Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center Staff Win Top Awards for Pediatric Research

By Lookout Staff

June 9, 2011 – Two local doctors recently won top awards for their groundbreaking research into treatments for sometimes fatal childhood illnesses.

Dr. Kuk-Wha Lee and Dr. Paul Krogstad, both affiliated with the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, were joined by Dr. Yonca Bulut as they were given a total of $348,300 by the Today's and Tomorrow's Children Fund last month to further their studies.

Lee's work, which won the grand prize of $150,000, focuses on a possible new treatment for type 1 diabetes, a disease diagnosed in 40 children every day nationwide.

The disease causes the immune system to attack and destroy insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, leading to the threat of severe complications and a lifetime of dependence on injected or pumped insulin.

Lee and her colleagues have discovered a protein, Humanin, that protects some cells from destructive stresses and propose it may protect insulin cells as well. If it does, they hopes their research will lay the basis for clinical trials using Humanin as a treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Krogstad's research into the discovery and development of drugs to treat enterovirus infections in children won an award of $110,300.

While enterovirus infections are commonplace and usually not serious – illnesses like seasonal colds and viral hand, food and mouth maladies – they can lead to deadly outcomes among newborns, infants and young children.

Among the vulnernable population, the viruses may produce central nervous system infections, hepatitis and other life-threatening illnesses.

Krogstad and his team of investigators are studying the chemistry of enteroviruses and have identified a little-used experimental antibiotic as a possible treatment.

His award will help support his efforts to confirm his team's findings and identify other medications to combat the viruses.

Bulut, who like Krogstad and Lee conducts research at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, was awarded $88,000 to examine the safety of iron supplementation for children suffering from sepsis, a severe infection.

The treatment of sepsis among children often includes iron supplements to prevent anemia. But Bulut and her team have found that iron may actually help bacteria grow and spread. Her award will help her team establish a framework for human studies to confirm their findings.

The Today's and Tomorrow's Children Fund is a group of individuals who pool their donations to support cutting edge research at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.

Organized in 2006, the group has grown to 64 members and hopes to expand its membership and provide an annual award of $1 million.

For more information on the Today's and Tomorrow's Children Fund, please contact Jennifer Jung, director of development at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA at jjung@support.ucla.edu or (310) 267-1832.