$1.5 Million to Texas Children's Cancer Center to Study Medications

A $1.5 million research grant will enable researchers at Texas Children's Cancer Center (TCCC) at Texas Children's Hospital to study the effectiveness and safety of doses of medications for children.

TCCC received the funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and becomes part of its Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit Network.

As one of only 13 units in the nation-wide network, TCCC researchers will focus on drugs used to treat children for asthma, allergies, upper respiratory infections, depression, and life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and AIDS.

"Children are not just small adults who require a reduced strength of an adult dose of a drug. There are unique requirements for prescribing drugs in these small patients," says Dr. David Poplack, director of the Cancer Center and principal investigator of the study. "This research will help us determine the best doses for children of all ages and define the most concise labeling for professionals and caregivers alike."

According to Dr. Poplack, also a professor and chief of the hematology/oncology service in the department of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, clinical trials will begin in the spring of 1999 and continue over the next five years.

"Pediatric patients from the Houston community will be eligible to participate in the studies," says unit co-investigator Dr. Susan Blaney, a physician and researcher at the Cancer Center, and associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor.

"We are pleased to be one of the few pediatric institutions involved in this important research. As a hospital devoted entirely to children, we are keenly aware of their special needs. This research will enable not only our physicians, but all caregivers to better serve the health needs of children," Dr. Poplack says.

- JUDY BALDWIN

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/04_15_99/page_05.html