as well as the HCNRC Executive Committee recently met and have agreed that the establishment of a pediatric facility for applied nutrition research has been a recent priority for the HCNRC. Clinical research involving children presents unique opportunities to study the effects of nutrition on health and disease for several reasons. First, children suffer primarily or exclusively from several nutritional conditions, including failure-to-thrive, rickets and anorexia nervosa. Second, nutrition may play a fundamental role in the development and/or prognosis of many pediatric illnesses, among them prematurely, inborn errors in metabolism, cystic fibrosis and certain cancers. Third, obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension, dyslipidemias and other chronic conditions are in a dynamic stage of development during the pediatric years. Fourth, the effects of nutrition and related factors on growth, neurologic development and sexual maturation can only be studied in children. Conversely, clinical research with children, especially nutrition-related investigation, presents several challenges. The nutritional requirements of children change dramatically from infancy through adolescence. Children are generally less dependable study subjects than adults are, compliance may be unpredictable, and collection of clinical samples (blood, urine, and stool) may be arduous. Moreover, pediatric research involves ethical considerations not generally present with adult subjects, deriving from the child’s inability to provide true informed consent. For these reasons, pediatric research requires specific expertise in the care of children, preparation of palatable and age-appropriate foods, judicious collection of clinical samples, and minimization of risk. Such expertise is generally available only in the context of a pediatric medical center. Of particular relevance, recent NIH guidelines stipulate that children should be used as subjects in a clinical research where possible. Thus, creation of a special facility dedicated to support nutrition-related clinical investigation at Children’s Hospital would be important not only to pediatrics, but also to the HCNRC and the field of nutrition in general. Several HCNRC investigators at the city’s other research research facility (e.g., Dr. Bruce Bistrian, Dr. George Blackburn, Dr. Vernon Young and others who have international reputations for nutrition research in adults) have voiced particular enthusiasm for the establishment of a nutrition Core especially designed for pediatric subjects. Dr. Irving Rosenberg, member of the External Advisory Committee of the HCNRC and Director of the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, has also expressed a specific commitment for collaboration among scientists and facilities at the Tufts and Harvard Centers. Specific Aims of the Core Establish a state of the-art pediatric applied nutritional research facility within the Harvard CNRC. Support clinical investigation into the early relationship between diet and health in childhood. Promote collaboration among the broad range of pediatric specialties at Children’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical Community. Administrative Structure inpatient CRC outpatient CRC core GCRC laboratory biostatistics local support database management and analysis system Access to Core Core facilities would be available to all HCNRC Investigators and Associate Investigators throughout the Harvard campus. Other members of the Boston medical community engaged in innovative pediatric research would also be able to use the facilities if time and resources permit. Potential investigators will be identified by their participation in the city’s two NIH Nutrition Research Centers (Harvard and Boston Medical Center), as well as the Tufts USDA Nutrition Center. Fliers, emails, and announcements at the many Longwood area medical conferences would publicize the Nutrition Core. Dr. Duggan, as Core Co-Director, would be primarily responsible for monitoring access to the Core by HCNRC investigators outside of Children’s Hospital. In his role as Director of the Clinical Nutrition Service at Children’s, he is familiar with the nutrition research interests of a large number of Children’s faculty members. He would screen all applications for use of the Core, and identify Children’s Hospital faculty members with similar research interests who could collaborate with investigators without a primary appointment at Children’s. This process would optimize collaboration across the HCNRC, would help insure adequate pediatric representation among federally funded trials, and would be crucial in the attainment of Children’s Committee on Clinical Investigation (IRB) approval of proposed studies. For more information about this core, please contact: Richard J. Grand, M.D. Program Director, General Clinical Research Center Children's Hospital 300 Longwood Ave. Boston, MA 02115 Email: richard.grand@tch.harvard.edu Dr. Grand’s biographical sketch is linked here. Home \| Education \| Research \| Links Copyright 2002-2008 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College Updated 1/25/2008