The Charles H. Hood Foundation is pleased to announce the September 2026 recipients of its Child Health Research Awards, supporting five investigators pursuing new approaches to important challenges in child health. This group of researchers is exploring questions spanning early-life nutrition, pediatric cancer, developmental disorders and intestinal health. Their work reflects the breadth of discovery that can contribute to a better understanding of childhood disease and open new paths toward prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Catherine Buck, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Yale University
Toward physiologic feeding in infants of women with hyperglycemia in pregnancy: A pilot randomized clinical trial
Dr. Buck is investigating whether feeding approaches that more closely follow infants’ natural feeding patterns could improve outcomes for babies born to women with high blood sugar during pregnancy. Her pilot clinical trial will examine the feasibility and safety of lower, biology-based starting feeding volumes while studying feeding ability and biological markers related to appetite.
Learn more about this research →
Riaz Gillani, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dissecting Germline and Tumor Mediators of Chromosomal Instability in Neuroblastoma for Therapeutic Targeting
Dr. Gillani is studying the genetic and genomic biology underlying neuroblastoma, an aggressive pediatric cancer. By examining both normal and tumor tissue, his research seeks to better understand how DNA breaks and reorganizes—and how those processes may contribute to disease progression.
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Kirstin Meyer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Yale University
Dissecting and Targeting Oncogenic Condensates in Pediatric Cancer
Dr. Meyer is investigating how abnormal fusion proteins disrupt the cellular structures that help control which genes are switched on and off. Using advanced imaging techniques, her research will examine how these proteins alter cellular behavior in pediatric cancers and explore strategies for selectively interfering with these cancer-driving processes.
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Chengxiang Qiu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Dartmouth College
Evolutionary Transfer Learning to Chart the Pathophysiology of Human Developmental Disorders
Dr. Qiu is developing an artificial intelligence approach that learns from millions of cells across multiple species to better understand human development. The goal is to create a detailed model of how cells change and organize throughout development, providing a new way to investigate how disease-associated genes disrupt particular cells, stages and biological pathways.
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Wenqing Zhou, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Innate Microbiota Sensor in Early-life Intestinal Health
Dr. Zhou is exploring how the developing immune system learns to recognize and tolerate the beneficial microbes that populate the gut early in life. By identifying the immune sensors involved in this process and examining what happens when they fail, the research could reveal new approaches to preventing or treating pediatric inflammatory bowel disease and other inflammation-related conditions.
Learn more about this research →
The Child Health Research Awards support promising investigators as they pursue new questions and build the evidence needed to advance their research. By providing support at a pivotal stage, the Hood Foundation helps create opportunities for researchers to explore new directions and move promising work forward.
Learn more about the Hood Foundation’s Child Health Research Awards →
