IMPACT

The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital is a destination for kids and their families facing complex medical issues and chronic illnesses such as cancer, epilepsy, and diabetes. Our physicians and scientists are working to improve the lives of kids in Chicago and throughout the world.

 

Every dollar raised directly supports the life-changing care and groundbreaking research that takes place each day at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital.

Only at Comer Children’s do patients receive the "bench to bedside" scientific expertise of the University of Chicago Medicine. Our clinicians and staff provide each patient with a personal, family-centered approach to care that creates an atmosphere of hope and healing. Our researchers and investigators are at the forefront of innovation, conducting cutting-edge translational and clinical research that results in novel discoveries and transforms outcomes for our patients. By partnering with our neighbors and local leaders to address the most pressing health challenges in our community, we are committed to preventing and managing chronic diseases, building trauma resiliency, and reducing health inequities. 

 

• Food allergies now affect 11 percent of adults and eight percent of children in the United States. Oral food challenges, during which a patient is given food and monitored over several hours to provide immediate treatment when they begin to develop signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis, are the current gold standard diagnostic test. Researchers are conducting a study that is measuring cardiovascular changes in children with food allergies who are undergoing oral food challenges to detect an early warning of anaphylaxis.
• Jumpstarting to Independence is an eight-week outpatient applied behavior analysis (ABA) program for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents at the University. Children insured by Medicaid in Illinois do not receive ABA therapy, which is a standard of care for children with ASD. Funding for this project will provide critical support for the clinical program, research protocol initiation, and educational opportunities for medical trainees.
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disease in children. To combat NAFLD, researchers aim to track its progression by assessing the prevalence of NAFLD in children in Chicago’s South Side as well as studying the progression of fibrosis noninvasively using Fibroscan, an ultrasound tool, and comparing those results to calculated results obtained via other fibrosis scoring systems.

To learn more about Comer Children’s, visit uchicagomedicine.org/comer.