Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is a

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

research institute affiliated with California’s pediatric medical center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. CHORI is based in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, and operates a biomedical research facility that houses 300 staff members. It includes eight research centers that conduct focused research on

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

critical care medicine Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

, immunobiology and

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

development, blood and marrow transplantation and cellular therapies,

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

and

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

, prevention of

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

and

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

sickle cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD), also simply called sickle cell, is a group of inherited Hemoglobinopathy, haemoglobin-related blood disorders. The most common type is known as sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia results in an abnormality in the ...

and

thalassemia Thalassemias are a group of Genetic disorder, inherited blood disorders that manifest as the production of reduced hemoglobin. Symptoms depend on the type of thalassemia and can vary from none to severe, including death. Often there is mild to ...

. The

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

is CHORI's primary funding source.

Research centers

* Center for Cancer * Center for Critical Care Medicine * Center for Genetics * Center for Immunobiology & Vaccine Development * The Jordan Family Center for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies Research * Center for Nutrition & Metabolism * Center for Prevention of Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease & Diabetes * Center for Sickle Cell Disease & Thalassemia

Research services

* BACPAC Resource Center * Cell Sorting * Elemental Analysis * Genetic Testing * Mass Spectrometry * Microscope Imaging * Molecular Diagnostics * Sibling Donor Cord Blood

Research applications

CHORI’s translational research applications include providing cures for blood diseases, developing new vaccines for infectious diseases, and discovering new treatment protocols for previously fatal or debilitating conditions such as cancers, sickle cell disease and thalassemia, diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS, pediatric obesity, nutritional deficiencies, birth defects,

hemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

and

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder inherited in an autosomal recessive manner that impairs the normal clearance of Sputum, mucus from the lungs, which facilitates the colonization and infection of the lungs by bacteria, notably ''Staphy ...

. CHORI is also a teaching institute with educational programs for high school, college, doctoral and post-doctoral students.

Research achievements

CHORI is the first research institute in North America to transplant and cure a child with alpha thalassemia major, is a leading center for the use of cord blood and bone marrow transplantation in children with sickle cell anemia and

, and offers the only not-for-profit Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program in the world. The Research Institute’s recombinant DNA library contains over 20 million DNA samples that are used in research programs around the world.

History

CHORI began in 1959 with a small group of scientists and initial financial support from Children’s Hospital Oakland and the family of Lt. Bruce Lyon. Founded as the Bruce Lyon Memorial Research Laboratory (BLMRL), it was the first research laboratory in northern California dedicated exclusively to children’s diseases. BLMRL was renamed “CHORI,” the research branch of the newly named Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, in 1986. In 1999, CHORI moved to the former University High School campus, where it is currently located.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site

Children's Hospital & Research Center Foundation
Healthcare in Oakland, California Research and development in the United States Research institutes in the San Francisco Bay Area Pediatrics in the United States Gene banks