PHILADELPHIA -- For their work to improve patient outcomes for newborns, four researchers at Nemours and Jefferson were selected to receive Jefferson’s Pediatric Award for Clinical Research, as part of an ongoing partnership between Nemours duPont Pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the Jefferson Clinical Research Institute at Thomas Jefferson University.
The partners are pleased to announce that the application entitled “DNA methylation, gene expression and trained immunity in neonates born to mothers with chorioamnionitis,” was selected to receive funding of $50,000. The study seeks to better understand the mechanisms through which chorioamnionitis, an infection of fetal membranes, causes an increased risk for chronic lung disease, allergies, asthma, developmental delays, and cerebral palsy. The awarded researchers include: Nemours neonatologist Zubair Aghai, MD, who is also a professor of pediatrics at Jefferson, together with Huda Al-Kouatly, MD, director of Reproductive Genetics and Prenatal Ultrasound at Jefferson, Sankar Addya, PhD, Technical Manager, Cancer Genomics Laboratory, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health, and Joanna Chan, MD, associate professor, Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology.