Fueling Innovation Close to Home

Principal investigator: Vladimir Kalinichenko, MD, PhD 
Amount received: $100,000 

Premature infants often are born with underdeveloped lungs, which can lead to severe complications such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a form of chronic lung disease that damages the lungs and airways. Innovation Circle funding will support ongoing efforts at Phoenix Children’s to advance nanoparticle therapy—the use of nanoparticles to deliver therapeutic agents to targeted cells—to clinical trials in babies with lung diseases.  

Principal investigator: Michael Kruer, MD
Amount received: $150,000

Dystonia is a movement disorder caused by abnormal signals sent from the brain to the muscles, causing involuntary movements. Phoenix Children’s is one of only a few centers in the U.S. to offer deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat dystonia, a revolutionary treatment that involves implanting DBS leads in the brain and connecting them to a neurostimulator implanted in the patient’s chest. This project aims to optimize DBS for each patient by using Innovation Circle–funded technology to read brainwaves during a routine office visit, allowing the patient’s care team to adjust the neurostimulator and see improvements in real time.

Principal investigator: Matthew Halanski, MD
Amount received: $240,000

Clubfoot is a common birth defect that can be devastating if left uncorrected. The standard treatment is the Ponseti method, a nonsurgical intervention that involves casting and bracing. The grant from Innovation Circle will support the testing of a patent-pending brace prototype, including equipment for collecting patient-specific data to individualize care. It also will fund the testing of an innovative surgical approach to clubfoot treatment for patients for whom bracing is not effective.

Principal investigator: Maegen Wallace, MD, MBA
Amount received: $10,000

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, is a genetic condition in which bones break easily. Whole body vibration therapy is a noninvasive intervention that has been shown to increase bone density, which helps decrease fractures and chronic pain. This Innovation Circle grant will fund the purchase of whole body vibration plates, making Phoenix Children’s the first to use the technology to assess improvements in both body composition and bone density in children with OI.

Principal investigator: Daniel Ostlie, MD
Amount received: $182,000

Indocyanine green (ICG) is a benign water-soluble dye used to help identify anatomical structures, tumor margins and vascularity during surgery. With this Innovation Circle grant, Phoenix Children’s will purchase the equipment and technology required to use ICG, including ICG cameras, a near-infrared light source, a camera capture unit and endoscopes. This will allow Phoenix Children’s to participate in a national trial designed to facilitate early diagnosis of biliary atresia, a congenital condition that occurs when a baby’s bile ducts do not develop properly.

Principal investigator: Andrea Akenova
Amount received: $20,000

To help families navigate Phoenix Children’s Hospital – Thomas Campus, Phoenix Children’s created a wayfinding app that includes detailed maps and directions. Innovation Circle funding will support the launch of the wayfinding app at other Phoenix Children’s campuses, including Phoenix Children’s Hospital – Arrowhead Campus and Phoenix Children’s Hospital – East Valley Campus.