The Darby Children’s Research Institute enables MUSC Children’s Hospital to provide its young patients with the best facilities, and the best doctors with an unprecedented level of care. Our research institute is the largest and most comprehensive pediatric research facility in the Carolinas. It is one of only 15 buildings in the country dedicated to children’s research.

The research institute serves as the research arm of the clinical divisions of the Medical University of South Carolina’s Department of Pediatrics. Furthermore; we are unified as a community with a common goal to perform impactful science that can be translated to enrich the wellness of children both in the state of South Carolina and beyond. Most importantly, we seek to promote the next generation of scientists and physicians to carry on our work.

The institute is composed of state-of-the-art laboratories with faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students spanning various disciplines of childhood diseases and health.

Areas of Research at Darby’s Children’s Research Institute

Specific areas of research interest include, but are not limited to:

Cancer and blood disorders
Neonatal health and wellness
Heart development and congenital disease
Neuronal growth and brain disorders
Skeletal development and bone disease
Pulmonary development and disease
Kidney function and acute injury
Neuromuscular disorders.

The institute bears the name of its founder, Charles Darby, M.D. He became Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at MUSC in 1982 and subsequently recognized the need for better pediatric healthcare in South Carolina. During that time, Dr. Darby began a campaign with MUSC leadership and state legislators to build a children’s hospital. As a result, his dream became a reality in 1987, after 15 years of planning and perseverance. Later, under his leadership as Chair and Pediatrician-in-Chief of MUSC, Darby increased the number of faculty from 12 to 80. During Dr. Darby’s tenure, his work led to the college’s ranking among the top ten children’s hospitals in the country.

“The Darby Children’s Research Institute provides excellent facilities to attract and retain scholarly scientists committed to advancing the health of children. Quality clinical care is essential for every children’s hospital, but it is the constant quest for new knowledge and better outcomes that set the better institutions apart from the rest.” – Charles Darby, M.D.

To learn more about the Darby Children’s Institute, click here.