Clinical Research Coordinator

Savannah Latimer

Hi everyone! My name is Savannah Latimer, and I work at Children’s Hospital in the Emergency Department. I am a clinical research coordinator. That means I help doctors learn new and better ways to help kids feel better.

I work on research studies about different health problems like seizures, asthma, sickle cell disease, and genetics. Our goal is to find better medicines and treatments for patients.

Sometimes I help with studies that test special medicines. These medicines can help stop seizures, help with pain, and help patients get better faster so they can go home sooner.

I have learned a lot of cool skills in my job! I can place IVs and tests like EEGs and EKGs that check how the brain and heart are working. I also help use special medical tools that doctors use to care for patients.

One of the most important parts of my job is helping patients and their families when they come to the hospital. I talk with them, answer questions, and bring comfort items to help them feel a little less scared.

My favorite part of my job is helping kids and families during a hard time and being part of research that can help patients in the future. I love knowing that the work we do today can help kids feel better tomorrow!

Hi! My name is Ally Noccioli, and I am a project manager at Children’s National Hospital. I work with medical devices, which are tools that help doctors take care of kids. My research tests if new medical devices are safe and work well for children. I help run clinical trials, where we try out these devices and compare them to the care doctors already use. We invite patients from the hospital to join these studies so we can learn more.

I study new medical devices to make sure they are safe and work well for children. To do this, I run special studies called clinical trials. In these trials, I test new devices and compare them to the usual care that patients already get. I invite patients from the hospital who meet certain rules to join the study. From my work, I learn important information, called data, that helps me understand if the devices are safe and if they do what they are supposed to do. My favorite part of doing research is seeing new and creative ideas turn into real tools that can help children feel better.

Research Program Coordinator

Ally Noccioli, MSHS

Research Scientist

Hello! My name is Dr. Youness Arjoune and I am a Bioengineer and Researcher at Children's National Hospital. I work on creating new technologies that help doctors better diagnose illnesses. I specialize in using tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D printing, and machine learning to help me create and design new technology, including apps that can go on your phone! One application that I helped create is called StrepApp, which helps doctors know if a patient has strep throat by only looking at a picture. When people use this app, this means the doctor does not need to put a swab down your throat to test for the strep bacteria. All you need is a smartphone with a camera! I am also building an app that can use pictures of people’s eyes to help diagnose anemia.

In my work, I am always trying to figure out how technology can be used to make the lives of patients easier. If my work is successful, it means kids might not have to be swabbed any more, which would be amazing!

Not everyone who is a “doctor” is a person who takes care of patients in a hospital or medical setting. I am a doctor because I went to school for four years after college to get my Ph.D, and now people call me Dr. Arjoune!

Dr. Youness Arjoune

Research Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Nandkishore Prakash

My name is Nandkishore, but my friends call me Nandu for short, and I am a Researcher at Children’s National Hospital! In my research, I use animals like labratory mice to test the roles of individual genes in specific parts of the brain. To do this, I manipulate genes at different developmental ages and observe the effects on the animals’ behavior. This helps other scientists who study the human brain help find cures for brain disorders.

I am always trying to better understand how our brains control what we feel and do, and how the genes in our DNA make the brain more complex and capable as we grow from fetuses to infants, to children, to adolescents, and then adults! I am also curious about how the genes in our brain cells control the way we interact with each other socially.

In my work, I have learned that when a gene is knocked out, different social behaviors can be observed depending on exactly when and where in the brain the knockout is made. Some social behaviors are strong and are not affected by the loss of just one gene. So, a knockout in one brain region may affect speech; in another, it may affect social behavior, but in a third, it may have no effect at all!

I enjoy being curious about the world around me and I like my job because I am always learning something new. It feels special to know that I am unlocking the secrets of the brain and probing the mysteries of life! I like that whenever I discover something, for a brief moment, I am the first person in the world to know something about the brain and then describe it to others.

Researcher Spotlight