Better ways to find pneumonia in children
Official title: Precision medicine approaches in the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia in children
Funded at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago · NIH-11128573 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to create smarter tools to help doctors quickly and accurately diagnose pneumonia in children who come to the emergency room.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Career grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $168,404 |
| NIH project number | 5K01HL169921-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11128573 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This research focuses on improving care for children aged 0-11 years who are suspected of having community-acquired pneumonia.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who do not have symptoms of community-acquired pneumonia or are outside the pediatric age range would not directly benefit from this specific diagnostic tool.
What this research studies
Pneumonia is a common and expensive illness for children, but it can be tricky for doctors to diagnose because its symptoms often look like other breathing problems. This can sometimes lead to too many or too few X-rays and antibiotics. Our goal is to develop a new, data-driven system that uses information from children's health records to help doctors make a more precise diagnosis. This system will be designed to guide doctors in the emergency room, ensuring children get the right care faster.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to more accurate and timely diagnoses of pneumonia in children, potentially reducing unnecessary tests and antibiotic use.
How similar studies have gone: There is currently a lack of validated tools to guide the diagnosis of pneumonia in children, making this a novel and much-needed approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Chicago, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ramgopal, Sriram — Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
- Study coordinator: Ramgopal, Sriram
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Azithromycin vs doxycycline with beta-lactam in hospitalized adults with pneumonia
In hospitalized adults with community-acquired pneumonia, this study will compare two antibiotic combinations to see which works better and is safer.
-
Combined immunomodulatory effect of macrolides and corticosteroids in hospitalized CAP patients
This study looks at whether adding macrolide antibiotics to steroids helps or harms people hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
-
Blocking ANGPTL4 to help people with severe community-acquired pneumonia
This project will test whether blocking the blood protein ANGPTL4 helps adults hospitalized with severe community-acquired pneumonia recover faster and survive more often.
-
Pediatric pneumonia severity score (PedCAPS)
This project will create and check a simple score to predict how serious pneumonia will be in children who come to the emergency room.
-
Ketogenic diet to help muscle in older adults with pneumonia
A small trial will test if a short 10-day ketogenic (low carb, high fat) feeding helps preserve muscle and speed recovery in people 65 and older hospitalized with pneumonia.
-
Using systems biology to understand severe community-acquired pneumonia
This project analyzes patients' lung and blood samples with advanced lab tests and computer models to find biological patterns that can help guide treatment for people with severe pneumonia, including COVID-related cases.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.