Children's Hospital LOS Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles (doing business as Childrens Hospital Los Angeles) operates as a non-profit pediatric academic medical center delivering federal contract research services and receiving federal research grants as a prime recipient across the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Defense Health Agency. The hospital splits its recent footprint evenly between prime awards (51% of 728 awards) and subcontract or sub-grant roles (49%), with a 728-award portfolio spanning 44 years and concentrating on biomedical research, clinical trials, and health services delivery.

CHLA's prime federal contracting presence is minimal—a single $39,972 Department of Veterans Affairs RNA sequencing services contract awarded September 2025. The hospital's federal engagement centers on research grants. Over the past five years, CHLA has ramped activity sharply: 38 awards in 2022 rising to 129 in 2023, then holding at 122 in 2024 before moderating to 76 in 2025 and 35 year-to-date in 2026. The portfolio spans 68 distinct customer agencies, but concentration is pronounced: the National Cancer Institute alone accounts for 106 awards; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 48; and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 44 with $21.5 million in combined potential value. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $1.46 billion against $45.9 million in potential value—a ratio reflecting the hospital's heavy historical receipt of funded grants now being paid down.

CHLA's grant footprint covers translational cancer research, pediatric neurodevelopment, metabolic disease, infectious disease, behavioral health, and rare pediatric disorders. Representative prime grants include a $1.012 million Defense Health Agency Military Medical Research and Development award (CFDA 12.420) to develop an international aqueous humor biorepository for ocular cancer biomarker studies (performance through September 2030); an $8.47 million National Cancer Institute Cancer Cause and Prevention Research grant (CFDA 93.393) for patient navigation intervention to improve transition success among multiply disadvantaged young adult childhood cancer survivors (through August 2029); a $1.338 million National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant (CFDA 93.865) investigating Down Syndrome Regression Disorder through neurodiagnostic and multi-omics analysis (through May 2030); and a $884,146 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases award for a randomized clinical trial examining early semaglutide re-initiation after metabolic and bariatric surgery in obese youth (through April 2031). CHLA also received a $2.999 million Department of Health and Human Services Congressional Directives grant for facility construction and renovation (September 2023 to September 2026).

As a subrecipient, CHLA participates in multi-institutional research consortia, most prominently in pediatric cancer and neuroblastoma research under The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as prime grantee—serving roles in the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) consortium and contributing administrative oversight, clinical trial conduct, and tissue banking to programs studying mechanisms of therapy resistance. CHLA also subcontracts as a research site under Stanford, University of Southern California, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Drexel, and other academic institutions on grants spanning precision medicine, rare disease registries, clinical trials in emergency medicine, and health disparities research. In its subcontracting role on federal research projects, CHLA delivers patient recruitment, clinical data collection, biospecimen handling, and site-level regulatory compliance.

The recompete cliff presents modest near-term renewal exposure: 47 awards carry completion dates within the next twenty-four months with combined potential value of $40 thousand, suggesting that most of CHLA's portfolio is either early-stage or carries multi-year performance periods with limited immediate pressure. Activity trajectory over 2022–2026 shows volatility rather than sustained growth—the 2023 spike to 129 awards was not sustained, and 2025–2026 show contraction—indicating annual award variability rather than expanding federal footprint. Federal contracting vehicles show minimal presence: only two task orders on GSA Multiple Award Schedule and single orders on two specialized vehicles.

CHLA competes in full-and-open federal grant competitions rather than set-aside programs, with no reported SBA designations. Its federal position rests on research reputation, institutional clinical infrastructure, and collaborative partnerships with major academic medical centers and national research networks including PECARN (Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network), COG (Children's Oncology Group), and DCC consortia. The hospital's role is primarily as a research site delivering clinical trial conduct, patient recruitment, and biomedical laboratory services rather than as a prime systems integrator or contract administrator.