Pediatric intensive-care specialist Kenneth Brady, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, has received the Hartwell Foundation’s award for biomedical research, which recognizes cutting-edge work in the field of biomedicine with high potential for direct clinical benefit to children. The award provides $100,000 in funding for three years. Only 10 medical institutions in the country with solid track records of collaboration between academic research and biomedical engineering were invited to nominate their faculty for the award.

Brady, who is an assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care and Anesthesiology, received the award for his work on a monitor that tracks blood flow changes in the brains of children with serious brain injuries. The monitor, currently in the testing phase, would allow doctors to spot and prevent changes in blood flow that can cause life-threatening strokes and bleeding in the brain.

“At a time when federal funding is tight, this award gives us a chance to do research that is off the beaten path,” Brady said. “Our project is ambitious and unconventional, but the payoff could be huge-improved survival, independence and outcomes for the most vulnerable children in the hospital.

Children’s Center pediatrician Jennifer Lee, M.D., in the Division of Critical Care and Anesthesiology, was named a Hartwell Fellow. She is one of only nine recipients nationwide of the highly selective award that provides $50,000 in funding for two years to promising postdoctoral trainees pursuing careers in biomedical research.