Kelly Evans Lab

Welcome to the Kelly Evans Lab

Dr. Kelly Evans investigates sleep and breathing in children born with craniofacial conditions, with the goal of improving outcomes in patients with conditions affecting the airway's function.

Investigating Robin Sequence

Evans's current research focuses on children born with micrognathia, glossoptosis and cleft palate, also known as Robin sequence (RS).

Her goals include improving the understanding of RS's phenotype, or physical characteristics, and identifying risk factors that may play a role in causing children to be born with the condition.

One of her funded projects aims to characterize the nature and severity of sleep disturbance in infants with RS, correlating sleep and airflow information with craniofacial anatomic assessment tools. She is also obtaining pilot data regarding neurodevelopmental, behavioral and cardiac sleep-related outcomes in children with RS.

As a member of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Evans conducts her work with an eye toward translating it into improved care for children born with RS.

Collaborating to Improve Outcomes for Craniofacial Conditions

Evans's work extends beyond Robin sequence. As a contributor to the Craniofacial Outcomes Research and Epidemiology Group (CORE), she works closely with other researchers in the Craniofacial Center on projects investigating a variety of craniofacial conditions.

Investigator Biography

 

Dr. Kelly Evans is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an attending physician at Seattle Children's Hospital. She completed both her pediatric residency and chief residency at Seattle Children's/University of Washington School of Medicine.

Evans's research career began at the University of Washington, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in craniofacial medicine. She is currently completing her MS in epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her master's thesis focuses on identification of prenatal and parental risk factors for the development of Robin sequence.