Background

The year 2020 marked a fundamental shift in the pediatric neurology field. An impressive positive trajectory of advances in patient care and research faced sudden global disruptions by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and by an international movement protesting racial, socioeconomic, and health disparities. The disruptions revealed obstacles and fragility within the pediatric neurology research mission. However, renewed commitment offers unique opportunities for the pediatric neurology research community to enhance and prioritize research directions for the coming decades.

Methods

The Research Committee of the Child Neurology Society evaluated the challenges and opportunities facing the pediatric neurology research field, including reviewing published literature, synthesizing publically available data, and conducting a survey of pediatric neurologists.

Results

We identified three priority domains for the research mission: funding levels, active guidance, and reducing disparities. Funding levels: to increase funding to match the burden of pediatric neurological disease; to tailor funding mechanisms and strategies to support clinical trial efforts unique to pediatric neurology; and to support investigators across their career trajectory. Active guidance: to optimize infrastructure and strategies, to leverage novel therapeutics, enhance data collection, and improve inclusion of children in clinical trials. Reducing disparities: to reduce health disparities in children with neurological disease, to develop proactive measures to enhance workforce diversity and inclusion, and increase avenues to balance work-life obligations for investigators.

Conclusions

In this uniquely challenging epoch, the pediatric neurology research community has a timely and important mission to re-engage the public and government, advancing the health of children with neurological conditions.

中文翻译：

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21 世纪的儿科神经病学研究：COVID-19 后的现状、挑战和未来方向

背景

2020 年标志着儿科神经病学领域发生了根本性转变。2019 年冠状病毒病大流行以及一场抗议种族、社会经济和健康差异的国际运动突然对患者护理和研究的进展产生了令人印象深刻的积极影响。这些中断揭示了儿科神经学研究任务中的障碍和脆弱性。然而，新的承诺为儿科神经病学研究界提供了独特的机会，以加强和优先考虑未来几十年的研究方向。

方法

儿童神经病学学会研究委员会评估了儿科神经病学研究领域面临的挑战和机遇，包括审查已发表的文献、综合公开可用的数据以及对儿科神经病学家进行调查。

结果

我们为研究任务确定了三个优先领域：资金水平、积极指导和减少差异。资金水平：增加资金以匹配小儿神经系统疾病的负担；调整资助机制和策略，以支持儿科神经病学特有的临床试验工作；并支持调查人员的整个职业轨迹。积极指导：优化基础设施和策略，利用新疗法，加强数据收集，并提高儿童参与临床试验的水平。减少差异：减少患有神经系统疾病的儿童的健康差异，制定积极措施以增强劳动力的多样性和包容性，并增加调查人员平衡工作与生活义务的途径。

结论

在这个充满挑战的时代，儿科神经病学研究界肩负着及时而重要的使命，即让公众和政府重新参与进来，促进患有神经系统疾病的儿童的健康。