PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
The candidate for this K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award aims to become
an international leader in the development, dissemination, and implementation of novel health care
interventions and management strategies for pediatric urologic disease, with an initial focus on hydronephrosis
that is diagnosed in utero but that persists after birth, or postnatally persistent hydronephrosis (PNH). The
proposed mentored research and career development plan lays the foundation for this career and the eventual
development of a standardized management strategy for PNH by generating the evidence needed to support
its development and creating an ultrasound (U/S) grading tool needed to implement it in routine clinical
practice. Kidney U/Ss are the main test to monitor PNH, but U/S reports are heterogeneously formatted and
contain synonymous and ambiguous terms that complicate their interpretation. Another major obstacle in the
field is a need to predict those at risk for worsening disease and to better understand the natural history of
PNH. Aim 1 will develop a Natural Language Processing algorithm to automatically translate free-text U/S
reports into structured data providing the PNH grade. Aim 2 will use baseline U/S and renal scan data to
predict the PNH grade at 2 years. Aim 3 will use growth curves to simulate PNH’s natural history and provide
the time and frequency of disease resolution/improvement, stability, and progression.
The candidate brings to this proposal experience as a pediatric urological surgeon at a large tertiary care
children’s hospital and core research skills in epidemiology and biostatistics. An integral part of his career
development will be a continued relationship with an outstanding multidisciplinary mentoring team with
complementary strengths. The candidate’s primary mentor is Rachel Hess, MD, MS. Dr. Hess is a world
renown expert in implementing interventions in routine clinical care and has an exemplary track record of
mentorship. Flory Nkoy, MD, MS, MPH, the candidate’s co-mentor, is an expert in bioinformatics and
internationally recognized for developing, disseminating, and implementing pioneering approaches to treat
chronic disease in children. Advisors include Jeffrey Ferraro, PhD, and Wendy Chapman, PhD (bioinformatics),
Angela Presson, PhD (biostatistics), Patrick Cartwright, MD (pediatric urology), and Mark Ebert, MD (pediatric
radiology). The proposed research and training plan will establish the candidate’s solid foundation in
bioinformatics, augment his prior epidemiology and biostatistics training, and provide extraordinary training in
dissemination and implementation science. This will provide him with the skills and experience necessary for a
career as a successful independent researcher focused on developing, implementing, and disseminating novel
management strategies for pediatric urologic disease, with an initial focus on hydronephrosis.