December 17, 2004
Research Milestones at The Hospital for Sick Children
Research at SickKids began in 1918 when the Nutritional Research Laboratory was set up to tackle the most pressing child health issue of that time – infant malnutrition. In 1930, Pablum, a precooked baby cereal, was invented in this laboratory, and royalties from the sale of Pablum were used to formally establish The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in 1954.
From pioneering nutrition research to the repair of congenital defects through surgical innovation to advances in the genetic research and other fundamental causes of childhood disease, the SickKids Research Institute has aspired to continually improve the health of children in Canada and around the world.
1918 – Research begins at SickKids when the Nutritional Research Laboratory is set up to tackle the most pressing child health issue of that time – infant malnutrition
1930 – Invention of Pablum, a precooked baby cereal
1954 – The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute is formally established
1957 – Innominate osteotomy, a surgical procedure to repair dislocation of the hip, is pioneered by Dr. Robert Salter.
1963 – Surgery to correct transposition of the great arteries of the heart, the birth defect of “blue babies”, is developed and first performed by Dr. William Mustard.
1979 – A team led by Dr. A. Charles Bryan invents a radically different ventilator, the high frequency oscillator, which is now used worldwide to gently “shake” oxygen into the lungs of infants and children with severe lung disease, sparing many of them from undergoing lung bypass procedures.
1989 – Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui leads a team that discovers the gene which, when defective, is responsible for cystic fibrosis.
1992 – The gene responsible for the type C form of Fanconi anemia is identified. The gene for type A is discovered in 1996.
1993 – A drug treatment is developed for Menkes disease, a neurological disorder which kills children before the age of three.
1994 – The first biological proof that second-hand cigarette smoke can affect a fetus is provided.
1996 – Researchers develop a novel concept for treating recurrent acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The approach is to block an intracellular signal, which controls the growth of leukemia cells.
1996 – Identification of a human blood cell that regrows the entire blood system. The discovery provides greater understanding of how the blood system functions and enables development of new for blood diseases such as leukemia, thalassemia and sickle cell anemia.
1997 – Identification of a gene (CRX) in which mutations cause inherited retinal degeneration.
1998 – Discovery of a gene that causes Lafora disease, one of the most severe forms of epilepsy.
2000 – A possible new treatment for fatal pulmonary hypertension is identified.
2001 – Discovery that infant heart transplants can be performed safely and successfully despite major blood type incompatibility between the donor and recipient.
2001 – Completion of the first large-scale, multi-centre study to determine the incidence and characteristics of sinovenous thrombosis, a type of stroke, in children.
2002 – Identification of a novel gene that when mutated results in medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumour found in children.
2002 – Research shows that newborns who experience repeated painful procedures in the first days of life experience more intense pain and learn to anticipate it.
2002 – Identification of the gene that when altered causes Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.
2003 – Completion of the DNA sequence of human chromosome 7 as well as the decoding of nearly all of the genes on this medically important portion of the human genome.
2003 – Identification of a molecule that causes neuropathic pain, a sharp and chronic pain associated with nerve injury and diseases affecting the nervous system.
2003 – Discovery of a cancer stem cell in malignant and benign brain tumours.
2004 – Identification of an alternate form of the disease gene and protein for the neurodevelopmental condition Rett syndrome
2004 – Establishment of an association between paediatric multiple sclerosis and the Epstein-Barr virus, indicating that exposure to the virus at a certain time in childhood may be an important environmental trigger for the development of MS.
For more information, please contact:
Public Affairs
The Hospital for Sick Children
555 University Avenue
Suite 1742, Public Affairs, First floor Atrium
Toronto,
ON
M5G 1X8
Canada
Phone: 416-813-5058
Fax: 416-813-5328