Center for Clinical and Translational Research

The Center for Clinical and Translational Research exists to answer questions that will improve the early diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of society’s most important pediatric diseases by combining high-quality, fact-based lab discoveries and innovative patient-based research.

Our vision is for every pediatric patient to also become a research subject. We believe it is our responsibility to the children we are privileged to care for to learn from every child so that our care for the next child with be improved.

We will promote an environment where patient, family, researcher and clinician work together to ensure that our patients are provided the latest advances in medical knowledge, interventions and therapies to improve their health now and in the future.

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The Abigail Wexner Research Institute is ranked among the top 10 for NIH funding among free-standing children's hospitals.

Meet Our Team

Learn more about director William Smoyer, MD, and his team of principal investigators at the Center for Clinical and Translational Research.

Clinical Research Services

Clinical Research Services (CRS) is designed to be a portal through which clinical investigators access streamlined coordination of services necessary to initiate clinical research projects, regardless of funding source.

Appakalai Lab

Under the direction of Balamurugan Appakalai, PhD, the Appakalai Lab focuses on research to improving the survival and function of transplanted human islets and understanding beta cell pathology.

Bonny Lab

Under the direction of Andrea E. Bonny, MD, the Bonny Lab focuses on research to inform clinical practice for adolescents at peak risk for nonmedical use of prescription opioids, as well as dictating public policy. In the same manner, the Bonny Lab seeks to inform clinical practice for AYA on contraception.

Brigstock Lab

Under the direction of David R. Brigstock, PhD, the Brigstock Lab’s primary focus is on fibrosis, a pathological process in which excessively large amounts of collagenous scar material are deposited between cells of major organs and tissues.

Grayson Lab

Under the direction of Mitchell Grayson, MD, the Grayson Lab studies how allergic diseases, like food allergy and asthma, develop, how respiratory viral infections can drive that development and how allergic disease affects the antiviral immune response in the lung.

Kerlin Lab

Under the direction of Bryce Kerlin, MD, the Kerlin Lab aims to discover new approaches to prevent thrombotic complications and treat kidney disease.

Magaña Lab

The Magaña Lab bridges the clinic and the laboratory by utilizing a multidisciplinary and innovative approach to advancing the field of pediatric neuroimmunology. Dr. Magaña’s clinical and research focus is on studying the age-span of multiple sclerosis—fetal and neonatal neurology, as well as childhood, adolescent and adult neurology.

Rasmussen Lab

The Rasmussen Lab is dedicated to investigating the role that Human Endogenous Retrovirus K (HERV-K) has in the cellular transcriptome of pediatric tumors. HERVs are ubiquitous genetic elements, resulting from ancient retroviral infections of the human genome.

Smoyer Lab

Under the direction of William E. Smoyer, MD, the Smoyer Lab focuses its research around three main themes of nephrotic syndrome, one of the most common kidney diseases seen in children.

Sribnick Lab

Under the direction of Eric A. Sribnick, MD, PhD, the Sribnick Lab's research focuses on how the body’s immune system responds after traumatic brain injury.

Thakkar Lab

Under the direction of Rajan Thakkar, MD, the Thakkar lab’s research aims to examine immune function at the systemic and tissue level in pediatric thermal injury using both whole blood and tissue specimens.

Our Goals

We are dedicated to the following goals:

  • To aggressively pursue external funding so that we may perform clinical and translational research that is evidence based and has a positive impact for the health of our children and their families

  • To collaborate with colleagues locally, nationally and internationally to share knowledge and generate new ideas

  • To provide leadership and support to all investigators in the development and implementation of their clinical and/or translational research projects

  • To finalize development of an existing prototypical protocol, IRB application and master study agreement for a prospective, multicenter clinical trial based at NCH, including biological sample procurement, shipping, processing and storage in a biorepository

  • To develop the infrastructure to facilitate creation of additional multicenter clinical trials and consortia based at NCH, including biological sample procurement, shipping, processing and storage in a biorepository

  • To develop a robust and durable infrastructure to ensure application of results of multicenter clinical trials (including specific mechanisms to measure and verify these improvements) to the improvement of clinical practice by pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists