CIPT Scholar

CIPT Scholar, Alison Gardner, MD

The Childress Institute Scholar is Alison Gardner, MD, a third-year fellow in the Pediatric Emergency Medicine program and assistant professor at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

Dr. Gardner's award provides $21,000 for two years degree to obtain her masters degree in Clinical Population Translational Science.

Severely injured children often experience symptoms of shock. The American College of Surgeons recommends treatment of shock after trauma with the underlying assumption that shock in trauma is caused by hemorrhage. However, many injured children do not have a loss of large volumes of blood to explain their shock. CIPT Scholar Dr. Alison Gardner is using a novel non-invasive technology, impedance cardiography, to monitor the cardiovascular function of pediatric trauma patients to further understand the mechanism of shock in children without hemorrhage.

Dr. Gardner's prior research found that a large percentage of children presenting with shock have sustained isolated head injuries, and that this is more common in the younger age groups. This could help shift the paradigm for treatment of shock in young children with head injuries. She is continuing her research on a nationwide scale using the National Trauma Databank (NTDB) to improve outcomes for pediatric patients.

Her co-investigators include John K. Petty, MD, assistant professor in general surgery, and James Hoekstra, MD, of the Department of Medicine.

Click here for more info about Dr. Gardner.