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Let’s Put Kids First in cancer and rare disease care.

Drive Breakthroughs with collaborative data.

Accelerating Cures for Kids First is our goal.

FOR RESEARCHERS

FOR FAMILIES

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

STUDIES

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1,000

DATA ACCESS REQUESTS

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6,500

USERS

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147

SAMPLES

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1.25

M+

FILES

36,000

PATIENT AND FAMILY PARTICIPANTS

RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHERS

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.

JOIN OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY

Check out the latest news and updates from the Kids First DRC

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Follow @kidsfirstdrc

Email info@kidsfirstdrc.org

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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

May 19, 2025 in Articles

Kids First: A New Vision for Pediatric Research

In the world of childhood cancer and congenital disorder research, ten years is more than a milestone—it’s a movement. Each year in the United States, nearly 16,000 children are diagnosed…

May 12, 2025 in Press

First-Ever Long Read Datasets Added to Two Kids First Studies

This article was originally published as a news release via EurekAlert This new Kids First data creates a fuller understanding of how genetics contributes to childhood cancers and congenital disorders,…

February 19, 2025 in Articles

Cross-Institution Database Drives New Pediatric Research Opportunity

Childhood cancer research has taken a monumental step forward with the launch of the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI), a groundbreaking effort spearheaded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Childhood…

February 4, 2025 in Articles

New Data Sets from NIH Kids First Program Accelerate Rare Childhood Disease Research

This article was published as a news release on EurekAlert, shared on Feb 5, 2025. The new Kids First datasets advance our understanding of how genetics contribute to childhood cancers…

The Kids First Data Resource Center (“DRC”) comprises partnered institutions supported by the NIH Common Fund under Award Number U2CHL138346 as part of the Common Fund’s Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (“Kids First”). All content, terms and conditions and policies associated with the DRC Portal and Website (the “Services”) are produced by the DRC. The views and opinions of authors expressed on the Services do not necessarily state or reflect those of the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) or the U.S. government. Furthermore, the NIH does not endorse or promote any DRC entity or any of its products or services nor guarantees the products, services, or information provided by the DRC.