August 7, 2023

With the first phase of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women’s $245 million expansion complete, outpatient OB/GYN practices recently moved to their new home across the street at Pavilion Tower II. The former Baylor Clinic building (located at 6620 Main Street) will transform into Texas Children’s newest medical tower upon completion – adding 190,000 square feet to the hospital’s footprint, improving patient access and creating space for more adult inpatient and neonatal intensive care beds within the Pavilion for Women.

“This investment in our Pavilion for Women will allow us to increase delivery volumes significantly, but additionally the added space will allow us to continue to grow these specialized clinics that cater to women at every stage of life,” said Michele Birsinger, assistant vice president of Women’s Services.

First to migrate was the Women’s Specialists of Houston (WSH) team on June 12, followed by Partners in OB/GYN Care (POGC) on July 18. Both groups halted clinic operations for moving day, gathering bright and early to ceremoniously turn the lights out in their old space and walk together to the new tower. Clinic leaders shared inspiring remarks upon arrival, and a workforce chaplain was present to facilitate a Blessing of the Hands and gratefulness prayer before lights were turned on with excitement and cheer.

We want to emphasize the importance of the people, read the moving day pamphlet. The Pavilion Tower II is a state-of-the-art facility, but without the people, processes and programs in place, it’s just a facility…the dedicated, intelligent and passionate faces that light up our clinics will remain the same for our patients and families.

To mark the special occasion, team members participated in a scavenger hunt to get familiar with their new floors and were treated to gift bags and mini Zen gardens for their desks. Workforce Well-being was also on hand to provide resources and gather insights on how to best equip and decorate respite rooms.

Before the OB/GYN clinics relocated, our Women’s Physical Therapy team were some of the first occupants of the new medical tower.

“Although we’ve offered physical therapy services since 2012, this is the first time we’ve had our own designated space,” said Sarah Ammons, specialty therapy coordinator. “We now have eight treatment rooms and a gym area, including cardiovascular and strength training equipment…care will improve greatly now that we have the space and resources to treat our patients more completely and return them to their prior level of function.”

These clinics are now open for patient activity – you can find WSH on Level 13 and POGC on Level 11 of the new medical tower, just follow the signs on the sky bridge on Level 3 of the Pavilion for Women. Baylor OB/GYN will relocate by the end of 2023, and the full Pavilion for Women expansion will complete in 2024.

Click here to read more on this exciting development.

January 17, 2023

Almost every year since 1976, the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery at Karolinska University Hospital honors an international neurosurgeon for their contributions to brain or spinal cord surgery and/or research.

This year, Dr. Daniel J. Curry was awarded the 23rd Herbert Olivecrona Award, also known as the “Nobel Prize of Neurosurgery,” for his work on Stereotactic Laser Ablation and the Advance of Minimally Invasive Epilepsy Surgery in Children. Dr. Curry is the John S. Dunn Foundation Endowed Chair for Minimally Invasive Epilepsy Surgery and the director of Functional Neurosurgery and Epilepsy Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital. He is also a professor of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine.

Curry gave the 2022 Olivecrona Keynote Lecture “Stereotactic Laser Ablation and the Advance of Minimally Invasive Epilepsy Surgery in Children” and received the Olivecrona Award medallion at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 2, 2022. By receiving this honor, Dr. Curry joins an illustrious group of neurosurgeons whose contributions have defined the current practice of neurosurgery.

“The work Dr. Curry has contributed to the field of functional and minimally invasive pediatric neurosurgery can’t be overstated,” said Dr. Howard Weiner, chief of Neurosurgery at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Over the last 15 years, he has fundamentally changed how epilepsy is treated surgically in children and has improved the lives of countless families,” said Dr. Weiner. “It is my true privilege and honor to work side by side with him as my colleague here at Texas Children’s at, arguably, the premier pediatric epilepsy surgery program in the world.”

The Olivecrona Award is named in honor of professor Herbert Olivecrona (1891-1980), an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and professor of Neurosurgery at Karolinska Institutet from 1935 to 1960, who was credited as being the father of modern neurosurgery in Sweden. To learn more, click here.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Curry on this incredible honor!

July 13, 2022

Texas Children’s Department of Surgery recently acquired the Anatomage Table, a revolutionary technology that makes it possible to virtually visualize, interact with, and dissect human anatomy in 3D.

About the size of an operating table, this advanced anatomy and physiology educational tool will provide Texas Children’s team members with an in-depth look into human anatomical structures in much the same way a physical human body would. The cadavers featured in the Anatomage Table were modeled after the Visible Human Project (VHP) and the Visible Korean Human Project (VKH), a program dedicated to capturing and cataloguing detailed photographs of whole and sectioned parts of young, well-preserved human bodies for use in virtual teaching applications.

What allows the Anatomage Table to truly stand out from other imaging and virtual application systems currently on the market is its innovative radiology software and clinical content. Currently the Anatomage Table is the world’s only “fully segmented real human 3D anatomy system…allowing for exploration and learning of human anatomy beyond what any cadaver could offer.” This virtual tool diminishes the need for traditional cadavers and all that comes with them such as chemicals, unpleasant smells, facility costs and regulations.

The table has already been adopted by hundreds of the world’s leading medical schools and institutions, and we’re excited to bring this state-of-the-art technology to our One Amazing Team.

“This impressive table is truly an innovative and state-of-the-art piece of technology that I am so excited to be incorporating into our didactics and teaching here in the Department of Surgery,” said Surgeon in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier. “Not only will this allow for all providers to gain 24/7 access to anatomy and virtual dissection, the in-depth ability to visualize the anatomy in this way is like nothing we have ever had before.”

How to reserve the Anatomage Table and Terms of Agreement

Anyone at Texas Children’s is welcome to reserve the table for educational purposes after providing the proper information required regarding the educational session and attendants, as well as agreeing to the terms and conditions set for room usage.

For those interested in reserving Texas Children’s Anatomage Table room, go to Microsoft Outlook and select the option “Legacy Tower E.860.02.” After reserving the room in Outlook, you will receive an email with a mandatory form to complete and return. Upon completing the form, your request will then be accepted or denied. Please note: confirmation of your reservation is dependent on the completion and review of your form, and all requests to reserve the room remain tentative until further notice. If you have not received training on how to operate the Anatomage Table, we ask that you meet with a super user in advance of your requested educational session. If you have any additional questions related to reserving the room, please contact Maggie Gonzales at mcgonzal@texaschildrens.org.

To learn more about the table and its many features, we encourage you to watch the video detailing how the table works, and/or watch the TED Talk “On the virtual dissection table“ by Jack Choi, the founder and CEO of Anatomage.

March 23, 2022

With more than 250 patient days of using the Cardio-Renal Pediatric Dialysis Emergency Machine (CARPEDIEM), Texas Children’s is now proud to be the largest CARPEDIEM care center in the world. CARPEDIEM was launched at Texas Children’s in June 2021 to serve our most vulnerable patients in need of continuous kidney support therapy. Since that time it has helped to effectively support several babies with kidney injury.

At a special celebration on Tuesday, February 15 with cake, punch and cheers all around, Director of the Texas Children’s Critical Care Nephrology Program Dr. Ayse Arikan thanked the team for their leadership, care and compassion for our patients. “I am immensely proud to be part of this team,” said Arikan. “This could not have been possible without all of you. As always, when you were asked for your adaptation of a new therapy, everyone went above and beyond expectations.”

“Our labor of love has led Texas Children’s to be the largest CARPEDIEM care center in the world, with four machines on standby for infant kidney support therapy,” said Arikan.

The CARPEDIEM system was originally developed in Europe, and FDA authorization was granted in 2020. CARPEDIEM is designed for use in babies with severe acute kidney injury or fluid overload. It provides continuous renal replacement therapy to patients as small as 2.5 kilograms and up to 10 kilograms.

Texas Children’s is one of seven hospitals to have this technology, and one of five hospitals who have started using it with patients. Until now, children in need of continuous kidney support therapy were using devices designed for older children. CARPEDIEM serves as an appropriate size-based therapy for our most vulnerable babies.

Based on published studies, we know acute kidney injury can affect up to one in three premature infants in the newborn ICU, according to Renal Physician Lead for CARPEDIEM Dr. Catherine Joseph. This occurrence is even more common in babies who are born extremely premature. When kidney injury is more severe and the patient does not respond to medical treatment alone, a device like CARPEDIEM can help support the baby’s kidneys by removing waste products and fluids.

“I am passionate in the care of newborns with kidney disease and invested in ways to improve outcomes for babies affected by kidney problems,” said Joseph. “To have this platform available to help support infants with kidney injury is a dream come true.”

Children born prematurely or admitted to Texas Children’s with critical illness are in the care of our pediatric critical care or neonatology providers in our intensive care units (ICU). “We are only able to deliver this CARPEDIEM technology to the bedside with the collaborative partnerships with our colleagues in the newborn, pediatric and cardiovascular ICUs (NICU, PICU and CVICU),” said Inpatient Chronic Renal Dialysis Staff Nurse Marsha Filipp.

“I am proud to be a part of this team as we reach these important milestones,” added Filipp. “It’s a wonderful feeling knowing we are making a difference and helping give more newborns a chance at life.”

January 2, 2022

 

Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine announced on December 28, that CORBEVAX, a protein sub-unit COVID-19 Vaccine, whose technology was created and engineered at its Center for Vaccine Development (CVD), has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch first in India, with other underserved countries to follow.

Commenting on this historic news for Texas Children’s, Mark Wallace said, “I cannot begin to express how monumental this is for Texas Children’s, Dr. Peter Hotez, Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi and their teams – but even more so, how monumental this is for the entire world. In the U.S., we have had access to the COVID-19 vaccine for a year – but around the globe, many countries are desperately waiting for the tool they need to overcome the pandemic, and the emergence of the Omicron variant emphasizes this dire need.”

Large-scale, fast and low-cost production

Dubbed “The World’s COVID-19 Vaccine,” CORBEVAX uses a traditional recombinant protein-based technology that will enable its production at large scales making it widely accessible to inoculate the global population. Because the vaccine uses a conventional production platform that has been in use for decades, it can be easily and quickly produced in existing manufacturing facilities around the world at a very low cost. The two-dose vaccine also relies on standard refrigeration storage conditions, making delivery of massive quantities of this vaccine to remote, rural populations possible.

More about the vaccine development and testing

The initial construct and production process of the vaccine antigen was developed at Texas Children’s Hospital CVD, led by co-directors Drs. Maria Elena Bottazzi and Peter Hotez and in-licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine’s integrated commercialization team, to Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharmaceutical company Biological E. Limited (BE). After completing two Phase III clinical trials involving more than 3000 subjects, CORBEVAX was found to be safe, well tolerated and immunogenic.

“This announcement is an important first step in vaccinating the world and halting the pandemic. Our vaccine technology offers a path to address an unfolding humanitarian crisis, namely the vulnerability the low- and middle-income countries face against the delta variant,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, Professor and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor and Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. “Widespread and global vaccination with our Texas Children’s-Baylor-BE vaccine would also forestall the emergence of new variants. We have previously missed that opportunity for the alpha and delta variant. Now is our chance to prevent a new global wave from what might follow.”

Keep an eye on the national news as this exciting announcement is shared with the world.

July 26, 2021

Texas Children’s has just announced a phased, multi-year expansion plan for the Pavilion for Women that will allow us to continue providing the highest-quality care possible as one of the preeminent women’s health care destinations in the country.

“This expansion plan will not only allow us to increase our delivery volume by about 30 percent, but will also allow us have more space for specialized clinics and specific programs that will cater to women at every stage of life,” said Dr. Michael Belfort, OB/GYN-in-Chief.

Since its opening in 2012, the Pavilion has consistently fulfilled its vision to deliver exceptional care to mothers and their babies and now exceeded delivery capacity with unmatched clinical outcomes. In addition to Texas Children’s Fetal Center – a national leader in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities in unborn and newborn infants – the facility is home to a level IV neonatal intensive care unit.

The new expansion includes transforming the former Baylor Clinic at 6620 Main Street in the Medical Center into part of Texas Children’s campus and renaming it Main Tower, providing Texas Children’s with an additional 190,000 square feet of usable space. There will be three phases of the project, with Phase 1 expected to be completed in spring 2022 and full completion expected in 2024.

“Patients come from all across the country and the globe to access our world-renowned medical experts and the full continuum of care we offer mothers and babies,” Belfort said. “We are looking forward to increasing our capacity to offer the best care to every woman and child, from the healthiest to the sickest.”

To read more about the expansion planned for Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, click here.