Click to view the NBC video.

UConn students, CT Children’s medical researchers and children and their families are partnering in a novel collaboration and changing the face of medical care for kids in Connecticut. The UCONN students in the Undergraduate Research Associate Program (URAP) in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, work closely with physicians in the Department of Pediatrics at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CT Children’s).  Bridging the students’ basic science training to clinical problems in pediatric care and diet has improved treatments for children at CT Children’s.  The work from these students and their physician mentors has resulted in several peer reviewed clinical publications and presentations at national meetings.

In a development with enormous potential, the URAP program is now partnering with Kids and Families Impacting Disease Through Science (KIDS).  Partnering with KIDS will allow this collaborative research to reach its full potential for children.  KIDS is an advisory group of children, adolescents and families.  They focus on understanding, communicating and improving medicine, research and innovation for children; thus perfect partners for the URAP program.  (KIDS is a collaboration between the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Advances in Therapeutics and Technology (SOATT), local AAP Chapters, children’s hospitals, local schools and other partners.)  This new partnership brings together diverse and important stakeholders in the future of health care for all our children.

This hugely beneficial experience for UCONN students has matured into an incredibly effective program that simultaneously produces, through research, critical advantages in health care delivery for CT Children’s pediatricians and children and their families.

MCB 3189 Instructors: Arlene Albert and Sharon Smith.

---