PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
This application details the qualifications, interest and commitment of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)
to be a member of the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN).
CHLA and its investigators in the division of critical care are international experts in pediatric mechanical
ventilation, Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (PARDS), informatics and data science. Led by Dr.
Khemani (PI) and Dr. Newth (Co-I), the multi-disciplinary CHLA respiratory research group and its members
have led large multi-center observational studies in PARDS (PARDIE study, 145 international ICUs), and have
spearheaded international practice guidelines related to mechanical ventilation and PARDS. This group is
currently running a highly innovative single center clinical trial using a computerized decision support tool
targeting lung and diaphragm protective ventilation in pediatric ARDS, which includes comprehensive
assessment of post-ICU morbidity. These unique qualifications and expertise will greatly enrich the scientific
rigor and breadth of knowledge within the CPCCRN. In addition, other CHLA investigators are pioneers in data
science, neurocritical care and implementation science, and will bring this expertise to the CPCCRN. CHLA is
at the forefront of collaborative research, with several faculty holding leadership positions in the Pediatric Acute
Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) Network, the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group, and
multi-center data collaboratives such as VPS, VPICU, and the PICU Data Collaborative. This expertise
underscores our faculty’s ability to be highly collaborative in a research network to achieve common goals. It is
therefore not surprising that CHLA has been the highest enroller in a multitude of multi-center clinical trials and
observational studies in pediatric critical care. To further enhance our ability to recruit a large number of
diverse patients into the CPCCRN studies, we will partner with an ancillary site at Children’s Hospital of
Orange County (CHOC). CHOC has been participating in multi-center collaborative research through the
PALISI network for over 10 years and has also achieved remarkably high enrollment rates in clinical trials.
Through our two centers, we can ensure that the clinical trial(s) conducted in the CPCCRN capture the unique
ethnic, racial, and socio-economic diversity of Southern California which includes > 50% of patients being of
Hispanic ethnicity. This is imperative for the proposed clinical trial on immune-modulation in sepsis, given the
impact that genetic, epigenetic, environmental, and socio-economic factors may have on treatment and
outcomes. Our site has several highly talented faculty and junior investigators who will not only contribute to
the success of the CPCCRN but can be further mentored and developed into future thought leaders and
clinical/translational researchers through the CPCCRN. CHLA is fully committed to be an engaged and highly
productive member of the CPCCRN and execute the clinical trial described in the application.