The Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research conducts basic science and translational research within the Department of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. The Wells Center is home to more than 300 faculty investigators, staff and trainees seeking answers to the most pressing questions related to childhood illness.
In addition to being housed in the nation's largest medical school, the Wells Center is physically connected to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, a national leader in child health care. This uniquely collaborative expert ecosystem has positioned the Department of Pediatrics as a national leader in pediatric research — ranked 9th in the nation in NIH funding among medical schools in 2023.
Strong partnerships between scientists and physicians enable the center to pursue its tripartite mission: increasing knowledge of the causes and mechanisms of pediatric disease; developing innovative approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of those diseases; and creating an outstanding learning environment for the next generation of researchers.
The Wells Center encompasses a breadth of multidisciplinary expertise in biochemistry and molecular biology, immunology, molecular genetics, and cellular and integrative physiology, with focuses in 11 thematic research programs led by nationally recognized experts: molecular oncology and experimental therapeutics; pulmonary inflammation, asthma and allergic diseases; cardiac developmental biology; diabetes; hematologic malignancies and stem cell biology; infectious diseases and global health; cardiovascular genetics; gene and cell therapy; kidney and urology; pediatric translational research; and nutrition and molecular metabolism.
