November 18, 2019

On his blog, Mark Wallace continues his Leadership Maxim series with his fourth guest blogger, Kristi Lemmert, who writes about Maxim No. 4: We all should have our own definition of leadership.

By commenting on Lemmert’s blog – and the next blog in the Leadership Maxim series – you can secure a chance to score a spot at a Houston Texans event.

Throughout November, the Corporate Communications team will randomly select 100 people from the comments to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with Texans cheerleaders. The event will be held on Tuesday, December 3. Read more

During the final week of October, Texas Children’s Hospital hosted visitors from around the world for a very special Rett Syndrome Symposium and Workshop.

The two-day event was momentous for many reasons. It was the inaugural meeting held in the stunning new Auditorium and Conference Center at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital. It fortuitously coincided with Rett Syndrome Awareness Month. And the symposium also marked the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the underlying cause of Rett syndrome. In 2000, NRI director Dr. Huda Zoghbi’s research team made the pioneering discovery that loss-of-function mutations in methyl-CpG binding protein, MECP2, were the underlying cause of Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that primarily affects young girls between 6 months and 2 years of age. The children appear to hit normal developmental milestones until, inexplicably, their motor, cognitive and social skills start to rapidly deteriorate. Most patients develop autistic features, breathing difficulties, dementia, growth abnormalities, epilepsy and scoliosis.

The symposium opened with a warm welcome from co-organizers Dr. Adrian Bird – Buchanan Professor of Genetics and Welcome Trust Center for Cell biology at the University of Edinburgh, UK – and Zoghbi, who is also a professor at Baylor College of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

“The purpose of this event was to bring together researchers who work on Rett syndrome and leaders from related areas of neuroscience working in academia, industry and government, to think deeply and spark new ideas,” said Zoghbi. “The hope is that out of the work and discussions that happened here, in five years, when we’re marking the 25th anniversary of the gene discovery of Rett syndrome, we’ll also be celebrating new treatments for people with Rett syndrome.”

The international symposium was sponsored by Rettsyndrome.org (formerly the International Rett Syndrome Foundation) and the Rett Syndrome Research Trust. The multidisciplinary group of attendees included scientists, physicians, members of the lay public, and representatives from the National Institutes of Health, the pharmaceutical industry, and several foundations, all brought together to look at Rett syndrome with a fresh, new perspective.

On the first day of the symposium, presentation topics ranged from clinical observations of MECP2 disorders like Rett and MECP2 duplication syndrome to pathogenesis (progression or development) of Rett syndrome, to discussions on neuronal circuit alterations and therapeutics. Texas Children’s pediatric neurologist Dr. Bernhard Suter spoke about MECP2 duplication syndrome, which typically affects male patients and causes symptoms such as hypotonia, motor delays, intellectual disabilities, gastrointestinal issues and epilepsy.

Following a day of stellar research presentations, the investigators split into three working groups that focused on Molecular Pathogenesis, Therapeutic Approaches and Young Investigators. The groups discussed the information presented over the course of the day and their vision for the future of Rett syndrome research. This included the systemic and technical challenges that currently exist, and the group brainstormed ways to overcome those. The next morning, key points from these discussions were shared with the audience.

  • Rett syndrome is a particularly challenging disorder to correct. The levels of MECP2 protein in the neurons need to be precisely regulated because too much MECP2 protein causes a different neurological condition, the MECP2 duplication syndrome. Despite these challenges, research in Rett syndrome is advancing at a rapid pace, having moved from gene discovery to promising clinical trials in under 20 years.
  • Gene therapy offers exciting opportunities to develop treatment for Rett syndrome and is an area of active research. However, there are challenges to overcome including controlling the level and distribution of the delivered gene.
  • While the ultimate long-term goal of researchers is to find a lasting cure using gene therapy, clinicians in the audience weighed in on the benefits of also developing short-term strategies to treat specific behavioral or motor issues and/or how to delay the age of symptom onset. This would be a huge step forward for patients, their families and caregivers who cope with this debilitating condition on a daily basis. Participants in the discussion also drew parallels to the field of breast cancer, where non-targeted treatment modalities serve as the workhorses to treat the majority of patients.
  • There is a dire need to develop early screening/diagnostic methods for Rett syndrome among newborns. Early diagnosis, in combination with specialized therapies – such as neuromodulation physical therapy, speech therapy or psychotherapy may provide maximal improvements in the quality of life of the patients.
  • Building collaborations between academia and industry, with a focus on multidisciplinary team science and data-sharing, is critical to facilitate the development of superior reagents (i.e., better viral vectors for gene therapy), biomarkers (i.e., meaningful measures of clinical outcomes) and therapies. Moreover, there was a general agreement that close partnerships between various key stakeholders, such as scientists, physicians, pharma/biotech industry, families, caregivers and advocacy groups, are crucial for developing effective therapies.

Learn more about Texas Children’s research efforts at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute and world-class clinical expertise provided at the Rett Center.

As a Texas Children’s employee, it is important to make informed, thoughtful decisions about what you choose to post online. Learn more about how to be social media savvy. Read more

Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine recently hosted the Pediatric Critical Care Summit of the Americas, a first of its kind bilingual assembly that provided a forum for building bridges among health care providers in the Americas.

More than 500 people from 15 countries attended the summit, which was held from November 7-10 and included seven pre-conference workshops, a tour of Texas Children’s Hospital, three full days of symposia, a bachata dance workshop and a fiesta.

Some of the goals of the summit, which blended two pediatric critical care organizations – the US-based 26th Pediatric Critical Care Colloquium and the Latin American-based 15th Latin American Congress of Pediatric Intensive Care – were:

  • Support, encourage and promote excellence in clinical care and research in the field of pediatric critical care across the Americas.
  • Encourage collegial relationships between US, Central American and Latin American pediatric intensivists and the greater inter-professional team.
  • Promote basic, translational, and clinical research related to critically ill children both while acutely ill and after discharge from the ICU.
  • Promote and disseminate related quality improvement and patient safety materials through established and developing communication technologies.

Plenary speakers and their topics of discussion included:

  • Drs. Jesus Lopez-Herce (Spain) and Jefferson Piva (Brazil) – Intensive Care in the Americas in 2019: Forging a New Doctor
  • Texas Children’s Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. KlineGlobal / International Outreach in Pediatric Medicine
  • Texas Children’s associate chief of Critical Care Medicine Dr. Paul ChecchiaPediatric Cardiac Care in 2019
  • Dr. Bettina Von Dessauer (Chile) and Texas Children’s Critical Care physician Dr. Fernando SteinThe Human Cost of ICU Survival
  • Dr. Joseph Carcillo (University of Pittsburgh) – Inflammation, Sepsis, and Organ Failure: Where are We Going?

The modernization of pediatric critical care medicine has improved the quality of health care delivered to children with life-threatening conditions and has drastically reduced their mortality. As a consequence, a growing cohort of children and adolescents who survive a stay in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) do so with varying degrees of special healthcare needs and technology dependence.

They need a medical home and require complex medical care often coupled with frequent ICU readmissions and pose new challenges to caregivers, providers, health care systems and society. Pediatric intensive care providers are tasked with providing skilled quality care to critically ill children with empathy, compassion, professionalism and resilience but are also obliged to transition them from hospital to nurturing home care.

Global collaboration and information sharing has improved greatly but accessibility still is not uniform across the Americas and profound disparities still exist with regard to resources, organization, and continuing education. The Pediatric Critical Care Summit of the Americas represented international cooperation targeted toward these challenges in global Pediatric Critical Care.

Texas Children’s Health Plan host flu-focused events for member families.

Influenza is definitely something to fear. Every year it results in several million Americans becoming extremely ill. That’s exactly why “Boo to Flu” is an annual Halloween event that Texas Children’s Health Plan employees host to protect member families. Both events take place at The Centers.

The Center for Children and Women – Greenspoint

Nearly 800 member families attended the event on October 12.

The Center for Children and Women – Southwest

More than 1,000 member families attended the event on October 19.

Both events provided:

  • Children’s flu shots
  • Adult flu shots
  • Full vaccines
  • Medicaid Application Assistance
  • Anywhere Care downloads

Still need to get your flu shot?
As a Texas Children’s employee it is extremely important to keep you and your family safe with a flu vaccination. If so, visit the Employee Health Clinic.

Medical Center Employee Health

Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Location: Employee Health & Wellness Center, 5 Tower by the yellow elevators | Phone: 832-824-2150

West Campus Employee Health

Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Location: West Campus, Human Resources and Employee Health, 2nd floor | Phone: 832-227-1365

The Woodlands Employee Health

Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Location: The Woodlands Hospital, Employee Health, 2nd Floor – Blue Wall WL. 0260 | Phone: 936-267-5287

November 12, 2019

In this episode of Medically Speaking, Texas Children’s Chief of Otolaryngology Dr. Anna Messner discusses different kinds of noisy breathing in children, particularly stridor – a typically high-pitched breathing sound. Messner outlines different varieties of stridor, the typical causes, the risks associated with each and ways to address these issues.

“A baby’s breathing should be relatively quiet,” said Messner. “It’s important to pay attention to different types of noisy breathing, as they can sometimes indicate a more serious problem.”

In her talk, Messner discusses the red flags that medical providers should be on the lookout for, which include:

  • High-pitched stridor
  • A child using accessory muscles to assist in breathing
  • Feeding issues or a failure to gain weight
  • Severe reflux

Learn more about Texas Children’s expertise in the treatment of common and complex conditions of the ear, nose, throat, head and neck in the Division of Otolaryngology.

About Medically Speaking
Medically Speaking, a video series from Texas Children’s Service Line Marketing, features some of the brightest minds from several Texas Children’s specialty and subspecialty areas. The series is meant to be a helpful educational resource for parents and a convenient way for physicians and other caregivers to stay up-to-date on the latest in pediatric medicine. Viewers can watch talks on a variety of interesting topics, including advancements in surgery, breakthroughs in research, new clinical trials, and novel and back-practice treatments for specific conditions.

Don’t miss future Medically Speaking episodes featured here on Connect, or view additional episodes now.

PLEASE NOTE:
This presentation is not intended to present medical advice or individual treatment recommendations, and does not supplant the practitioner’s independent clinical judgment. Practitioners are advised to consider the management of each patient in view of the clinical information. All content is shared for informational purposes only, and reflects the thoughts and opinions of the original author. No physician-patient relationship is being created by the use of this presentation. The presentation sets out recommendations based upon similar circumstances and is provided as an educational tool. The presenters are not attorneys, and to the extent this presentation provides commentary on current laws and regulations affecting health care activities, it is not intended as legal advice.

On his blog, Mark Wallace continues his Leadership Maxim series with his third guest blogger, Gary Bradshaw, who writes about Maxim No. 3: We lead in our professional lives and in our personal lives. By commenting on Bradshaw’s blog – and the next two blog posts in the Leadership Maxim series – you can score a spot at a Houston Texans event! Throughout November, the Corporate Communications team will randomly select 100 people from the comments to attend a private event with the Houston Texans, including a behind-the-scenes tour of NRG Stadium, an autograph session with two Houston Texans football players and photos with Texans cheerleaders. The event will be held on Tuesday, December 3. Read more