March 1, 2016

8515Drzoghbi175Dr. Huda Zoghbi, known for her groundbreaking research on Rett syndrome and other neurological disorders, is the inaugural recipient of the Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize in Medical Science at Northwestern University.

The Nemmers prize, which carries a $200,000 stipend, is awarded to a physician-scientist whose body of research exhibits outstanding achievement in their discipline as demonstrated by works of lasting significance. A jury of distinguished scientists from around the country made the final selection.

Zoghbi, a professor of pediatrics, molecular and human genetics, and neurology and neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s, has devoted her career to uncovering the genetic roots of rare neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases that affect her patients.

“The Nemmers Prize in Medical Science recognizes an outstanding investigator whose discoveries have significantly contributed to improving human health beyond the individual patient,” said Dr. Eric Neilson, vice president for medical affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Huda is a superb physician-scientist who has transformed the way we think about the genetic determinants and mechanisms of diseases. We are privileged to honor her with this inaugural award and for her to share her work with us.”

In connection with this award, Zoghbi will deliver a public lecture and participate in other scholarly activities at Feinberg in the coming year.

“It is a tremendous honor to be the inaugural Nemmers Prize recipient in Medical Science, and to have the opportunity to share my research with the stellar community of Northwestern University. It is truly humbling to be rewarded for what I love to do,” Zoghbi said.

3216siu640Leaders with the Texas Children’s Special Isolation Unit recently hosted the first of what they plan to be regular educational conferences focusing on our advanced concepts of pediatric biocontainment.

Representatives from four children’s hospitals – the Ann & Robert H. Lurie’s Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Colorado and the University of Texas-Houston – attended the two-day conference held February 25-26 at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

Topics covered during the conference included staffing and clinical care of infectious patients, personal protective equipment (PPE) and procedures, and special isolation unit planning, development, policies and procedures. Conference attendees also participated in a PPE demonstration and discussion, and were given a tour of our newly opened Special Isolation Unit at West Campus.

“The conference was a wonderful opportunity for Texas Children’s to share our knowledge and experience with leaders from multiple organizations,” said Dr. Amy Arrington, medical director of the Special Isolation Unit. “We hope to continue this process for years to come in an effort to ensure all children affected by special pathogens are safely cared for in their time of need.”

Texas Children’s began working on its Special Isolation Unit more than a year ago, shortly after an unprecedented Ebola outbreak that resulted in the realization that we must be prepared to handle emerging infections as an institution. As a result, the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated Texas Children’s Hospital as one of several pediatric Ebola treatment centers countrywide.

Texas Children’s Special Isolation Unit is the only one of its kind in Texas and the southwest region, and is among the few in the United States designated just for children. Located on the fifth floor of West Campus, the eight-bed unit is fully equipped to care for any infant or child with a serious communicable disease and has all of the measures available to assure safety of the health care team, other patients and their families.

Children coming to the special isolation unit will receive top notch care from a team of highly-trained nurses and doctors, led by Arrington, associate medical directors Dr. Gordon Schutze and Dr. Judith Campbell, and nursing leader, Sondra Morris.

3216pearlanduc640Texas Children’s Hospital is proud to announce the opening of its fifth Texas Children’s Urgent Care clinic. Conveniently located at 2701 Pearland Parkway, the clinic offers high-quality, efficient and affordable pediatric care at a convenient Pearland location.

“We are very excited to open our fifth location and bring expert pediatric urgent care to the Pearland community,” said Kay Tittle, president of Texas Children’s Pediatrics. “Our Urgent Cares clinics provide an immense resource for the communities we serve and I am looking forward to seeing the impact this location will have on the children and families of Pearland.”

Texas Children’s Urgent Care Pearland is open Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. The clinic is staffed by board certified pediatricians who have privileges at Texas Children’s Hospital. Pediatricians diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments, illnesses and conditions, including: asthma, strep throat, fever, minor burns, influenza, ear infections, allergic reactions and more. Procedures provided include: antibiotic injections, breathing treatments, fracture care and splinting, IV (intravenous) fluids, lab services, laceration repair and X-rays onsite.

Oftentimes, families turn to an emergency center after hours, on weekends or perhaps even during the day, when a significant event occurs with their child. Though the emergency center is the right place for some incidents or ailments, the majority of the time minor illnesses can and should be treated at a pediatric urgent care facility.

Texas Children’s Urgent Care accepts major insurance plans and has self-pay rates, which are less than emergency center charges, and there are no hospital fees. A complete list of insurance plans is available on the website. Texas Children’s Urgent Care specializes in after-hours care, but does not replace the need for children to have a general pediatrician. Routine physical exams and vaccinations are services that should be obtained from a general pediatrician, and these services are not available at Texas Children’s Urgent Care.

Texas Children’s Urgent Care has four additional convenient locations:

  • Cinco Ranch located at 9727 Spring Green Blvd., Suite 900 Katy, TX 77494
  • Memorial located at 12850 Memorial Drive, Suite 210 Houston, TX 77024
  • The Woodlands located at 4775 W. Panther Creek Drive, Suite C300 The Woodlands, TX 77381
  • Main Campus located at 6621 Fannin, Suite 2240 Houston, TX 77030

bench-and-beside-Header2 Bench and Bedside is a digest of the previous month’s stories about the clinical and academic activities of our physicians and scientists. We welcome your submissions and feedback.

February 2

Texas Children’s, Rice University team up to develop new way to repair birth defect

Bioengineers at Texas Children’s Hospital and Rice University have won a National Institutes of Health grant to develop a new generation of patches to repair the damaged hearts of infants. The $1.9 million, 5-year grant will allow Jeffrey Jacot and his team to take the next steps in a long-running drive to improve the survival rates of such infants, many of whom are diagnosed in utero and require surgery soon after birth.

February 2

Department of State Health Services to award Texas Children’s $1 million grant for SIU 3116SIUTraining300

Texas Children’s is set to receive a $1 million grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to put toward its newly constructed Special Isolation Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. The funds, to be delivered during the next five years, will specifically go toward Ebola preparedness activities that bolster employee safety and quality of care.

February 2

Texas Children’s convenes task force, urges employees to educate themselves on Zika

3116zikamosquito300In light of the multiple confirmed cases of Zika infection in Texas due to foreign travel, Texas Children’s leaders encourage employees, particularly pregnant women, to refrain from traveling to areas where the outbreak is growing and to follow precautionary measures to protect themselves from Zika exposure. Since the mosquito-carrying virus has been known to increase the risk of microcephaly, a neurological fetal birth defect, Texas Children’s recently convened a task force to develop management and research strategies based on screening criteria outlined by the Centers for Disease Control for pregnant women who may have been exposed to the Zika virus.

February 2 Kline: Children deserve access to best care

Many patients have been left scrambling to find a new medical home when a number of insurance companies decided not to provide in-network coverage for many hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, including Texas Children’s Hospital. Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline talks about how all children deserve access to the best care.

February 2

Zoghbi to receive medal for pioneering advancements in neuroscience research

3116zoghbilab300Dr. Huda Zoghbi, director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s, will receive the 2016 Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal from the National Academy of Science in April for her achievements in neuroscience, which includes unlocking the genetic and molecular mysteries behind rare neurological disorders.

 

February 2

Clinical Research Center presents research award to Dr. Anvari

The Clinical Research Center will present the Clinical Research Award for First Quarter 2016 to Dr. Sara Anvari, physician, Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Anvari is a dedicated clinical scientist for the food allergy research trials at Texas Children’s Hospital.

February 9

Three NRI researchers recognized for their contributions to neuroscience research

Drs. Michael Wangler and Shinya Yamamoto recently obtained a research grant from the Simon’s Foundation for Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) to advance their study on autism spectrum disorders. Their study titled, “In vivo functional analysis of autism candidate genes” is one of five projects selected for research funding by the SFARI. Dr. Andrea Ballabio, founder and director of the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Italy, professor at Baylor and faculty member at the NRI, has been selected to receive the 2016 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. He will share this award with biochemist John Diffley, associate research director at the Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom.

February 16

Study finds premature infants benefit from exclusive human milk-based diet

3116NEC300A recent Baylor College of Medicine study led by Texas Children’s neonatologist Dr. Amy Hair, and published in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine, found that premature infants weighing less than 1,250 grams at birth showed improved outcomes after being fed a human milk-based diet.

 

 

 

February 16

Mata twins celebrate one-year anniversary after historic separation 3116MataFamily300

A year after being separated in a marathon surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital, formerly conjoined twins Knatalye and Adeline Mata are healthy, lively toddlers. Several members of our medical staff involved in the girls’ care got to see how much they have grown and how far they have come during a recent visit to Texas Children’s for their follow-up appointments with pediatric subspecialists monitoring their health and development. Hear some of their reactions and see for yourself how much the girls have progressed.

February 16

Heart Center launches series of educational animated videos 3116animation300

Featuring an armadillo, a bison and robot-like caregivers called Blings, a series of animated videos created by Texas Children’s Heart Center aims to help educate patients and their families about various heart conditions and treatment options. Six of the videos were unveiled at a February 15 red carpet premier and can be accessed on the Texas Children’s website at http://www.texaschildrens.org/hearteducation.

February 23

CVICU physician performs CPR, saves man’s life during spin class

When Dr. Natasha Afonso clipped in to a bike for a spin class on a recent Thursday evening, she didn’t know the skills she uses each day to treat patients in the CVICU would mean the difference between life and death for a fellow rider. Toward the end of the 45-minute, high-intensity class, Afonso heard 50-year-old Scott Corron collapse and fall off his bicycle. Because he wasn’t breathing and had no pulse, Afonso immediately started CPR, an action that ultimately saved Corron’s life.

February 23

New in situ simulation program enhances role clarity in high-risk emergencies 3116sitasim300

Texas Children’s Simulation Center recently launched the first-ever Neonatal Comprehensive In Situ Simulation Program for NICU providers at the Pavilion for Women. The program focuses on improving crisis resource management skills, one of which is role clarity, to ensure all code team members know each other’s specific roles when delivering care to patients during high-risk medical emergencies.

February 23

Texas Children’s helps develop nation’s first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus

3116zikalab300Pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists at Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital developed the nation’s first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus in a matter of weeks as part of the L.E. and Virginia Simmons Collaborative in Virus Detection and Surveillance. Pathologist-in-Chief Dr. James Versalovic and Dr. James Dunn, director of medical microbiology and virology, led Texas Children’s Zika test development team. The new diagnostic test identifies virus-specific RNA sequences to detect the virus and can distinguish Zika virus from other virus infections like Dengue, West Nile or Chikunguny.

February 23

Blaney receives Pioneer Award for contributions in pediatric neuro-oncology The Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation honored Dr. Susan Blaney with the Pioneer Award for Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, celebrating her 25 years of dedication to the search for new and better treatments for children with brain and spinal cord tumors. Blaney’s extensive experience in clinical translational research focuses on developing new treatment strategies for children with brain tumors and other refractory cancers. Blaney has been instrumental in developing more new agent clinical trials than anyone in the field of pediatric oncology.

February 23

Dietrich voted president-elect of North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology

Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Dr. Jennifer Dietrich has been voted president-elect of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Her tenure as president-elect begins in April. She will be voted in as president in April 2017.

February 23

Texas Children’s Health Plan Center for Children and Women earns accolades for CenteringPregnancy® program Texas Children’s Health Plan’s Center for Children and Women has earned site approval for its CenteringPregnancy® program. The Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) has awarded both the Southwest and Greenspoint locations the official designation for closely following the CenteringPregnancy® model.