NIAID and Children’s National boost paediatric clinical research alliance

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a unit of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has strengthened a clinical research partnership with the Children’s National Health System to tackle allergic, immunologic and infectious diseases in children.

The organisations will focus on treatment and prevention of various diseases associated with the immune system.

As part of the alliance, the organisations will jointly design and perform clinical studies to advance prevention approaches, diagnoses, treatments and cures for the diseases.

In the majority of the studies, investigators will focus on children who are at high risk for complications due to their underlying disease, experimental medicines or diagnostic tests.

NIAID and Children’s National intend to offer comprehensive paediatric clinical support, infrastructure and research capacity to ensure safety and quality care for participating children.

NIAID director Anthony Fauci said: "Collaborating with a renowned pediatric hospital in our community promises to advance clinical research efforts, ensure the best possible care for children participating in research studies, and aid the development of medical innovations to improve the lives of children worldwide.

"The partnership also expands and enhances the ability of both institutions to provide medical and research training opportunities for the next generation of clinicians and scientists specialising in paediatric allergy, immunology and infectious diseases."

Last year, NIAID partnered with the Children’s National to develop and conduct clinical research studies on allergic, immunologic, infectious and autoinflammatory conditions in young children.

Under the advanced collaboration, an inaugural symposium will be conducted to review the research being conducted and offer an opportunity for attendees to propose new areas for scientific collaboration.

Children’s National Health System president and CEO Kurt Newman said: "This important paediatric effort has the potential to improve individual children’s health, as well as overall public heath, by pairing unique NIH resources with our investigators’ strengths in clinical and translational research."