Our areas of research interest include febrile illness and viral discovery in conjunction with the Division of Infectious Disease, malnutrition and related diseases in Africa, procedural sedation and analgesia, head and cervical spine injury, pediatric trauma and gun violence, adolescent health, pediatric mental health and postpartum mood/anxiety disorders, sepsis, low-risk imaging modalities and innovations in quality and safety of emergency services. We are founding members of the federally funded Pediatric Applied Research Network (PECARN), and have participated in more than 18 multi-institutional studies covering a variety of issues in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. We also belong to the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Consortium sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The healing presence of the Division of Emergency Medicine has extended beyond the confines of the St. Louis area to malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa through the research efforts of Mark Manary, MD. Manary has been working with WHO on severe malnutrition. In 2001, he was instrumental in initiating a major breakthrough: home-based therapy with ready-to-use peanut butter-based food. Clinical trials in 2001-2003 demonstrated superior recovery rates using this strategy, which has now been adopted as the recommended standard medical management by WHO and other health agencies. In 2009, Manary was appointed to lead the Global Harvest Alliance in collaboration with the Danforth Plant Science Center to extend the work of alleviating world hunger by researching nutritionally improved crops.