Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics Research home page. Pediatric research, from molecular biology to clinical trials, is an important and exciting component of the Department‘s activity. With approx. $10M of research grants and contracts awarded in 2006, $6M in federal funding, the Department is one of the most research-active Pediatrics Departments in the United States.

Specific areas of research that attract national attention include cardiology, neurology, weight regulation, metabolism, oncology and stem cell research. The Department is also a leader in Child Health outcome research and an integral partner in the new OCTRI, one of 12 NIH-funded centers in the nation to promote translational research.

Our goal is to support all research that may improve the lives of our patients and the quality of the care we provide to them. We are particularly committed to supporting clinical scientists who have the potential to reconcile bench and bedside research, and further enhance DOP leadership in clinical and translational research (make the words "clinical and translational research" the link to the NIH website and delete "NIH translational site research.") At the same time, we are committed to continuing to support basic science research. After all, it is advancements in basic research that lead to new breakthroughs in clinical and translational research.

We encourage all interested in Pediatric research to explore this site and contact me and/or our research teams for further information on the exciting projects that are conducted by DOP scientists.

Markus Grompe, M.D.: Under Development

Robert D. Steiner, M.D., FAAP, FACMG, joined OHSU in 1995 as Head of the Division of Pediatric Metabolism. He is currently Professor of Pediatrics and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics and has a joint appointment in the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics.

Dr. Steiner is an internationally-recognized clinician and researcher in inborn errors of metabolism. In 1993 he was a member of a team of scientists who discovered the genetic cause of Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome, a condition in which children are unable to make cholesterol. In March 2006, Dr. Steiner initiated the first-ever clinical trial to explore the safety and efficacy of injecting purified human fetal neural stem cells into the brain in an attempt to treat two forms of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL).

Dr. Steiner was instrumental in bringing together pediatric and child health clinical and translational research on campus to help OHSU win 1 of the first 12 prestigious NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) in the country. He is currently serving as 1 of 3 OHSU CTSA (OCTRI) Deputy Directors.