# Biomed Research Core 2

> **NIH NIH P50** · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · 2021 · $185,481

## Abstract

LEARNING HEALTH SYSTEM CORE
ABSTRACT
Current pediatric care relies too much on expert consensus or extrapolation from limited data; major gaps exist
in the quantity and quality of evidence that informs clinical decision-making. Clinical research as currently
practiced generates evidence slowly and at high cost. One of the critical barriers to studying childhood kidney
disease is the lack of a national interconnected, multi-institutional infrastructure able to reach adequate numbers
of affected children and provide the depth of information necessary to adequately characterize their kidney
disease. PEDSnet, a national multi-specialty collaboration across eight pediatric academic centers, was created
to address these challenges by developing a national digital architecture to rapidly implement learning health
systems (LHS) across multiple pediatric conditions. It has focused on using the increasing adoption of certified
electronic health records to integrate research performed in routine care settings, capture structured data at
clinical encounters, promote quality improvement processes, and increase patient engagement in improving
child health. Successes to date demonstrate both the will and capacity of participating institutions to extend the
work of PEDSnet to formally establish a Pediatric Nephrology Learning Network in order to address fundamental
questions of clinical effectiveness for children and their families. Our application benefits from these robust pre-
existing resources and a unique history of collaboration by children’s hospitals that has already made
tremendous progress in building a national infrastructure to expedite pediatric research. The expertise, methods,
and data infrastructure developed by PEDSnet will serve as the centerpiece of the Pediatric Center of Excellence
in Nephrology (PCEN) LHS Core. Specifically, the LHS Core will address the following aims in order to advance
the Pediatric Nephrology Learning Network: (1) Establish the organizational architecture and governance of the
Pediatric Nephrology Learning Network; (2) Extend PEDSnet resources to construct, maintain, and mediate
access to structured data as part of a new Pediatric Nephrology Database Resource; (3) Develop capacity to
address unstructured data elements in the Database Resource through knowledge extraction from pediatric
kidney biopsy reports; and (4) Stimulate high quality research using the newly developed Pediatric Nephrology
Database Resource, by providing shared technical and methodological resources for use across the research
development continuum. Implementing a LHS dedicated to children with kidney disease closely aligns with the
overall goal of the PCEN to facilitate extensive collaborative research around the causes, diagnoses, and
treatment of kidney diseases in children, with increased efficiency and effectiveness. If the proposed activities
are successfully executed, we will have forged an organizational architecture and leadership structur...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10241467
- **Project number:** 5P50DK114786-05
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTOPHER B FORREST
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $185,481
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-18 → 2022-09-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10241467

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10241467, Biomed Research Core 2 (5P50DK114786-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10241467. Licensed CC0.

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