Rowley zeroes in on cause of Kawasaki disease
In her laboratory, Children's Memorial researcher Anne Rowley, MD, is making some exciting discoveries that may one day lead to the development of a diagnostic test for Kawasaki disease , and, ultimately, a vaccine to prevent it.
“It's so important to develop a test for Kawasaki disease because it will allow us to diagnose it early and immediately start treatment,” says Rowley, an attending physician in the hospital's Division of Infectious Diseases . “The longer the condition remains undiagnosed, the more likely the possibility that a child will develop heart damage.”
While a team of researchers, including Children's Memorial's Stanford T. Shulman, MD , developed an effective treatment for Kawasaki disease 20 years ago, the cause has remained elusive. Researchers have long suspected an infectious agent, such as a virus.
Recently, Rowley, who also is a professor of pediatrics and microbiology/
immunology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and her research team made an important discovery, suggesting that there is indeed a viral cause of Kawasaki disease. Rowley's findings point to a single respiratory virus or a closely related group of viruses as the cause.
“This is a very exciting finding, because we'd never found any structural evidence of a virus before this in Kawasaki research,” says Rowley.
Rowley's findings were published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and were favorably received by other researchers in this area around the world. She has been invited to give presentations at conferences in Japan this fall.
Shulman is working with Rowley on another study to discover why certain children are more susceptible than others to develop the disease.
“This is a very exciting finding, because we'd never found any structural evidence of a virus before this in Kawasaki research,” says Rowley.
Continued funding for Kawasaki disease research is crucial to advance the search for a diagnostic test and a vaccine to prevent the disease. Rowley is one of only two researchers in the U.S. to have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the disease, though the grant covers only part of her lab's expenses.
“With cutbacks at the national level on research, philanthropy is essential for our work to continue,” says Rowley. “There are increasing numbers of children with Kawasaki disease, but we understand so little about it.”
Kawasaki disease research at Children's Memorial is supported by the Feitler Family Fund, the Max Goldenberg Foundation, the Kawasaki Disease Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Reeder, Mrs. Ward C. Rogers, Jeff and Susan Miller Tweedy, Mr. and Mrs. Drew Goss, and the Smart Family Foundation, among others.
Children's Memorial Hospital seeks philanthropic funding to enhance its programs and services. As a proud partner of the Children's Miracle Network (CMN), all funds raised in the Chicago area through CMN also benefit Children's Memorial. To find out how your support can help the hospital better serve children and families, please contact the Children's Memorial Foundation at 773.880.4237 or Foundation@childrensmemorial.org.