When a parent learns his or her child has an illness like cancer, one of the first questions he or she most often asks is, “How did this happen?” Researchers in Epidemiology and Clinical Research at University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview are charged with addressing questions like this as best they can.

As part of this mission, our researchers are working with cancer care teams at the hospital to provide helpful educational materials for patients and their families—to help them better understand their child’s condition. By doing so, our team is setting the pace nationally in researching the causes and long-term complications of childhood diseases.

The pediatric epidemiology experts at the University of Minnesota are an integral part of pediatric treatment and research at University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview. Our experts study the causes and prevention of childhood diseases—in hopes of improving therapies and increasing cure rates, as well as minimizing negative,late effects of treatments. Our faculty has training and expertise in epidemiology, clinical trials, molecular biology, biostatistics, pediatrics and behavioral sciences. They are taking the lead nationally in facilitating many studies on childhood cancers.

Research Activities

Our researchers explore the epidemiology of infant leukemia, autism, malignant germ cell tumors of childhood, and childhood acute leukemia in children with Down syndrome. We’re also studying the late effects of blood and bone marrow transplants among children and adolescents, as well as the long-term health and psychological outcomes among adult survivors of childhood cancer. For more information on these research studies, please contact 612-626-2902.