Department of Pediatrics

The world can be a frustrating place for a child living with developmental challenges. The researchers at the Center for Children with Special Needs (CCSN) use our resources to make breakthroughs on behalf of every child and family we care for.

What does that look like in practice? It’s studying the cultural considerations that affect how autism spectrum disorders are detected and diagnosed. Or evaluating the impact of an ADHD monitoring system, which tracks how well a child with ADHD is developing and learning at school.

Hospital medicine is an emerging field. And with a new discipline comes new opportunities to serve our hospitalized patients better. Our Pediatric Hospitalist Program, in partnership with BCH, is developing clinical practice guidelines for pediatric hospitalists, creating standards for communication and collaboration and looking for ways to give newborns a healthy start.

At the Mother Infant Research Institute (MIRI), we’re dedicated to better understanding the intimate biological connection between child and parent during and after pregnancy.

The in-utero environment has a major influence on the developing fetus, altering their gene expression and health outcomes by extension. Pregnancy is also a “stress test” for later health problems in the biological parent, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Researchers at the Division of Newborn Medicine look for answers to the most pressing questions affecting the health of both newborns and their mothers. That means studying neonatal abstinence syndrome to establish best treatment practices, developing safety standards for newborn antibiotic use and comparing resuscitation methods in the delivery room.