Arkansas Children's Research Institute

Arkansas Children's Research Institute, a non-profit pediatric medical research center headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, conducts biomedical and clinical research as a prime recipient on federal grants (51% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient under prime grantees from academic medical centers and universities (49% of awards). The organization operates across broad childhood health domains including infectious disease, immunology, cardiovascular and pulmonary health, metabolic disorders, food allergy, and oncology, with particular depth in pharmacokinetics, translational immunotherapy, and pediatric critical care.

ACRI's federal grant footprint spans the National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Defense Health Agency, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense. As a prime recipient, ACRI holds project grants and cooperative agreements under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310), and the Consortium for Food Allergy Research (COFAR) cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Representative prime-recipient work includes a $1.167 million project grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to establish and operate the Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention through April 2031; a $1.451 million NIH Office of the Director award to conduct a national remote study identifying hormonal and digital biomarkers predictive of smoking cessation outcomes in women of reproductive age; a $801 thousand project grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute investigating partial heart transplantation biology in pediatric patients; and a $1.167 million multi-year cooperative agreement with the Consortium for Food Allergy Research (COFAR) as a clinical research center. ACRI also holds a sole federal contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs — a $37,022.66 firm fixed-price purchase order for specialized mass spectrometry research services supporting pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in Bronx, New York, awarded in January 2023.

As a sub-recipient, ACRI participates in research networks and consortia led by peer institutions including the Johns Hopkins University (food allergy prevention and treatment studies), the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (complex vascular malformations, pediatric fungal infections), University of Pennsylvania (immunotherapy and hematologic disorders), Yale University (federated infrastructure for lifespan health research), University of California San Diego (healthy brain and child development, esophageal tissue procurement), Weill Cornell Medical College (SARS-CoV-2 immunity in pediatric populations), and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (food allergy research centers). ACRI also subcontracts to University of Pittsburgh on the MATIC-2 clinical trial examining resuscitation strategies for pediatric traumatic hemorrhage and receives sub-awards from TDA Research (enhanced combat tourniquet development) and University of Alabama at Birmingham (congenital cytomegalovirus infection studies).

The top three customer agencies by award count are the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (29 awards), the National Institutes of Health broadly (26 awards), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (20 awards from two distinct HRSA bureaus). By combined potential value, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development leads with 14 awards valued at $26.6 million. Activity has grown significantly — from 6 awards in 2022 to 48 in 2024 — with 22 awards in 2025 and 25 through August 2026, indicating sustained expansion. Nine awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. ACRI operates with no SBA certifications and does not compete under set-aside programs; all work is full-and-open or peer-selected for research consortia. Work is performed in Little Rock, Arkansas, with administrative and research presence also documented at affiliated clinical and research facilities.