THIS REPOSITORY IS UNDER REVIEW FOR POTENTIAL MODIFICATION IN COMPLIANCE WITH ADMINISTRATION DIRECTIVES View Portal
THE VALUE OF KIDS FIRST
KIDS COME FIRST IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Thousands of children are diagnosed with cancer and congenital disorders each year, impacting families emotionally and financially. The Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (Kids First), funded and administered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund, aims to alleviate some of that hardship by improving how we diagnose, treat, and eventually eliminate these threats. This program is a valuable resource for researchers and is a critical investment in pediatric research.
The Kids First Data Resource Center (Kids First DRC) provides robust genetic and clinical data for pediatric cancer and congenital disorders. Kids First data is accessible to researchers worldwide, free of charge, to help us understand these diseases better.
While this valuable program is funded through 2024, Kids First needs continued support to pursue its essential work well into the future.
DISCOVER A NEW APPROACH TO RESEARCH
Kids First is the leading global contributor of pediatric studies for research
37
STUDIES
1,000
DATA ACCESS REQUESTS
6,000
USERS
147
SAMPLES
1.25
FILES
38,000
PATIENT AND FAMILY PARTICIPANTS
STOP TALKING, START DOING
Gabriella’s Story
The Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act was enacted in April 2014, less than six months after 10-year-old child cancer research advocate Gabriella Miller died from an inoperable brain tumor.
Her efforts to raise childhood cancer awareness, and its connection to congenital disorders, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for children’s cancer charities. Through her passionate advocacy, Congress passed the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act to direct funding into the NIH Common Fund over ten years to support pediatric research.
Gabriella’s mother, Ellyn Miller, continues her daughter’s work to demand better treatments and cures for kids through the Smashing Walnuts Foundation.
bluesky
PHILIP LUPO, PhD, MPH
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
By using Kids First data, we can explore a range of questions related to the overlap between anomalies and cancer in ways that were previously impossible.
IAN KRANTZ, MD
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA
I'm excited to be involved with Kids First. Data sharing for research will drive discovery and understanding of birth differences, leading to better outcomes for affected children and families.
ARIADNE LETRA, DDS, MS, PhD
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE
Kids First is valuable because the sequencing resource provides the basis for identifying genetic contributions to common and deforming craniofacial birth defects.
AMANDA HADDOCK
PARENT, PRESIDENT, DRAGON MASTER INITIATIVE
Kids First is leading the way in a rapidly changing healthcare and research environment. They saw the need to empower research across conditions that have.
ELLYN MILLER
GABRIELLA'S MOTHER; President, Smashing Walnuts Foundation
Kids First supports lifesaving research of treatments for childhood cancer for use by researchers in the USA and around the globe. We can’t afford to lose this most valuable program.
NECIA SABIN
HETOROTAXY CONNECTION
Until you have had doctors google your child's diagnosis, you will never understand the isolation and loneliness a parent feels when their child has a rare disease. The Kids First Database has given our community the opportunity to bring medical professionals together and give them the information they desperately need to advance research and care for the Heterotaxy community. We are beyond grateful for this amazing resource and are excited to see the advancements made with it.
News & Articles
Uniting Genomics for Kids at ASHG 2025
The Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center (Kids First DRC) experienced an incredible week at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2025 Annual Meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts,…
Read More
Kids First Releases Landmark Dataset on Rare Childhood Germ Cell Tumors
The Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center (Kids First DRC) has released its 37th pediatric research study, available in the Kids First Data Resource Portal. This latest study focuses…
Read More
What If Data Could Save a Life?
Childhood is meant for milestones There are beautiful moments in every child’s life that define the story of growing up—moments every child should get to experience. But for too many…
Read More
The Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center has launched the Variant Workbench
This press release was distributed on October 14, 2025, via EurekAlert. The Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center (Kids First DRC) has launched the Variant Workbench, an innovative tool designed…
Read More
