Faculty Honors and Grants
Lessnick Awarded $6.2 Million Childhood Cancer Moonshot Grant
Stephen Lessnick, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute, has received a federal five-year, $6.2 million grant to help uncover how proteins produced by a mutated gene transform healthy cells into tumor cells. The National Cancer Institute grant is part the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 authorizing a total of $1.8 billion to fund the “Cancer Moonshot” over a seven-year period with the goal of accelerating cancer research. Dr. Lessnick, who is also a professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, is part of a national consortium of researchers investigating fusion oncoproteins, a class of proteins that drive cancer in children. Focusing on a particular fusion oncoprotein, EWS/FLI, Dr. Lessnick hopes to describe the process of how fusion proteins turn healthy cells into tumor cells in the detail needed for investigators to develop a new therapy. He will work with Richard Wilson, PhD, and Elaine Mardis, PhD, leaders of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s, to define the specific DNA EWS/FLI attaches to and where it is located in the genome.
Emergency Medicine Receives $2.8 Million PECARN Grant
The Emergency Medicine Department at Nationwide Children’s received a four-year, $2.8 million grant to continue leading one of the six U.S. Research Node Centers for the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), the first federally-funded pediatric emergency medicine research network. Rachel Stanley, MD, MHSA, chief of Emergency Medicine, leads the Great Lakes node center as the principal investigator. The grant is awarded by the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. PECARN, founded in 2001, is the nation’s first federally funded pediatric research network dedicated to research about prevention and management of acute illnesses and injuries in children across the continuum of emergency medicine care. It comprises 18 hospital emergency departments that care for more than 1 million injured and ill children every year.
Cystic Fibrosis R&D Program Awarded $2 Million CF Foundation Grant
A team of researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University (OSU) was awarded a $2 million grant over four years to continue development of the Cure CF Columbus Research and Development Program (C3 RDP). The program aims to study the relationship between immune system function and cystic fibrosis to develop treatments that will improve clinical outcomes for children and adults with CF. Nationwide Children’s and OSU teamed up in 2007 to establish a multidisciplinary translational research team of microbiologists, biochemists, immunologists, cell biologists, pathologists and CF pulmonary clinicians. Since then, the team of 29 clinical and basic science investigators have been building a body of research geared toward changing outcomes for patients in the clinic. Research projects include, understanding aspects of the adaptive and innate immune systems and how immune dysfunctions related to CF lead to infection with microorganisms. Karen McCoy, MD, chief of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Nationwide Children’s is co-director of C3 RDP, along with Daniel Wozniak, PhD, professor of Microbiology and Microbial Infection and Immunity at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
Barnard Honored for Lifelong Contributions to Pediatric Gastroenterology
John A. Barnard, MD, was honored by the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) with the 2018 Harry Shwachman Award for making major, lifelong scientific and educational contributions to the field of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. NASPGHAN is the preeminent professional society for pediatric gastroenterologists in North America. Dr. Barnard is chief of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, president of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute, and holds the Ann I. Wolfe Endowed Chair in Pediatric Research Leadership. He is also chair of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He has served as president of NASPGHAN, and also as president of the NASPGHAN Foundation.
Mendell Named Allen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Research
Jerry R. Mendell, MD, became the inaugural recipient of the Allen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatric Research in May 2019, an award recognizing a preeminent senior researcher who exemplifies the innovation happening at Nationwide Children’s and the Abigail Wexner Research Institute. Dr. Mendell has made fundamental contributions in clinical research and in the molecular genetics of neuromuscular disease throughout his career. He was among the first to test muscle cell transplantation for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the early 1990s, and the first person to study viral mediated gene therapy for muscular dystrophy in humans. The Allen Distinguished Scholar is named for Steve Allen, MD, who served as Nationwide Children’s CEO for nearly 13 years before retiring in 2019. During Dr. Allen’s tenure, he helped build Nationwide Children’s into a renowned pediatric research institution, including overseeing an increase from $41.7 million to $105.9 million in external research awards. Nationwide Children’s is currently ranked fifth in the country for National Institutes of Health funding among freestanding children’s hospitals.
Gerhardt Receives Endowed Chair in Pediatric Behavioral Health
Cynthia A. Gerhardt, PhD, received the Janet Orttung-Morrow, MD, and Grant Morrow, III, MD, Endowed Chair in Pediatric Behavioral Health in May 2019. Endowed chairs are among the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a researcher, academic, or clinician. Dr. Gerhardt is the director of the Center for Biobehavioral Health in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute. She is also a psychologist in the Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology Program at Nationwide Children’s and a professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Gerhardt is an internationally known expert in risk and resilience factors associated with family adjustment to stress, particularly life-threatening illnesses such as childhood cancer.
Nationwide Children’s Named CMTA Center of Excellence
The Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association named Nationwide Children’s a CMT Center of Excellence, in recognition of the comprehensive care and expertise provided to children with the most common form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, CMT1A. Zarife Sahenk, MD, PhD, an attending neurologist, is director of the CMT Center which comprises a multidisciplinary team of specialists in neuromuscular disorders, genetics counseling and orthopedics, as well as physical and occupational therapy. All clinical care is coordinated within a single location, within a single visit. Dr. Sahenk serves as director of Clinical and Experimental Neuromuscular Pathology in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute and is a principal investigator in the Center for Gene Therapy. She is also leading the upcoming National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial of a gene therapy designed to protect and restore peripheral nerve function in children and adults with CMT1A.
