Pediatrics

Research Program

The research experience is individualized and offers a wide variety of opportunities in basic and clinical science.

Each fellow is carefully mentored by a member of the division often with the collaboration of outside divisions or departments and is encouraged to develop a project of personal interest that will provide a foundation for a career in basic or clinical research.

Basic Science Research

Research opportunities abound throughout UCLA and since the hospital is housed within the university campus, fellows have access not only to faculty within the department of pediatrics, but also to faculty in internal medicine, surgery, anesthesiology and basic science departments such as Physiology, Neuroscience, Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics, Psychobiology, Medical Education, International Health, Public Health and Ethics.

There are a variety of basic science and translational research opportunities focusing on critical care related topics including:

  • Innate immunity and iron metabolism during severe sepsis
  • Anemia of inflammation
  • Role of adult stem cells in repair and regeneration of the lungs
  • Role of inflammation in lung development
  • Spinal cord injury, neural control of movement and neuromuscular plasticity
  • Traumatic brain injury and pathophysiology
  • Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in liver and cardiac transplantation
  • Neuroprotection in experimental stroke
  • Vascular Pathobiology, reactive oxygen species signaling in cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases
  • Molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of pulmonary hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure
  • Molecular mechanisms, biophysics, and role of biomarkers in clinical outcomes of Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Clinical Research

There are a tremendous number of opportunities to complete clinical research within the division of critical care and in collaboration with other divisions or departments. Potential clinical research areas include traumatic brain injury, sepsis, cardiac transplantation, cardiomyopathy, liver and multivisceral transplantation, renal failure, palliative and end of life care, ethics, quality improvement, patient simulation center and education and public health issues.