About

Robert H Byrd is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, specializing in Pediatric Pathology. His role involves both clinical practice and research within the department, contributing to the understanding and diagnosis of pediatric diseases through pathology. His work is part of the broader efforts of the department to advance research in areas such as carcinogenesis, cell and developmental pathology, inflammation/immunology, and neuropathology, among others. As a faculty member, he is engaged in education and training of residents and fellows, supporting the department's mission to provide comprehensive pathology education and patient care.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Oncology
• Biology
• Cancer research
• Pharmacology
• Chemistry
• Pathology

Selected publications

• Malakoplakia: A rare cause of hematochezia in pediatric patients

  JPGN Reports · 2024

  • Medicine
  • Pathology
  • Internal medicine

  Malakoplakia is a rare inflammatory condition characterized by impaired macrophages unable to completely digest and kill phagocytized bacteria, resulting in partially digested bacterial components accumulating within the phagolysosome. Malakoplakia typically presents in immunocompromised individuals due to underlying disease or to medication effects and is rarely diagnosed in the pediatric population. The urinary tract is the most commonly involved site, followed by the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, mainly affecting the descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum. Treatment focuses on the use of antibiotics that concentrate in macrophages such as quinolones and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole as well as cholinergic agents such as bethanechol, which raise intracellular levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate in macrophages to improve bactericidal activity. We report a rare case of GI tract malakoplakia in a pediatric patient undergoing treatment for leukemia.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Abstract 3898: Discovering novel therapies in the treatment of osteosarcoma

  Cancer Research · 2022

  • Medicine
  • Cancer research
  • Oncology

  Abstract Introduction: This research aims to discover novel therapies in the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS). OS is the most common primary bone cancer in pediatrics. 5-year overall survival is around 70% for patients presenting with localized OS, and less than 30% for patients with relapsed or metastatic disease. OS remains difficult to cure in large part due to the heterogenous property of the tumor and high rate of somatic mutations. Methods: Using high throughput screening (HTS), 320 drugs purchased from Selleck have been tested against 3 OS cell lines - HOS, LM7, and 143B - each of which harbors different mutations seen in OS. The Echo® 650 Series Next Generation Acoustic Liquid Handler is a robotic machine used for HTS. On day -1, cells from each cell line were added to 384 well plates based on calculations from cell line density testing. On day 0, 3 drug concentrations (10uM, 1uM and 0.1uM) for 320 drugs were added to each cell line using the Echo® machine and HTS technology. On day 8, the inhibitory concentration was tested among all cell lines. Our standard for successful cell inhibition included drugs with an inhibitory concentration of ≥98% (IC98) in ≥2 drug concentrations on all 3 cell lines. Additionally, orthotopic xenograft models of immunocompromised mice have been established. 10 OS models have been implanted intratibially in mice from 5 patient samples (3 samples received from consented patients treated at Lurie Children’s Hospital, 2 samples gifted from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital) and 5 cell lines (gifted from Texas Children’s Hospital). Results: 32 drugs exhibited an IC98 on at least 1 cell line. 14 of 320 drugs met the inclusion criteria of an IC98 on all 3 cell lines, 10 of the 14 drugs have never been reported as being effective in osteosarcoma cell inhibition. These drugs are: BRL-15572 (dihydrochloride), PH-797804, Apalutamide (ARN-509), AMG-458, Ipatasertib (GDC-0068), Mifepristone, Prucalopride, VU 0361737, Olopatadine HCl, and AZ 3146. Multiple of these agents have proven to be effective in inhibiting other cancer types/solid tumors and will be of interest for in vivo testing. 5 orthotopic xenograft murine models have successfully grown, including 1 patient tumor sample from Lurie, 1 sample from St. Jude, and 3 cell lines. All 5 of the established orthotopic xenograft models have demonstrated metastatic disease to different organs including to the lungs. Tumor growth has been confirmed through gross observation, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and microscopic evaluation. Conclusion: The in vitro test results are promising and provide the groundwork to proceed with in vivo testing on orthotopic xenograft models. These models will be used for drug testing of the narrowed drug agents, with tumor growth inhibition and survival time of the drug treatment group monitored against a control group without drug exposure. Results from in vivo testing will be proposed for future clinical trials for treating pediatric osteosarcoma. Citation Format: Casey Mehrhoff, Yuchen Du, Sophie Xiao, Robert Byrd, Chris Tsz-Kwong Man, Daniele Procissi, David Walterhouse, Xiao Nan Li. Discovering novel therapies in the treatment of osteosarcoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 3898.

  PublisherDOI

• Promoting Health Equity of Dari and Pashto-speaking Children by Adapting Established Literacy Resources

  PEDIATRICS · 2021-03-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Promoting Health Equity of Dari and Pashto-speaking Children by Adapting Established Literacy Resources

  2021-02-24

  article

  Introduction: In 2017, 35% of 3-5-year-old children were not enrolled in school. Of those entering kindergarten, 35% were unprepared, most lacking the language skills that are the prerequisites of literacy acquisition. Children in families who are minoritized or experience Limited English Proficiency are at greater risk, due to documented disparities in their language and cognitive development by 3 years old. Pediatricians may see a child ≥10 times before kindergarten via well-child checks (WCCs). WCCs provide opportunities to evaluate children’s language skills and to provide parents with tools that encourage kindergarten …

  PublisherDOI

• Excessive Absenteeism Due to Asthma in California Elementary Schoolchildren

  Academic Pediatrics · 2019-12-16 · 26 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Preliminary Study of a Caregiver‐based Infant and Child Feeding and Swallowing Screening Tool

  Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition · 2016-10-14 · 14 citations

  article

  ABSTRACT Objectives: The Infant and Child Feeding Questionnaire (ICFQ) was created to facilitate early detection of feeding and swallowing problems. This is achieved by promoting effective communication between caregivers and health care providers resulting in referral for evaluation and treatment of feeding and swallowing problems by specialists. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether items from the ICFQ could be used to screen for differences between children with known feeding problems (FP) and without known feeding problems (NFP). Methods: Caregivers of children ages 36 months or younger with FP and NFP were recruited to complete the ICFQ and demographic questions. T tests were completed to compare demographic characteristics of the research groups. Responses to ICFQ items were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic analysis and odds ratios to determine whether questionnaire items distinguished between study groups. Results: Sixty‐four caregivers of children with FP and 57 caregivers of NFP children were recruited. Three participants in the NFP group did not meet inclusion criteria and were excluded from analysis. A combination of 4 ICFQ questions distinguished between groups (receiver operating characteristic = 0.974). Significant odds ratios were also found for 9 feeding behaviors that distinguished between groups. Conclusions: A subset of items from the ICFQ showed promise for distinguishing FP from NFP groups. Future work will expand the regional representation of the participant samples and obtain equal representation of participants across all age‐adjusted questionnaires to determine whether the same combination of ICFQ items continues to distinguish between FP and NFP groups.

  PublisherDOI

• Autism

  AccessScience · 2015-07-10

  dataset1st authorCorresponding

  AccessScience is an authoritative and dynamic online resource that contains incisively written, high-quality educational material covering all major scientific disciplines. An acclaimed gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is continually expanding the ways it can demonstrate and explain core, trustworthy scientific information that inspires and guides users to deeper knowledge.

  PublisherDOI

• Population Health Considerations for Pediatric Asthma: Findings from the 2011–2012 California Health Interview Survey

  Population Health Management · 2015-06-23 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Childhood asthma is a prevalent and costly chronic condition. Optimal management enables secondary and tertiary prevention. The goal was to identify population health considerations for pediatric asthma in California to inform the development of quality improvement interventions. California Health Interview Survey 2011-2012 is a random-digit dial telephone survey conducted in 5 languages. It includes 44,000 households from all 58 counties in California. This study assessed factors related to symptom control and health care use in children ages 2-11 years with asthma. An estimated 492,385 (9.6%) of children in California currently have asthma. Urban and rural residents face comparable asthma disease burdens. School-age male children as well as Asian and African American children are disproportionately affected. Asthma causes significant morbidity, with poorer health status, high utilization of emergency care, and the need for daily medication use. Only 38% of children with asthma have a recent asthma management plan. Half of all children with asthma did not receive influenza immunization in the past year, although this reflects the overall low rate of influenza vaccination. Parents of children with asthma frequently utilize the Internet for health information and communication with their child's health care provider. Children with asthma in California face several population-level challenges, including poor health status, low influenza vaccination rates, high use of emergency care, and suboptimal use of health literacy tools. Focusing on improved care coordination and preventive care for high-risk groups is especially urgent given the expansion of public health insurance and impending shortages in the primary care workforce. (Population Health Management 2016;19:145-151).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Impact of Electronic Health Record Clinical Decision Support on the Management of Pediatric Obesity

  American Journal of Medical Quality · 2014-01-13 · 36 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Clinicians vary significantly in their adherence to clinical guidelines for overweight/obesity. This study assessed the impact of electronic health record–based clinical decision support in improving the diagnosis and management of pediatric obesity. The study team programmed a point-of-care alert linked to a checklist and standardized documentation templates to appear during health maintenance visits for overweight/obese children in an outpatient teaching clinic and compared outcomes through medical record reviews of 574 (287 control and 287 intervention) visits. The results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the diagnosis of overweight/obesity, scheduling of follow-up appointments, frequency of ordering recommended laboratory investigations, and assessment and counseling for nutrition and physical activity. Although clinical guideline adherence increased significantly, it was far from universal. It is unknown if modest improvements in adherence to clinical guidelines translate to improvements in children’s health. However, this intervention was relatively easy to implement and produced measurable improvements in health care delivery.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Increasing Prevalence of Recurrent Otitis Media Among Children in the United

  2013-01-01

  article
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Peggy Auinger

  University of Rochester Medical Center

  42 shared

• Caroline J. Chantry

  University of California Davis Medical Center

  28 shared

• Carol J. Baker

  The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

  25 shared

• Janet A. Englund

  25 shared

• Michael Weitzman

  New York University

  25 shared

• Ross E. McKinney

  25 shared

• C. Andrew Aligne

  12 shared

• Bruce P. Lanphear

  Child and Family Research Institute

  10 shared

Education

• M.D., Medicine

  University of Illinois at Chicago

  1982

• B.S., Biology

  University of Illinois at Chicago

  1978