Kahn Pediatric Critical Care Grand Challenge funds 4 research teams
ANN ARBOR - On April 5, the University of Michigan’s Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation wrapped up its inaugural Kahn Pediatric Critical Care Grand Challenge with the Wolverine Den—the Grand Challenge’s signature capstone event in which participating teams pitch their innovations before a panel of experts to compete for funding.
Made possible through the support of philanthropist Mark Kahn, up to $400,000 was available through the 2023 Kahn Grand Challenge to support research addressing gaps in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of critically ill and injured children. The Wolverine Den panel—comprised of clinicians, entrepreneurs and business development specialists—scored each project based on criteria such as potential clinical impact and path to commercialization.
Keep scrolling to learn more about this year’s winning teams and the work they are doing to transform pediatric critical care.
Expediting Bedside Use of a Novel Microfluidics-Based Platform for the Identification of Subphenotypes in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients
PI(s): Heidi R. Flori, MD (Pediatrics); Mary K. Dahmer, PhD (Pediatrics); Katsuo Kurabayashi, PhD (Mechanical Engineering)
A modification of Dr. Kurabayashi’s pre-equilibrium digital enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (PEdELISA) microarray for use in identifying the hypo-and hyperinflammatory subphenotypes the team has identified in children with acute respiratory failure.
The device measures in real time using small amounts of whole blood. This capability could revolutionize clinical trial design for acute respiratory failure and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in children by allowing rapid bedside assignment to subphenotypes and the development of targeted therapies.
Vascular Arterial Tone Monitoring System (VATMOS) for Managing and Treating Hemodynamic Instability in Pediatric Critical Care
PI(s): Kenn Oldham, PhD (Mechanical Engineering); Rodney Daniels, MD (Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering)
Hemodynamic decompensation (when the body is unable to maintain sufficient blood pressure for normal function) often occurs with especially little warning among children experiencing critical illness and injury.
The team has developed a wearable wearable sensing ring called VATMOS (Vascular Arterial Tone Monitoring System) that could monitor vascular reactivity and hemodynamic compensatory status in children, while also acting as a tool for predicting decompensation events.
Should VATMOS be effective in these patients, clinicians would have vital, direct data regarding real-time vascular resistance and reactivity that could be utilized from early resuscitation through recovery.
Evaluating Lung Injury through Exhaled Volatile compounds and redox potential to predict ARDS and its Trajectory in childrEn (ELEVATE)
PI(s): Ryan P. Barbaro, MD, MSc (Pediatrics); Rodney Daniels, MD (Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering); Xudong (Sherman) Fan, PhD (Biomedical Engineering)
To date, no pediatric clinical trials have identified a treatment strategy that reduces mortality or improves outcomes for children with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There is an urgent need for technology that can quickly detect ARDS in children and predict its progression.
To accomplish this, the team will utilize an automated portable gas chromatography (GC) device capable of rapid bedside analysis of exhaled breath in combination with point-of-care redox electrodes.
While GC analysis will evaluate the vapor phase of exhaled breath, the redox electrodes will evaluate oxidative stress in the liquid phase of exhaled breath. By testing both phases, these platforms could provide valuable synergistic data that could improve overall ARDS detection and monitoring.
Clinical and Preclinical Development of a Novel Near-Infrared Light Technology for Reducing Brain Injury Following Cardiac Surgery in Pediatric Patients
PI(s): Nathaniel Sznycer-Taub, MD (Pediatrics and Communicable Disease); Thomas Sanderson, PhD (Emergency Medicine)
Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common birth defects, with approximately 40,000 CHD surgeries performed in the United States each year. Despite recent improvements in mortality, neonates and infants who require cardiac surgery continue to remain at increased risk for brain injury and subsequent long-term neurodevelopmental deficits.
The team will apply a novel near infrared light (NIR) technology to modulate the cellular injury process that occurs in the brain during cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.
