Sept. 9, 2024 – A first-ever Joint Research Symposium between Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Washington State University (WSU) Health Sciences took place Sept. 6 at the WSU Spokane Campus, with the goal of fostering engagement and creating opportunities for research collaboration, ultimately helping kids in Washington and beyond live healthier lives.
“This collaborative undertaking between Seattle Children's and WSU has the potential to make a significant impact on pediatric health,” said Vittorio Gallo, PhD, senior vice president and chief scientific officer for Seattle Children’s, in remarks at the symposium. “This partnership aims to facilitate the sharing of expertise, resources and cutting-edge technology, which will enable us to tackle complex pediatric issues with a united front.”
The inaugural one-day event attracted 120 attendees from both institutions. In addition to remarks from Seattle Children’s and WSU leaders, 50 investigators from a range of scientific centers and colleges shared their findings through podium talks and posters.
In a video message, Seattle Children’s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Sperring, MD, expressed thanks for the relationships built over several years with WSU leaders that culminated in the symposium.
“I'm incredibly grateful that we can talk about how we build and collaborate together to not only improve the healthcare delivery for kids throughout this amazing region we both serve, but to think about how our research together can deliver new ideas, new therapies, new cures for kids and our joint responsibility to train the next generation of leaders throughout our community,” Dr. Sperring said.
Funding to Tackle Health Equity Issues
To ignite new research and strength the institutions’ partnership, six $50,000 collaborative seed grant awards ($25,000 for each institution) are available. Each proposal must include at least one principal investigators from each institution, ensuring joint efforts are at the heart of every project.
“This program is designed to catalyze innovative research by funding new collaborative partnerships between Seattle Children’s and WSU. It’s a fantastic chance for us to explore novel ideas and generate preliminary data that can pave the way for larger, extramural grants,” said Eric Tham, MD, MS, senior vice president and chief research operations officer for Seattle Children’s, discussing the program with symposium attendees. “We’re tangibly investing in our collaborative efforts to make a real difference in pediatric health.”
“This partnership aims to facilitate the sharing of expertise, resources and cutting-edge technology, which will enable us to tackle complex pediatric issues with a united front.”
Both institutions seek to foster any collaborations that build upon the shared commitment to health equity and open up broad areas of work in pediatric health and environment, including, but not limited to, autism, substance use disorder, sleep, vaccines and more. Symposium attendance is not a prerequisite. Investigators must submit a Letter of Intent to Apply for the grants by Oct. 15. Online applications for seed funding open Oct. 15, with a Nov. 15 deadline.
The Power of Collaboration
Dr. Gallo highlighted examples of collaboration between Seattle Children’s and WSU already underway, including the work of Jay Sarthy, MD, PhD. In his talk, “Epigenetic Activities of Anthracycline Derivatives Mitigate Toxicity and Overcome Resistance in Sarcomas,” Dr. Sarthy discussed his work with canine and human cancer treatments. His research focuses on optimizing chemotherapy regimens to minimize toxicity while maximizing efficacy. His collaboration with WSU’s Katrina Mealey, PhD, DVM, and Janean Fidel, DVM, led to the development of safer doxorubicin variants, showcasing the potential of cross-species research.
Six other podium presentations were given by Seattle Children’s investigators and workforce members:
- Nathalia Jimenez, MD, MPH: “Disparities in Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes for Children from Hispanic/Latinx and Migrant Backgrounds”
- Anna Marie Jolley: “Seattle Children's Practice-Based Research Network”
- Casey Lion, MD, MPH: “Improving Healthcare Communication Across Language Barriers”
- Jordan Roberts, MD, MPH: “Leveraging Clinical, Social and Environmental Data to Improve Childhood-Onset Lupus Care: Insights From the Seattle Children's Hospital Lupus Registry”
- Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD, MPH: “Children's Environmental Health”
- Teresa Ward, PhD, RN, FAAN: “Sleep Health and Symptoms in Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis”
Scientific and Research Resource Poster Presentations
Seattle Children’s research investigators and workforce also contributed to the 39 scientific and resource posters presented:
- Mary Crocker, MD, MPH: Empowering Parents and Providers to Protect Children With Asthma From Wildfire Smoke
- Alexis Kaushansky, PhD: Building a Network-Level Understanding of Cell Signaling to Identify Interventions Against Malaria
- Aaron Larson: Shared Research Resources at Seattle Children’s Research Institute
- Meghan McGarry, MD, MAS: Social and Environmental Exposures in Latino and Non-Latino White Children With Cystic Fibrosis: A Pilot Study
- Emily Neuhaus, PhD: Social and Emotional Functioning Among Youth with Autism and Neurodevelopmental Conditions
- Tanya Parish, PhD: How Biology Informs Drug Discovery for Tuberculosis
- Weston Powell, MD, PhD: Circadian Gene Expression in Asthma and Viral Infections
- Jason Price, PhD: Asymmetric Immunogen Design for Cross-Species Reactive Therapeutic Antibody Discovery
- Raymond Ruff: Ex-Vivo T Cell Activation and Expansion With Soluble Circular Tandem Repeat Protein Scaffolded Agonists
- Anthony Sinyagin: The Hidden Harm: Why the Pump Might Actually Hurt Instead of Heal
- Yusuke Suita, PhD: Local Immunotherapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors: Preparing for POC Clinical Trial in Canine Brain Tumor Patients
- Teresa Ward, PhD, RN, FAAN: Sleep Health and Symptoms in Youth with Childhood Systemic Lupus Erythematous
At the end of the symposium, participants were offered tours of key WSU Spokane programs, including the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Program of Excellence, the Center for Native American Health and WSU Spokane Cores.
The research institute was represented on the symposium organizing committee by the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research's John Aitchison, PhD, co-director and principal investigator; the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development's Tonya Palermo, PhD, interim director and principal investigator; and the Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies’ Bruce Torbett, PhD, associate director and principal investigator.
— Colleen Steelquist