Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

UCSD Researcher to Study Most Effective Treatment for Kawasaki Disease

By UCSD | February 7, 2017

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an uncommon illness that affects blood vessels in the hearts of children. It is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in infants and children. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at University of California Davis have received a $2 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for a three-year study to look at the effectiveness of two treatment options for children with KD who are resistant to initial therapy.

Standard treatment for KD is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), a mixture of derived antibodies, but 10 to 20 percent of patients are resistant to this therapy, putting them at a higher risk for serious complications, such as coronary artery damage and aneurysms. There are no current guidelines for the best secondary treatment.

Most patients receive either a second infusion of IVIG or an engineered antibody called infliximab that inactivates a molecule that promotes inflammation. The recent PCORI grant will support a study to compare the effectiveness of these two approaches for IVIG-resistant KD patients.

“After talking to more than 100 parents, clinicians and researchers, we learned that their top priority for research is to test the effectiveness of treatments to prevent heart damage in this fragile patient population,” said Jane Burns, MD, co-principal investigator of the study and professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “Our findings will further Kawasaki disease research and give insight into how to approach patients who do not respond to initial treatment.”

KD can be hard to diagnose and experts don’t know the cause. With an estimated 6,000 cases a year in the United States, it is the most common in children ages 1 to 2 and can cause a variety of clinical signs, such as a high fever, body rash, bloodshot eyes, red lips and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

“We want to see which treatment option will stop the fevers and inflammation fastest in patients whose symptoms return after IVIG treatment or never subside,” said Burns, director of the Kawasaki Disease Center at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

In addition to comparing the effectiveness of the two drugs, the researchers will also evaluate patient reported outcomes using mobile technology. The study will use an app for parents to use that will record their child’s discomfort, psychosocial concerns and other experiences during a hospital stay and after discharge.

“Because children can be resistant to treatment, parents can understandably become anxious and frustrated,” said Katherine Kim, PhD, MPH, co-principal investigator and assistant professor at UC Davis. “The mobile app will help us determine and better understand KD and the burden treatment can have on patients and their families.”

The KD study was selected for PCORI funding through a highly competitive review process. The goal of the non-profit organization is to determine which of the many health care options available to patients and those who care for them work best in particular circumstances so they can make the most informed decisions.

“We are incredibly grateful and honored that PCORI chose to fund our study. Research in this area is critical to provide physicians more answers and patients the highest quality of care for a disease that has historically been a mystery in the medical field,” said Burns.

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE