Accelerating discoveries to save and improve the lives of children
We want every child to live the healthy, hopeful life they deserve. Children’s Hospital Colorado is pioneering new treatments and cures with the purpose of eradicating childhood disease and transforming pediatric medicine. With donor support, we will make great advances through research to discover the cures, treatments and therapies of tomorrow, while saving lives today.
Groundbreaking research is at the core of our mission to give all kids a chance at a healthier future
Here, medical advances happen faster because we’ve broken down silos and embraced an intentional culture of teamwork and innovation that enables discoveries to thrive. Because we’re a part of the renowned University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, we have access to cutting-edge technologies and research partnerships that span the full spectrum of care and cover the entire course of human life.
Science in the service of kids
1,020+
active clinical studies currently underway
521
principal investigators conducting child health research
$156.8M
in annual research funding
“Scientific discovery typically happens in small increments, but sometimes you have to make those big leaps forward. That’s what philanthropy enables us to do — pursue big, bold, game-changing ideas. Not all of those ideas are going to be home runs, but if you don’t at least try, then you’ll never see radical change.”
DR. CHRISTOPHER NG
Pediatric Hematologist and Physician-Scientist at Children’s Hospital Colorado
Federal funding is more scarce than ever
Despite the incredible promise of research at Children’s Colorado, federal funding for physician-scientists’ work is scarcer than ever, especially within the field of pediatrics. NIH funding rarely covers the full cost of research and the infrastructure necessary to support a vast and growing portfolio of basic and clinical research. We can’t conduct our lifesaving research without the financial support of generous donors.
Your investment in child health research:
Philanthropic support helps speed the scientific discovery process by seeding innovative ideas that are not yet proven. Federal funding can often only be unlocked once concepts are validated, and without seed funding, many of these promising theories won’t make it off paper and into labs.
At Children’s Colorado, we know that discoveries can change lives. These novel approaches not only help the babies and kids of today, but also the adults they will become tomorrow, with treatments and cures that impact the entire course of human life. Philanthropic support in research discovery allows us to invest in emerging science, quickly accelerating the investigation of novel ideas that have the most promise and catalyzing new treatments and cures.
It also offers physician-scientists a bridge in funding as these breakthroughs are translated into patient care. And it ensures that bold innovations make the leap from benchside observations in the lab, clinic and community into clinical trials and bedside interventions, improving individual and population health through therapeutics, procedures, behavioral interventions and health policy.
Our physician-scientists continually have new ideas for improving child health. But researchers need data and resources to test new hypotheses so they can translate these ideas to patients. Without seed funding for early career investigators and bridge support for seasoned investigators, it’s almost impossible to translate ideas from the bench to the bedside and secure bigger NIH grants for research that will have a transformative impact on children’s health.
Philanthropy can also serve as a mechanism to facilitate the transition from training to independence for the next generation of pediatric researchers, as well as empower all investigative teams to continue their innovative work regardless of NIH funding ebbs and flows. In recent years, several of our physician-scientists leveraged seed funding gifts from private donors to secure multi-million-dollar federal grants that led to new breakthroughs in pediatric medicine that had ripple effects throughout patients’ lifespans. Investing in the best and the brightest at all phases of their careers has proven to pay dividends for decades to come.
Cutting-edge research and world-class health care for children require top talent – doctors, nurses, scientists, therapists, and technicians, who are specially trained in the field of pediatrics. Endowed funds help Children’s Hospital Colorado recruit and retain exceptional caregivers and the stellar teams they build – the stars of their respective fields whose research and innovations help kids in our own backyard and around the globe. Your support is critical to our ability to attract and maintain our expert team of physician-scientists – particularly through endowed funds, which generously provide perpetual, sustainable support for their programs.
We have the talent, the technology, and the vision
Our patient families need your support now more than ever. With a unique convergence of strengths, talent, opportunities and campus partnerships, Children’s Colorado is ideally positioned to lead research discoveries for the benefit of all. Our remarkable strengths include:
- Unparalleled collaboration across the Anschutz Medical Campus – from pediatrics to geriatrics – to accelerate discovery, bridging knowledge and scientific breakthroughs.
- The ability to impact human health across all ages by discovering when the onset of disease occurs, what symptoms appear and affect patients at different stages of their life, and how we might be able to delay or prevent adult diseases altogether. Today, kids with previously life-limiting conditions now become healthy adults because of our breakthroughs – and as a result we are uniquely qualified to care for the adults they become.
- A growing, prestigious portfolio of NIH funding, which illustrates our steadfast commitment to pursuing research that will improve therapies and treatments for children.
- A robust environment to support early-career investigators, which is a critical strategy for the long-term success of child health research at Children’s Colorado.
Why invest?
Discovery is at the heart of everything Children’s Colorado does. But translating an idea in the lab into a tangible treatment, therapy or cure that benefits patients takes significant time, capital, resources and expertise. While we have all the critical elements necessary to make exponential progress in research, we cannot do this alone. Without sufficient funding, scientific progress is significantly slowed. Many of our patient families cannot wait for the breakthroughs their children desperately need – they need cures today.
Invest in groundbreaking research today that can change lives forever
Our research is fueled by donor investment. Without donors, many of our research programs wouldn’t exist — nor would the new treatments, cures and innovations our team has already discovered. Your support can mean the difference between making monumental leaps forward to save young lives or continuing at a pace constrained by funding challenges.
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