Nemours has excellent research facilities and labs with state-of-the-art equipment. Based on your skill level and inclination, you’ll be encouraged and supported in the use of these resources as you add to your knowledge base through research activities during your fellowship.

Our clinical faculty and research professionals can help you learn the processes and techniques related to clinical studies, basic science research, presentations and publications. 

The division of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Nemours has a variety of ongoing research projects. A sampling of current studies includes:

Dr. Patrick Barth, co-director of the airway program and the Voice Center, has an R01 research grant along with Katherine Verdolini PhD of the University of Delaware that is examining the cognitive and physical traits that enhance or diminish children’s response to voice therapy, with the aim of creating a developmental roadmap showing when children are most likely to benefit from voice therapy.

Dr. Jenna Briddell, who leads the tracheostomy care team at Nemours, has several research projects related to improving outcomes for children with tracheostomies. A current project includes examining factors associated with decannulation failure. She is investigating the impact of simulation-based tracheostomy training on home caregiver skills and tracheostomy-related complication rates, and is part of a multi-institutional study examining outcomes of tracheostomy in extremely premature infants. With a bioengineering background, Dr. Briddell is also working with Dr. Cathy Fromen at the University of Delaware Department of Chemical Engineering regarding 3D printing of pediatric airways for improved aerosol therapeutics. Additionally, Dr. Briddell is the creator and administrator of the tracheostomy and otology REDCap databases, which are excellent resources for current and future research projects. She is also a subcontractor for a multi-institutional CDC-funded grant studying juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

Drs. Schmidt and Nardone, with an interest in airway and sleep, are examining the outcomes of transoral robotic surgery for lingual tonsillectomy for children with persistent obstructive sleep apnea after adenotonsillectomy. Several faculty members are examining the impact of Toradol on bleeding after adenotonsillectomy and the long-term outcomes of intracapsular tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.

Health literacy and quality improvement projects have included Drs. Aaronson and Nardone examining the impact of using text messaging to relay postoperative information to families regarding commonly encountered symptoms after ear tube insertion and adenotonsillectomy. Dr. Aaronson is also looking at correlating airway findings on dynamic CT with bronchoscopy findings to see if dynamic CT can be used for surveillance in asymptomatic airway patients.

Dr. Parkes, who directs the cochlear implant team, has a focus on outcomes research in pediatric otology, including cholesteatoma surgery, auditory neuropathy and pediatric cochlear implantation. He and Thierry Morlet, PhD, are combining fNIRS and eye-tracking measures to examine dynamic changes in neuroplasticity and language skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing infants. He is also interested in the identification of CMV infection in neonates who fail the newborn hearing screen and CMV-related hearing loss.

Faculty PubMed Bibliography:

• Nicole Aaronson, MD
• Heather Nardone, MD
• William Parkes, MD
• James S. Reilly, MD
• Richard Schmidt, MD

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