UCL Institute of Child Health

New research carried out by a team at the UCL Institute of Child Health  has added weight to the argument for genetic testing of children before treatment with certain antibiotics. The use of aminoglycoside antibiotics can lead to profound deafness when given to children with a particular genetic make up. The study cost £30,617 and was funded by children’s medical research charity, Sparks.

Children who have bone marrow transplants are often vulnerable to dangerous viral infections.  A new technique using white cells from the donor has been backed by the Technology Strategy Board. 

There has been no consistent decrease in child maltreatment over the last two decades, research published today in The Lancet has found.

Source: Tate Liverpool Press Release

Inspired by Tate Liverpool’s current exhibition, Alice in Wonderland, an art-science collaborative made up of scientists, led by UCL Institute of Child Health Dr Michelle de Haan, curators, game designers and filmmakers, have just launched Wondermind, a series of pioneering interactive games, videos and an online blog to help children learn about the science of the developing human brain.

For further information please visit the website:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/education-ich/phd-prog/phd_studentships/Child_Health_Research_PhD_Studentships_2012-13

Hypertropic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a rare, potentially deadly disease of heart muscle. For example, around 6% of patients listed for paediatric heart transplants have HCM.

Archives of Disease in Childhood Press Release - research carried out by Dr Dougal Hargreaves and Professor Russell Viner, UCL Institute of Child Health

The ICH Open Day will this year be held on Wednesday 16th November, from 2.30pm onwards.

Papers published today in Science Translational Medicine report success in two established gene therapy programmes to cure children born unable to fight infection.

The National Institute for Health Research, advised by an international panel of experts, has confirmed a further five years’ funding for the Biomedical Research Centre based at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the UCL Institute of Child Health.  The award is of approximately £36 m and supports the only Biomedical Research Centre in the UK solely focussed on children. 

Professor Carol Dezateux (UCL Institute of Child Health), Professor Sir Michael Marmot and Professor Diana Kuh (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health) contributed to a BBC Radio 4 programme exploring the past, present and future of longitudinal studies.  The programme was presented by Dr Ben Goldacre.  To listen to the programme, click on the following link to the UCL main site http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/headlines-list

Eating disorders are associated with fertility problems, unplanned pregnancies and negative attitudes to pregnancy, finds new research from King’s College London and UCL, published today in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

A 'molecular scalpel' shows promise in patients with a deadly muscle wasting condition, according to new research led by Professor Francesco Muntoni (UCL Institute of Child Health).

UCL Business PLC (UCLB) and the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy (NCYPE), a specialist epilepsy charity, have signed a commercialisation agreement with Special Products Limited, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on niche therapeutic areas, in preparation for the marketing of the Special Product’s proprietary epilepsy treatment Epistatus® as a licensed medicine.

Delivering the best policy research in the health of children, young people and families

The UCL Institute of Child Health and partners have secured a five year, £4.6m grant from the Department of Health Policy Research Programme, to lead a new Policy Research Unit in the Health of Children, Young People and Families (abbreviated to CPRU).  The Unit was formally launched on Wednesday 20 July at the Institute of Child Health. 

Every year the charity awards grants for original and ground-breaking research into the causes of sight loss at universities and hospitals across the UK. The new grants will support researchers based at the UCL Institute of Child Health, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, the University of Birmingham, Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Liverpool.

Researchers have for the first time succeeded in transforming a new type of stem-like cell in the adult heart, into heart muscle in mice. The study(1) – funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published online today in Nature – proves the heart has dormant repair cells in its outer layer that may be re-activated. The research suggests that in the future hearts damaged by a heart attack could be encouraged to repair themselves.

New research funded by charity Kidney Research UK has found that foods containing pectin such as apples, oranges and jam could help reduce the effects of kidney disease.

The first international study to quantify the causes and patterns of death in children over 5 years old from 50 countries over the second half of the 20th century shows that, in a reversal of historical mortality patterns, death rates in young people (15–24 years of age) are now higher than in children (1–4 years) across most high- and low-income countries. In particular, death rates in young men (15–24 years) are now two to three times higher than in boys (1–4 years). The majority of deaths in young people are now due to injury, limiting improvements in mortality in this age-group over the past 50 years to just half that of children.

Early-onset eating disorders affect about 3 in every 100,000 children under the age of 13, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Mr Paulo de Coppi, and colleagues today announce an innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue using cells from the recipient’s own body.  Mr de Coppi is a surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital and an academic at the UCL Institute of Child Health.

In the next 20 years in large parts of China and India, there will be a 10% to 20% excess of young men because of sex selection and this imbalance will have societal repercussions, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal):

The largest ever UK-wide study of babies and young children today received a landmark £28.5 million commitment from the Government Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). This investment adds to the £5 million awarded to scientists at University College London (UCL) by two leading research councils, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC).

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), commonly known as ‘Bubble baby syndrome’, is a rare inherited disorder where the children have no immune system. A study led by researchers at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust (GOSH) and the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH) in conjunction with Newcastle General Hospital (NGH) suggests newborn screening for this condition might greatly improve the chances of survival for these babies.

The programme, PROMISE, comprises five linked studies that aim to significantly improve the experience and care of obese children in the UK, and help alleviate growing pressure on the NHS.