As a national leader in pediatric surgery, investigators in the Pediatric General Surgery Program are committed to generating new knowledge to continually advance care for pediatric patients. Areas of research within the Pediatric General Surgery Program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital include:

Chest Wall Deformity

Our team is active in pectus excavatum research, including novel metrics for determining the severity of chest wall defects.

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Led by David Kays, M.D., the team in the Center for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) is backed by 20 years of study to determine the optimal time to perform surgical repair to allow maximum lung growth in babies with CDH.

Esophageal and Airway Treatment Program

The program maintains a database to track short-term and long-term clinical outcomes and is helping to develop a database registry to track and standardize outcomes nationally.

Intestinal Rehabilitation

Our research in this area includes anti-reflux surgery in premature babies with chronic lung disease.

Thyroid Surgical Care

We are engaged in clinical outcomes research, such as identifying factors related to longer hospital times and readmissions following total thyroidectomy in children, and factors that impact reimplantation of the parathyroid gland during total thyroidectomy.

Trauma

We are active in pediatric trauma research as part of a Florida-based consortium of 12 children’s hospitals engaged in multicenter studies in pediatric trauma. Members have collaborated on studies related to injury mechanisms and outcomes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and firearm injuries in young children. Future areas of focus include further research on firearm injury prevention, system-level trauma triage, identification of child abuse, and blood product resuscitation.

Collaborations

We participate in collaborations that work to advance child health. The Florida-based consortium of 12 children’s hospitals engaged in multicenter studies in pediatric trauma, of which we are a part, allows for ongoing pediatric trauma research throughout the state. We are also a member of the Eastern Pediatric Surgery Network and collaborate with our fellow member hospitals on multi-institutional research studies. We have also hosted the group’s annual meeting in 2023.

Training Opportunities

We offer several pre- and post-graduate research training programs in pediatric surgery. We are dedicated to training the next generation of clinician-researchers and offer a research fellowship that includes opportunities to develop and conduct a variety of clinical and translational research projects. We offer a summer Surgery Research Internship available to current undergraduate or graduate students. We also participate in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Summer Student Research Training Program, which develops and mentors passionate students at the undergraduate, medical school and other graduate levels on a career trajectory of a research professional or investigator in clinical and translational research.

Select Publications

Defining Pediatric Trauma Center Resource Utilization: Multidisciplinary Consensus-Based Criteria from the Pediatric Trauma Society. Snyder CW, Kristiansen KO, Jensen AR, Sribnick EA, Anders JF, Chen CX, Lerner EB, Conti ME. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2023 Oct 26. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000004181. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37880842

Language Differences by Race on Letters of Recommendation for the Pediatric Surgery Match. Ramos-Gonzalez G, Williams S, Miller A, Mosha M, Irby I, Chang HL, Danielson PD, Gonzalez R, Snyder CW, Chandler NM. J Surg Educ. 2023 Dec;80(12):1789-1798. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2023.08.016. Epub 2023 Sep 23. PMID: 37749001

Balanced resuscitation with whole blood versus component therapy in critically injured pre-adolescent children: getting there faster with fewer exposures. McLoughlin RJ, Josephson CD, Neff LP, Chandler NM, Gonzalez R, Russell RT, Snyder CW. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2023 Sep 6. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000004132. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37678160

Social determinants of health in pediatric trauma: Association with injury mechanisms and outcome in context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Avila A, Lao OB, Neville HL, Yorkgitis BK, Chang HL, Thatch K, Plumley D, Larson SD, Fitzwater JW, Markley M, Pedroso F, Fischer A, Armstrong LB, Petroze RT, Snyder CW. Am J Surg. 2023 Aug 25:S0002-9610(23)00421-X. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2023.08.019. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37661530

Risk of Injury-Related Readmission Varies by Initial Presenting-Hospital Type Among Children at High Risk for Physical Abuse. Snyder CW, Barry TM, Ciesla DJ, Thatch K, Danielson PD, Chandler NM, Pracht EE. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2023 Jun 12. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000002996. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37308173

Association of blood product ratios with early mortality in pediatric trauma resuscitation: A time-dependent analysis from the National Trauma Databank. Snyder CW, Neff LP, Chandler NM, Kerby JD, Josephson CD, Russell RT. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2023 Sep 1;95(3):319-326. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003905. Epub 2023 Feb 28. PMID: 36850027

Use of Antipseudomonal Antibiotics is not Associated with Lower Rates of Postoperative Drainage Procedures or More Favorable Culture Profiles in Children with Complicated Appendicitis: Results from a Multicenter Regional Research Consortium. Cramm SL, Graham DA, Feng C, Allukian M, Blakely ML, Chandler NM, Cowles RA, Kunisaki SM, Lipskar AM, Russell RT, Santore MT, Campbell BT, Commander SJ, DeFazio JR, Dukleska K, Echols JC, Esparaz JR, Gerall C, Griggs CL, Hanna DN, He K, Keane OA, McLean SE, Pace E, Scholz S, Sferra SR, Tracy ET, Zhang L, Rangel SJ; Eastern Pediatric Surgery Network.

Pediatric intraoperative cardiopulmonary arrests: A survey to evaluate if Medical Emergency Teams are utilized in pediatric operating rooms. Charles A, Williams SA, Dolan J, Rehman M, Arnold J, Chandler NM. Paediatr Anaesth. 2023 Jun;33(6):454-459. doi: 10.1111/pan.14665. Epub 2023 Mar 25.

Postoperative Respiratory Complications in SARS-CoV-2 Positive Pediatric Patients Across 20 United States Hospitals: A Cohort Study. Reiter AJ, Ingram ME, Raval MV, Garcia E, Hill M, Aranda A, Chandler NM, Gonzalez R, Born K, Mack S, Lamoshi A, Lipskar AM, Han XY, Fialkowski E, Spencer B, Kulaylat AN, Barde A, Shah AN, Adoumie M, Gross E, Mehl SC, Lopez ME, Polcz V, Mustafa MM, Gander JW, Sullivan TM, Sulkowski JP, Ghani O, Huang EY, Rothstein D, Muenks EP, St Peter SD, Fisher JC, Levy-Lambert D, Reichl A, Ignacio RC, Slater BJ, Tsao K, Berman L. J Pediatr Surg. 2023 Aug;58(8):1543-1549. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2022.10.048. Epub 2022 Nov 3.

Risk factors for prolonged hospitalization and readmission after total thyroidectomy in children: Associations with surgical subspecialty. Snyder C, Williams SA, Danielson PD, Chandler NM. Am J Surg. 2023 Jan;225(1):66-69. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.09.052. Epub 2022 Oct 8.

Advances in pulmonary management and weaning from ECLS. Thatch KA, Kays DW. Semin Pediatr Surg. 2023 Aug;32(4):151329. doi: 10.1016/j.sempedsurg.2023.151329. Epub 2023 Oct 17.

Primary Posterior Tracheopexy at Time of Esophageal Atresia Repair Significantly Reduces Respiratory Morbidity. Mohammed S, Kamran A, Izadi S, Visner G, Frain L, Demehri FR, Shieh HF, Jennings RW, Smithers CJ, Zendejas B. J Pediatr Surg. 2024 Jan;59(1):10-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2023.09.028. Epub 2023 Sep 22.

Surgical Treatment of Esophageal Anastomotic Stricture After Repair of Esophageal Atresia. Kamran A, Smithers CJ, Izadi SN, Staffa SJ, Zurakowski D, Demehri FR, Mohammed S, Shieh HF, Ngo PD, Yasuda J, Manfredi MA, Hamilton TE, Jennings RW, Zendejas B. J Pediatr Surg. 2023 Dec;58(12):2375-2383. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2023.07.014. Epub 2023 Jul 29. PMID: 37598047

Treatment of Esophageal Perforation: Endoscopic Vacuum-Assisted Closure. Barnett GS, Kimsey KM, Shieh HF, Smithers CJ, de Vries JM, Mouch J, Wilsey M. JPGN Rep. 2023 Apr 26;4(2):e314. doi: 10.1097/PG9.0000000000000314. eCollection 2023 May. PMID: 37200717 Free PMC article.

Esophageal Surveillance Practices in Esophageal Atresia Patients: A Survey by the Eastern Pediatric Surgery Network. Hamilton-Hall MN 3rd, Jungbauer D, Finck C, Middlesworth W, Zendejas B, Alaish SM, Griggs CL, Russell RT, Shieh HF, Scholz S, Kunisaki SM, Feng C, Danko ME, DeFazio JR, Smithers CJ, Zamora IJ, Knod JL; Eastern Pediatric Surgery Network.