# The Effectiveness of Adjuvant Adenoidectomy in Surgical Management of Otitis Media

> **NIH NIH K23** · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · 2024 · $179,919

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Dr. Kavita Dedhia is an assistant professor in otolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) and
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She has clinical expertise in pediatric otolaryngology, specifically
chronic ear disease. Dr. Dedhia has recently completed the Master in Health Policy Research program at
UPENN through which she gained introductory skills in study design and statistics. Her long-term goal is to
become an independent surgeon-scientist and international leader in pediatric otitis media research. This
career development award serves as a vehicle to achieve this goal by focusing on gaining and refining the
necessary skills to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical otitis media management and patient-centered
outcomes. Otitis media is the 3rd most common reason for pediatric primary care visits, yet evidence for type of
surgical management has been limited. Most studies lack sociodemographic and regional diversity, have high
attrition and cross-over rates, and infrequent assessment of patient-reported outcomes. The aims outlined in
this proposal will serve to improve evidence optimizing surgical otitis media management, through using the
PEDSnet learning health system. PEDSnet is a clinical network consisting of electronic health record data from
11 of the largest pediatric institutions throughout the United States. Using PEDSnet, a clinical consortium of
pediatric otolaryngologists will be formed to assist in carrying out the aims. Aim 1 will evaluate the
effectiveness of adjuvant adenoidectomy and heterogeneity of treatment effect based on age and medical
conditions at-risk for developmental delay through analyzing the PEDSnet dataset from 11 institutions. Aim 2
will be a prospective cohort study at CHOP that will account for patient and environmental factors not available
within the PEDSnet dataset to assess adjuvant adenoidectomy effectiveness. Input for study design and data
collection will be obtained from the pediatric otolaryngology consortium. This study will assess patient
recruitment, retention, uniform data collection rigor, reproducibility, and estimate effect sizes for a larger scale
multi-institutional study at all PEDSnet sites. To carry-out the abovementioned aims, the candidate has formed
a strong mentorship team. Her primary mentor, Dr. Christopher Forrest, is the founder of PEDSnet and adept
in utilizing the learning health system model in pediatric outcomes research. Her co-mentors are equally
impressive: Dr. Gregory Tasian is an expert in pragmatic trials and has formed a pediatric urology clinical
network for studying pediatric urological disease, Dr Yong Chen has extensive expertise in medical informatics,
causal inference, and comparative effectiveness research; and Dr. Diego Preciado is a pediatric
otolaryngology surgeon-scientist who is an expert on otitis media research. The proposed plan will allow the
candidate to become proficient in informatics, causal inferen...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10985153
- **Project number:** 1K23DC021217-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Kavita Dedhia
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $179,919
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10985153

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10985153, The Effectiveness of Adjuvant Adenoidectomy in Surgical Management of Otitis Media (1K23DC021217-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10985153. Licensed CC0.

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