Institute seeks further gains in children's health

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Formally established in December 2015 following a $12.5-million grant from the family of philanthropist and former Hasbro chairman and CEO Alan G. Hassenfeld, the Brown University-based Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute heads into its third year with hopes of improving children’s health in the state through unprecedented research collaboration.

Such success, institute director Dr. Patrick M. Vivier told The Journal this week, could position Rhode Island to serve as a model for other places experiencing unacceptable health outcomes, many related to poverty and racial disparities.

“We have the chance, because of the unique things here, of really being a national and international model,” Vivier said. “If we do the research right to find out what can work in this setting, we could scale that up to other places.”

The innovation institute, headquartered on South Main Street, includes researchers, clinicians and other professionals from Brown’s School of Public Health, the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Women & Infants Hospital, and Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Staff from Miriam and Bradley Hospitals are involved, along with community health professionals.

“We will bring the strength of Brown’s research expertise together with our affiliated hospital and community partners as never before to transform child health in Rhode Island,” Brown president Christina Paxson said when Hassenfeld’s grant was announced on Sept. 28, 2015. Paxson has emerged as a leading advocate of better collaboration among the state’s health-care institutions.

Formally establishing the institute required a series of internal approvals at Brown, according to Vivier, a pediatrician and scientist who holds professorships at Brown and is also the director of interdisciplinary education programs at its School of Public Health. That process was completed two years ago this month, Vivier said.

Although the eventual scope of institute research will be broader, the initial focus has been in three problem areas: childhood asthma, autism, and weight gain. Vivier cited successes thus far in all three:

Asthma: An $8-million award, announced last month, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to open a center run by institute researchers to “help determine best practices for improving asthma outcomes among high-risk children with asthma and ensure long-term program sustainability,” according to Brown. 

Autism: Help in securing new funding for the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment, or RI-CART, and a broadening of the consortium’s scientific efforts. Also, a research partnership with New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology’s Toy Design department to develop toys for children living with autism.

"With the Institute’s support, we have a multidisciplinary team working together, including psychologists, psychiatrists, geneticists and basic scientists," said Stephen Sheinkopf, RI-CART director and Brown assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics.

Obesity: Research into what happens when children are on summer vacation — and how unhealthy outcomes such as overweight can be changed. “There’s been all of this innovation around schools and the school period,” Vivier said. “But then kids go home for the summer where they may or may not have access to healthy food, they may or may not have access to exercise.”

Also notable, Vivier said, has been the institute’s Summer Scholars program, which immerses promising young Brown students in research work. 

“If you’re not involving the next generation,” Vivier said, “you’re missing a great opportunity.”

Serving with Vivier on the institute’s executive committee are Dr. Phyllis A. Dennery, Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s pediatrician-in-chief and chair of pediatrics at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine; and Maureen Phipps, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Women & Infants and also a Brown professor.