Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) is a not-for-profit corporation owned by Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). ACH is a full-service state-of-the-art medical facility, offering a complete array of clinical services ranging from well-baby care to the medical management of critically ill children requiring such sophisticated procedures as heart or kidney transplantation and extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ACH is a teaching hospital of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), the only medical school in Arkansas. It is dedicated to offering medical services to all children regardless of their race, religion, or ability to pay, medical and community education, and research. Essentially, all the physicians officed on the ACH campus are UAMS faculty. Research is a major component of the missions of both UAMS and ACH. ACHRI was created to provide a research environment on the ACH campus to meet the needs of the UAMS faculty.

The ACH Board of Trustees established ACHRI in 1989. By 1991, an agreement between ACH and UAMS was reached that combined the strengths of these two major Arkansas institutions to enhance the capability of ACHRI. The Institute officially opened in May of 1992. It is located one block south of the main ACH campus.

ACHRI’s total research grant base in 1997 was $7.5 million. Today its researchers bring in over $20 million yearly in grants and contracts from federal and private agencies and industry and from philanthropic donations and professional organizations.