Our Research

Research in Adolescent Medicine addresses key areas that affect the lives of adolescents, including mental health, reproductive health, behavioral change interventions, and technology use (including electronic health records).

Faculty are based at the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics and Palliative Care at the Seattle Children's Research Institute, focused on improving quality of life, medical decision-making, and communication for children with serious illness and their families.

Our cardiology division conducts research spanning basic disease mechanisms in heart failure and vascular biology, translational studies of inflammation in cardiopulmonary bypass or Kawasaki disease, and clinical research addressing care delivery and access to improve cardiovascular outcomes across broad patient populations.

Interdisciplinary research in Craniofacial Medicine is closely integrated with our clinical center, reinforcing the division's position as a global leader in craniofacial science and innovation. Through collaborative efforts spanning basic, translational, and clinical research, we advance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of craniofacial conditions.

Faculty are involved in basic, translational, and clinical research focused on sepsis and lung injury, long-term outcomes following pediatric critical illness, bioethics, patient and family communication, pediatric disaster preparedness, extracorporeal life support (ECMO/ECLS), and continuous performance improvement.

Faculty research spans basic studies of nervous system formation, clinical studies of development in children with and without neurodevelopmental conditions, and population-based studies of child development internationally. We are generating medical, developmental, and caregiver-focused treatments to promote health and developmental outcomes in vulnerable populations.

Faculty carry out research within the Seattle Children's Center for Clinical and Translational Research, focused on a range of topics in pediatric dermatology including atopic dermatitis, vascular anomalies, laser therapy, vitiligo, congenital nevi, hidradenitis suppurativa, morphea, and improving access and equity in care.

Emergency Department research focuses on acute illness and injury in children and adolescents locally, nationally, and internationally. We participate in multicenter research in areas including infectious diseases, vaccines, resuscitation, sedation, injury management, mental health, and care of children with medical complexity.

Faculty conduct research in pediatric endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity.

Research focuses on diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for pediatric patients with gastrointestinal and liver diseases, including therapeutic trials for viral hepatitis, acute liver failure, metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease, liver transplantation, eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases, and IBD.

Many faculty in General Pediatrics are members of and conduct their research at centers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's, including the Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center and the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development .

The division has a strong research focus, with established research programs in gene discovery for rare genetic conditions, birth defects, neurogenetics, inherited disorders of metabolism, human development, animal models, implementation science, genetic diagnostics, multi-omics, population genetics/evolution, and treatment of rare diseases.

The division is focused on improving outcomes for cancer and blood disorders through basic, translational and clinical research, and has discovered, developed, and implemented important therapies that have substantially improved survival for leukemias, solid tumors, and brain tumors.

Faculty conduct research at SCRI including state-of-the-art diagnosis and monitoring for more than 500 genetic immune, autoimmune and allergic diseases; basic studies to understand disease mechanisms; and clinical trials including novel cell therapies, gene replacement and gene editing for immune disorders.

Faculty are affiliated with the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research and the Center for Clinical and Translational Research , making significant contributions to understanding viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogenesis and defining epidemiology, treatment, and prevention strategies.

Faculty study how different treatments and practices affect newborn health locally and globally, helping to shape safer, more effective therapies and practices for preemies and severely ill infants using expertise in neuroscience, medical education, neonatal-perinatal health, and ethics.

Faculty are involved in both clinical and basic science research focused on treatment and outcomes for kidney transplantation, lupus, glomerulonephritis, hypertension, acute and chronic renal failure, and metabolic and epigenetic mechanisms of acute and chronic kidney injury.

Faculty conduct transformational research investigating bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm babies, airway response to injury, treatment of cystic fibrosis in minority populations, environmental impacts on asthma, tools for managing respiratory disease in low resource areas, aerosolized drug delivery, and circadian biology.

Research is focused on developing new and more effective treatments for pediatric rheumatic diseases and better understanding their long-term outcomes, supporting patient participation in studies, and developing clinical educator research and technology.