10 Research Opportunities Poised to Advance Child Health

Cincinnati Children's research leader Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, and colleagues identify priority areas that could transform health—not just during childhood, but across the lifespan

CINCINNATI, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten areas of pediatric research could drive the next generation of major advances in child health, according to a new special article in Pediatric Research led by Cincinnati Children's research leader Tina Cheng, MD, MPH. 

Cheng, who leads the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, worked with Stephen Daniels, MD, PhD, of Children's Hospital Colorado; Jessica Snowden, MD, MS, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center; and Tracy Glauser, MD, associate director of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation, to identify the 10 next great research opportunities in child health. 

Their work builds on a previous report about seven great achievements in child health research that Cheng co-authored in 2016. 

"To realize the promise of the 10 areas requires funding and support to maintain and accelerate momentum and to fully translate science to practice and policy. However, we often take for granted the research progress of the past," Cheng says. "Recently, U.S. federal support for biomedical research has been seriously challenged. Child health research has been historically underfunded compared to research on adult health issues, even in the best economic circumstances. It is more important than ever that research on child health issues receives an equitable share of available resources." 

• Genetics, genomics, gene editing and gene therapy
• Mental health, behavioral health and neurodevelopment
• Vaccines, immunization and infectious disease prevention
• Artificial intelligence, digital health and informatics
• Neonatal care, prematurity, perinatal health and fetal origins of disease
• Personalized medicine and targeted therapeutics
• Social drivers, health disparities and health equity
• Obesity, nutrition and weight management
• Environmental health, climate change and exposures
• Cancer, cancer treatment and immunotherapy

Read more about each category at the Cincinnati Children's Research Horizons science blog. 

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SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center