Laura Ramsey, PhD, Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Jonathan Wagner, DO, Heart Center, received a $1,499,885 renewal of their grant from the National Institutes of Health for their project “Children's Mercy Hospital Collaborative Fellowship Program in Pediatric Pharmacology”. Drs. Ramsey and Wagner are the program directors and Stephani Stancil, PhD, APRN, Adolescent & Young Adults Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, serves as the associate program director.
There is a critical need to train professionals in pediatric and maternal clinical pharmacology.
The Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Children’s Mercy, offers one of the largest and most comprehensive Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology post-doctoral training programs in the U.S. The training program is run by 37 faculty, seven specialized mentors, and five specialized instructors across a variety of divisions. The program started in 1999 and was internally funded until 2011.
Since 2011, Children’s Mercy has been able to continuously fund and run the program under the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Clinical Pharmacology Training Network (CPTN) that has trained and graduated trainees who are now addressing knowledge gaps in academic and industry. This latest funding will allow Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Wagner to continue and grow the program.
This program provides comprehensive training in personalized medicine, drug development, and clinical research. Through a combination of coursework and hands-on experience, trainees learn how medications are developed, tested, prescribed, and monitored for safety and effectiveness. Specialized electives allow students to explore advanced topics such as drug modeling, pediatric FDA regulation, pharmacogenomics, and healthcare formulary management.
Under the direction of a junior mentor, a senior mentor, and a scholarship oversight committee, fellows complete a clinical and/or translational research project, produce several publications/presentations, compete for a minimum of one research grant, and develop a plan to transition to independence prior to graduation.
Since its start in 1999, the program at Children’s Mercy has trained 32 pediatric clinical pharmacology fellows (21 pediatricians, 6 pharmacists, 1 nurse, 4 PhDs). Fellow graduates from the previous 5-year cycle delivered 63 scientific presentations, had 50 accepted peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, and submitted a total of $5+ million in intramural and extramural funding during their training period with a total of $2+ million being awarded.
“The program is one of only a few training programs dedicated solely to Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology and its longstanding record of excellence provides applicants with unparalleled training in the discipline,” said Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Wagner.
This year’s fellows appointed to the grant include Diana Acevedo, PhD, Jillian Fry, MD, and Laura Marsalla, PharmD, MS.
Each year the fellowship in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology has three openings available for T32 designated trainees. Trainees are appointed for a two-year period. Visit the Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology Fellowship website to learn more and how to apply.
Specifically, Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Wagner received an Institutional National Research Service Award (T32) grant from the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) covering a project period of June 15, 2026-April 30, 2031.
This program is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number [2T32HD069038-16]. The total program costs for this period are $1,499,885, of which $1,499,885 (100%) is financed with Federal funds. No costs are financed by nongovernmental sources.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.