A main source for study on the topic of child health is the Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention (CPOP), a CHP/PCOR affiliated center. CPOP was established in 2004 as a core program of the Department of Pediatrics to provide a strong foundation for the development of a nationally recognized child health services and policy research program. The need for this center was proposed by Dr. Alan Krensky (originally named Health Policy, Outcomes and Prevention), former executive director of the Children’s Health Initiative at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. 

A major area of research that focuses on improving child health on a worldwide scale is Children in Crisis.  The Children in Crisis initiative is a Stanford and CHP/PCOR program linking life-saving child health interventions with political reform. It is the first academic initiative to address the needs of children in areas of unstable governance and civil conflict.

Almost half of all preventable child deaths in the world occur in areas of unstable governance or civil conflict.  However, global efforts to improve child health have largely avoided work in these areas. The Children in Crisis program attacks this issue directly by bringing together Stanford's strength in global security, human rights, and democratization studies with the medical school and other Stanford programs focused on the health and well-being of children.  This program creates the first and only university-based capacity to link life-saving child health interventions with the essential political requirements for providing them in the real world.