Mervin C. Yoder, MD, Director
Mailing Address:
1044 W. Walnut Street, R4-402E; IUPUI
(317) 274-4738
(317) 274-8679 FAX
The Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research (Wells Center), which opened in
1991, is a highly interactive environment for basic science and translational clinical research. The Wells Center provides exceptional opportunities for collaborations between basic scientists and physicians.
The Wells Center provides the intellectual and physical environment to support basic research in pediatric diseases in the Department of Pediatrics and Riley Hospital for Children. The goals of this 65,000 square foot research facility are to increase our knowledge of the causes and mechanisms of serious pediatric diseases, to develop innovative approaches to their diagnosis and treatment, and to provide an outstanding training environment for medical and graduate students, residents, and fellows. Work in the Wells Center focuses on both discovery basic research and translational studies, which seek to rapidly move basic or bench research findings into the clinical setting. The research programs of Wells faculty are multidisciplinary and traverse traditional clinical section boundaries, and include those in blood cell development and genetic blood cell diseases, cancer biology, gene therapy, growth and metabolism, and cardiopulmonary physiology and development. Sections represented from Riley Hospital and the Department of Pediatrics include Hematology/Oncology, Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine, Cardiac Developmental Biology, Endocrinology, and Pulmonology. Wells Center research programs have achieved national recognition. The research endeavors of the faculty have led to an outstanding record with respect to attaining external research funding, including funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Heart Association, and the Department of Defense. In 2003, the Department of Pediatrics ranked #17 nationally for NIH funding to pediatric departments.
The Wells Center was developed with the support of the Riley Children's Foundation and is named for the late Herman B Wells, Chancellor of Indiana University -- a 50-year member of the James Whitcomb Riley Children's Foundation and beloved friend of children who symbolizes for all of Indiana the spirit of caring and of life-long dedication to the pursuit of excellence.
