Medicine

Pediatric research to be highlighted June 3

Hershey, PA -- Penn State Children's Hospital at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will celebrate current research and the promise of tomorrow's medical advances at Penn State Pediatric Research Day on June 3.

"Research Day celebrates medical discoveries that help children," said Craig Hillemeier, medical director of the Children's Hospital and chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Penn State College of Medicine. "The investigations performed at Penn State Children's Hospital on lung diseases in children, cancer and much more improve the health of children not only in central Pennsylvania but throughout the world."

The goal of Research Day is to create excitement about and promote collaboration and innovation among researchers and caregivers at Penn State College of Medicine, at other Penn State campuses and in the community.

"Researchers in the Penn State College of Medicine innovate and solve problems that help our young patients at Penn State Children's Hospital, and we do it well," said Charles Palmer, professor of pediatrics and organizer of Research Day. "We want to enrich the dialogue and create new energy about research here. We want to open the doors to more collaboration with colleagues in science, industry and medicine who may bring additional skills to the table and we want to celebrate the accomplishments of other colleges on the Penn State campuses. That is why we are calling the day Penn State Pediatric Research Day."

Welcoming remarks will be given by Hillemeier. Jay Moskowitz, associate vice president for health sciences research and vice dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Medicine, will remark on opportunities for research at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

"Not only are we the region's leading provider of medical care for children, but we are committed to bringing relief to parents and children with innovative discoveries that will lead to new therapies to help children battle illnesses and diseases," Moskowitz said. "Research Day is a chance for stakeholders to come together, learn about each others' work and find new ways to partner and collaborate for the benefit of all children."

Oral presentations by researchers will cover shaken-baby syndrome, pediatric technology innovations and opportunities with collaborators at Penn State University Park. The afternoon will be devoted to a Neonatal Brain Symposium, at which researchers will present information on life and death cell signals; iron and brain damage in neonatal models; insights from imaging of the brain during experimental stroke; brain injury in preterm infants; and the regenerative response of neural stem cells to developmental brain injuries.

Approximately 65 research posters, many of which had been presented at national conferences within the last year, also will be on display. Children's Hospital also will publish a booklet for caregivers explaining the research interests of the faculty.

In addition to making other caregivers aware of the research under way at the medical center, Palmer hopes to make primary-care physicians and other health-care professionals in the community aware of the many opportunities for partnership and collaborative research that exist at Penn State Children's Hospital.

For more information, visit http://www.hmc.psu.edu/pedsinnovation/

Last Updated March 19, 2009

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