Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research

In 2007, the Richard King Mellon Foundation made a generous financial contribution to create the Richard King Mellon Institute for Pediatric Research (RKMI), some of which was spent constructing the Rangos Research Center. Since that time, additional financial support was obtained from a generous gift from the Tull Family Foundation to support pediatric research initiatives within the RKMI.

The RKMI began as a small group of investigators (termed “Mellon Scholars”) housed in the Rangos Research Center and functioned as a small, independent division within the Department of Pediatrics. In 2018, the RKMI expanded its mission with the objective to support talented scientists in the early stages of their careers performing cutting-edge pediatric research.

The overarching goal of the RKMI is to become the cornerstone of basic and clinical research within UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, encompassing a wide reach to facilitate synergy, communication, and mentorship across all research disciplines under the UPMC Children's umbrella, regardless of department or division. We believe that the diversity surrounding the professional experiences and scientific interests of the Mellon Scholars will accelerate collaboration across divisions and departments at UPMC Children's for the continual pursuit of excellence in pediatric healthcare.

Visit the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh »

Leadership: 

George K. Gittes, MD - Director

Timothy W. Hand, PhD - Associate Director

Kristin N. Ray, MD. MS. FAAP - Associate Director

John F. Alcorn - Associate Director

Current Mellon Scholars:

Rannar Airik, PhD – New strategies to treat kidney failure

Kelly M. Baily, MD, PhD – The Ewing sarcoma microenvironment and immune responses to pediatric sarcomas

Thiago Bruder do Nascimento, MSc, PhD – Vascular biology and metabolic diseases 

Brian Campfield, MD – Fending off foreign attacks on the lung

Shaun Carlson, PhD - The identification of therapeutic apporaches to promote recovery after brain injury. 

Alison Culyba, MD, PhD, MPH - Community-engaged violence prevention

Will DePas, PhD – Biogeography of bacterial infections

Catherine Forster, MD – Urobiome in UTIs

Lina Ghaloul Gonzalez, MD – Plain people (Amish/Mennonites) translational medicine

Radha Gopal, PhD - Cardiovascular diseases assocaited with viral infection

Katherine Guyon-Harris, PhD - Interventions to support positive parent-child relationships across the perinatal period 

Tom Hooven, MD – Mechanisms and prevention of perinatal infections

Baoli Hu, PhD – Brain tumor cell behavior

Jessica Jarvis, PhD, MT-BC - Improving the efficacy and equity of pediatric rehabilitation services for children with chronic and serious illnesses

Melissa Kane, PhD – Viruses and the immune system

Dwi U. Kemaladewi, PhD – Interventional genomics in rare diseases

Laura Kirkpatrick, MD - Reproductive health and epilepsy

Gary Kohanbash, PhD – Brain tumor vaccines 

Marcus Malek, MD – Precision-guided surgery to find cancers

Christine March, MD, MS - Optimizing health care delivery and outcomes for youth with diabetes

Anita McElroy, MD, PhD – Virus effects throughout the body 

Amanda Poholek, PhD – Transcriptional and Epigenetic Regulation of Immune Cell Function

Maya Indira Ragavan, MD, MPH, MS - Supporting IPV surviviors in pediatric healthcare settings

Anne-Marie Rick, MD, MPH, PhD - Pretection against newborn infections through maternal immunity

Franziska Rosser, MD, MPH, FAAP – Epidemiological effects of outdoor air pollution on children with asthma

Anita Pradeep Saraf, MD, PhD – Developing a better understanding the role of genetic mutations, chronic inflammation and mechanical strain on cardiomyocytes

Laurie Silva, PhD – Viral and host determinants of virus replication and pathogenesis 

Amery Treble-Barna, PhD – Neurologic function after brain injury

Mary Ellen Vajravelu, MD, MSHP - Improving outcomes and achieving health equity for youth with type 2 diabetes

Xiangwei Xiao, MD, PhD – Insulin cell function and preservation

Megan Culler Freeman, MD, PhD - Understanding how viruses cause paralysis