The Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program

Adam Becker, PhD, MPH and Karen Sheehan, MD, MPH, Interim Program Directors 

The Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program was launched in 2000 with a magnificent gift from Mrs. Mary Ann Smith in memory of her late husband.

Vision 

The vision of the Smith Child Health Research Program is to inform local, regional, and national practice and policy to foster healthy children today and healthy adults tomorrow. 

Mission

The scientific mission of the Smith Child Health Research Program is to address important clinical and public health problems of children, using state-of-the-art laboratory, epidemiologic, clinical, social and behavioral science methods with interdisciplinary collaborations to benefit children, their families and their communities. The program engages in clinical, community, and population-based research to advance knowledge about the natural history, biological, psychological, social and environmental causes of common and important child health problems and to identify childhood precursors of adult diseases. The program aims to translate scientific knowledge into effective clinical and public health interventions and policy through partnering with communities, policy makers, and the general public to address child health problems. Additionally, the program trains a new generation of child health professionals and researchers in interdisciplinary, collaborative, and public health approaches to research. The program is striving to become one of the leading national centers for child health research.

Center on Obesity Management and Prevention (COMP)  

Director: Hellen Binns, MD, MPH 

COMP was established in 2004 to coordinate and expand research on childhood obesity, and to integrate this research with the clinical and public education/advocacy aspects of obesity-related work at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. COMP provides educational opportunities and facilitates the development of collaborative research projects. COMP seminars and journal clubs meet on alternating months between September and June.

Link to COMP  

Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) 

CLOCC Executive Director: Adam Becker, PhD, MPH  

The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), COMP’s community education and advocacy arm, a nationally recognized model, has the goal of mounting an effective effort to reduce childhood obesity in Chicago by building and mobilizing a coalition of organizations and individuals in the Chicago area. It supports the now eight-agency Chicago Interdepartmental Task Force on Childhood Obesity, which is led by the Department of Public Health. 

Link to CLOCC  

Pediatric Practice Research Group (PPRG)  

Director: Helen Binns, MD, MPH 
Associate Director: Adolfo Ariza, MD   

The Pediatric Practice Research Group (PPRG) is a well-established, practice-based research network with over 450 Chicago-area clinicians from more than 75 primary care practices. The PPRG provides the Lurie Children’s research community with the supporting systems and expertise necessary to partner with community clinicians to study topics in primary care settings. Its extensive partnerships with community primary care clinicians allows for research of common conditions in their natural setting and provides for a laboratory to test ideas of relevance to primary care.  

Link to PPRG  

Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics (MEPI)    

Director: Xin (Lucy) Liu, MD.,PhD  

Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics core is designed to bridge epidemiological, clinical and bench research through interdisciplinary collaborations and application of advanced methods in molecular biology, population genetics, bioinformatics and biotechnology. Its research focus is to elucidate the role of environmental/community factors, genetic and epigenetic factors, and gene-environment interactions in the development of complex human diseases, especially those diseases with prenatal and early life origins. Ongoing funded studies focus on food allergy and related conditions, obesity and metabolic syndrome. These studies are supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and foundations, including the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the Food Allergy Initiative.  

Link to Molecular Epidemiology 

Strengthening Chicago's Youth (SCY) 

Strategic Director: Rebecca Levin, MPH 

Food Allergy 

Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH