Pediatric Critical Care Research

Improving Care Through Research & Simulation

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital is a national leader in pediatric critical care. Our critical care specialists continue to advance training and develop new clinical treatments in our in situ simulation center and commitment to research.

In Situ Simulation Center

The PICU is home to an in-situ simulation center — one of only a few such simulation centers in the country. The center is directed by critical care faculty with expertise in simulation-based medical education, team training and research, Priti Jani, MD, MPH, and Stephen Small, MD, director of simulation services for UChicago Medicine. Physicians, medical students, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists and ancillary staff participate in simulations using high-fidelity mannequins to create realistic clinical scenarios. Integrating the simulation center into the facility where we treat patients allows us to learn and perfect new clinical care procedures, strengthen our team-based performance around bedside critical care and spark research towards optimizing provider education and quality of care for our patients.

Research Leading to the Best Care

Researchers at Comer Children's are actively involved in laboratory and clinical studies designed to improve the care of critically ill children. Our team is developing more effective treatment protocols to help our patients recover faster, with less pain and fewer complications.

Our critical care doctors participate in national studies on influenza infection, blood glucose control in heart and respiratory failure, ventilator-associated infections and severe sepsis through the consortium of Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators. By collaborating with researchers from more than 70 pediatric intensive care units, we are able to help move clinical and translational research forward to drive the future of critical care.

Physician-scientists also enhance and develop clinical protocols as part of the Center for Infection, Immunity and Critical Illness. Through this center, the team aims to identify and stratify patients with the highest risk for infection and work to predict, reduce and prevent infection before a patient displays signs or symptoms. This new model bridges the gap between the basic and clinical research efforts through the implementation of evidence-based, data-driven medical treatments and protocols.