June 19, 2018

On June 18, Texas Children’s Pediatrics opened its first primary care site in Austin, marking another milestone in Texas Children’s path toward creating a network of quality pediatric care for children and families living in the state’s capital city.

Located at 5625 Eiger Road, Suite 225, in southwest Austin, Austin Pediatrics is managed by Dr. Casey Mulcihy, who has more than 30 years of experience in caring for children. Mulcihy offers a full array of services for children of all ages including well child care or checkups, immunizations, same-day sick appointments, management of asthmas, ADD and/ADHD, and many other common pediatric conditions. He also provides courtesy pre-natal and introductory physician consultations.

Austin Pediatrics is unique because it is a solo pediatric practice, which means patients get one-on-one care with the same doctor at every visit. The office is able to provide 24/7 coverage for after-hours emergencies, through a network of other solo pediatricians in Austin.

“We are very excited about reaching this milestone,” said Kay Tittle, president of Texas Children’s Pediatrics. “It signifies the first step of many more to come in providing quality primary pediatric care to children and their families in Austin and the surrounding area.”

Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown said opening Austin Pediatrics shows Texas Children’s commitment to caring for patients and their families in the Austin area.

“Primary care is extremely important to a child’s overall health and Texas Children’s Pediatrics provides the finest pediatricians dedicated to meeting the health care needs of infants to teenagers,” Riley-Brown said. “We are proud to be offering our expertise to children and families in Austin and are looking forward to being a vital part of their lives.”

Texas Children’s marked its beginnings in Austin on March 6 with the opening of our first Texas Children’s Urgent Care location. Located at 4477 South Lamar Blvd., the office provides high-quality, efficient and affordable pediatric-focused care after hours and on weekends.

Over the next five years, we hope to open more Urgent Care locations as well as continue to build our Texas Children’s Pediatrics network. Additional plans for 2018 include the opening of another Texas Children’s Pediatrics practice in July and the opening of Texas Children’s Specialty Care in Austin.

Scheduled to open in October, Texas Children’s Specialty Care brings subspecialty pediatric care and services into the community where it’s easy for children and families to access it. Our center will be staffed by Texas Children’s board-certified physicians, surgeons, therapists and clinical staff.

“When we say we’re coming to Austin, it means we’re bringing our unique brand of care to your community,” said Melissa Fischer, Texas Children’s Pediatrics director of community business development. “At every Texas Children’s location, children are seen and treated by experts trained to care for them.”

For more information about the new Austin Pediatrics location, click here. For more information about our long-term plans in Austin, click here.

Dr. Zhandong Liu, assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine and researcher at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s has received a distinguished service award from the International Association for Intelligent Biology and Medicine (IAIBM).

As a non-profit organization, the IAIBM’s mission is to promote bioinformatics, systems biology and intelligent computing among scientists of diverse backgrounds through discussion, network communication, collaborations and education.

The Liu laboratory has developed many new software tools (e.g. MARRVEL and CRISPRcloud) that have helped biomedical scientists analyze complex bioinformatics data faster and with ease. In addition, Liu’s collaborations with neuroscientists have led to many important biological discoveries that have far-reaching implications for various neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Mingshan Xue, assistant professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and a researcher with the NRI at Texas Children’s has been awarded the prestigious 2018 McKnight Scholar Award.

The McKnight Scholar Awards are granted to young scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their own independent laboratories and research careers and who have demonstrated a commitment to neuroscience.

Out of 64 applicants, Xue was one of six awardees. The recipients were chosen for their creativity, technological, precise and rigorous new approaches to overcome barriers in answering long-standing neuroscience questions.

The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience is an independent organization funded solely by the McKnight Foundation of Minneapolis, Minn., and led by a board of prominent neuroscientists from around the country. Each of the six McKnight Scholar Award recipients receives $75,000 per year for three years.

Dr. Hsiao-Tuan Chao, a child neurologist and postdoctoral researcher at the NRI, has been awarded the highly-competitive 2018 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund is an independent private foundation dedicated to advancing the biomedical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities. The main goals of this fund are to help early-stage scientists develop into independent scientists and to advance undervalued areas of basic biomedical research. To fulfill that mission, the Career Award for Medical Scientists provides $700,000 of research funding spread over five years to physician-scientists who are currently receiving advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training. This award is intended to help physician-scientists embark on independent academic careers.

Chao, who is also an instructor in the department of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, associate program director of the child neurology residency program and clinical child neurologist, is one of the 13 physician-scientists from leading academic institutions in the US to receive this honor in 2018. This award will help Chao establish an independent research program to understand the mechanisms underlying transcriptional dysregulation of inhibitory signaling pathways in childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.

Earlier this year the Houston Business Journal’s 2018 Landmark Awards selected it’s winners for the top commercial real estate projects in Houston. Our very own Texas Children’s Hospital, The Woodlands campus, won in the medical category.

On April 19, the winners were revealed at the highly anticipated awards ceremony. Finalists and winners of all categories were announced and awarded on stage in front of the top individuals in the commercial real estate community. According to The Houston Business Journal, entries were judged on impact to Houston, such as job creation, innovation, best use of land, site plan, and development of surrounding neighborhoods, visual plan, amenities and being environmentally friendly. Attendees of the event received copies of the Landmark Awards section, as well as the April 20th paper, and winners received crystal trophies engraved with the organization’s name and category.

“Receiving this year’s Landmark Award for the medical category was the perfect way to celebrate our one-year anniversary,” said Trent Johnson, Assistant Vice President of The Woodlands campus. “It is truly the perfect ending to our first year which has been an incredible story of success with Texas Children’s offering world-class care, close to home for patients and families in our community.”

Nominations were open to all real estate projects completed in the greater Houston area from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. In all, there were 54 projects in 16 categories in the running for this year’s awards. Our medical competitors were Legacy Community Health Fifth Ward Clinic and University of Houston Health 2 Building.

“The honor of having Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands campus win in the medical category told me two things – we’ve created a significant landmark and we’ve made an impact to the Houston area landscape, not only physically, but functionally,” said Jill Pearsall, Vice President of Facilities Planning and Development. “The success of the campus gives me a sense of pride and humility.”

It’s time for the annual Periwinkle Kickball Classic, an event that raises money for an organization that provides healing programs and camps to children, young adults and families who are challenged by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

The one-day tournament will be held Saturday, November 3, at the Houston Sportsplex and ANYONE age 14 or older is eligible to play.

Each team is made up of at least 10 players, five of whom must be female. To enter, each team must raise at least $500.

This year, there will be two divisions:

  • “Just for Fun” – where your team will play in three round robin games in the morning but not compete in the playoffs.
  • “In It to Win It” – where your team will play in a multi-game tournament (each team is guaranteed three games). There will be champions in the Gold, Silver & Bronze brackets.

Upon registering, you will select which division your team will compete in.

If you sign up a team by Wednesday, August 1, you will receive a free coffee from the Periwinkle Foundation! Click the link to sign up your team today: http://bit.ly/kickball2018.

June 12, 2018

Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel just announced an exciting basketball game he will play right here in Houston – and you’re invited! On Saturday, June 16, Kimmel will face off against Senator Ted Cruz at Texas Southern University in a one-on-one charity basketball game benefiting Texas Children’s. Tough questions will be asked, ring ball will be played and Kimmel will interview Cruz live on the court.

Tickets to the event are free, but attendees are encouraged to donate to Texas Children’s.

Details can be found at www.kimmelvscruz.com. Support the hospital and show your spirit by wearing a Texas Children’s shirt to the game!

As Texas Children’s continues to expand its physical footprint as a leader in pediatric care, Texas Children’s Neurology Program is growing by leaps and bounds. As one of the largest pediatric neurology service providers in the nation, more than 30,000 patient encounters occur each year at Texas Children’s Neuroscience Center.

Ranked No. 4 nationally in neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report, patients are treated for a number of neurological conditions in our 13 specialty clinics including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, Rett syndrome, Batten disease and movement disorders. Many patient families are referred to Texas Children’s for our integrated expertise and multidisciplinary team approach in diagnosing and treating childhood neurological disorders. Recently, the Neurology division expanded its services with the opening of the Angleman Syndrome Clinic to treat children with this very rare, neurogenetic disorder.

“Over the last decade, our neuroscience programs have experienced phenomenal growth,” said Chief of Neurology and Developmental Neuroscience Dr. Gary Clark. “In 2004, the division had 5,000 patient encounters per year. Since then, we have more than quadrupled our patient encounters to 31,500 in 2017. More than half of these patients are seen in the community, allowing for greater access to care.”

In 2017, the neurology service received 1,300 new patient referrals each month which is a 30 percent increase from last year. To meet the increased demand for these services and to accommodate the growing patient population, the pediatric neurology division faculty expanded from 9 to 52 neurologists.

While enhancing access to patient care remains a top priority for Texas Children’s, one way the Neurology service is helping to achieve this collaborative milestone is through the implementation of telemedicine, an interactive telecommunications system that uses real-time video technology to link patients with their primary care and specialty providers. Instead of making the trek to the Texas Medical Center, patients can now “see” their neurologist without ever leaving their primary care clinic.

“Through an HRSA grant, we have seen children with epilepsy in one of our medical homes via this new technology and completed more visits than any other grant recipient,” said Brian Cordasco, practice administrator for Neurology. “This successful experiment will serve as a blueprint for future growth of telemedicine at Texas Children’s. Six faculty offices are now equipped with telemedicine capabilities.”

To balance outpatient services with the increasing demand for inpatient care, the Neurology Service has also developed an inpatient service rotation for physicians at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. Just like Texas Children’s Medical Center Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, neurologists and epileptologists take turns working out of clinic to take neurology consults at the hospital.

Partnerships advance clinical research in neurology

The neurology division’s partnership with the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s under the leadership of Dr. Huda Zoghbi also has helped to advance clinical and basic science research leading to the development of new treatments for neuro and developmental disabilities.

Nearly $185 million has been raised to build and partially endow the NRI, and the hospital’s long-time philanthropic partner, The Blue Bird Circle, has raised funds (initial gift $1M for four years) to form and partially endow the Blue Bird Circle Clinical Research Center in which NRI discoveries are realized through clinical trials.

The Blue Bird Circle has been the catalyst for so much of what has happened in pediatric neurology in the past 20 years at Texas Children’s. Clinical research protocols have grown from 9 to 63 over the 8-year existence of the Blue Bird Circle CRC. The Blue Bird Circle has raised in excess of $1.2 million annually to directly fund clinical treatment, training and research in pediatric neurology at Texas Children’s.

Through these collaborative research partnerships, the neurology team has made significant progress:

  • Texas Children’s is one of the few sites in the country that provides therapy to patients with an enzyme deficiency in the form of Batten disease by surgically injecting the synthesized enzyme directly into the brain thereby halting this degenerative form of Batten disease.
  • Texas Children’s treats patients with spinal muscular atrophy, a disease where the spinal cord degenerates due to a defective SMN1 gene. This treatment involves injecting a DNA molecule into the spinal fluid that turns a latent gene into an effective one that makes the deficient protein.

“We are contemplating similar treatments for Angelman and Rhett syndromes,” Clark said. “We are so grateful to Texas Children’s Blue Bird Circle Research Center in collaboration with the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s for helping us make these research breakthroughs possible, and I am excited about what the future will hold for pediatric neurology.”

A little more than one year after opening the doors of the hospital to its first patient, hundreds of new and recent hires at The Woodlands attended their first Mark A. Wallace New Employee Pep Rally – waving red pompoms and foam fingers, nodding along to classic dance music, noshing on refreshments and enjoying the opportunity to meet, greet and even snap photos with Mr. Wallace himself.

Modeled after the Texas Children’s Hi new employee orientation, the energetic pep rally format has replaced the more traditional reception that Mr. Wallace has hosted for decades. The rally gives new employees the chance to become better acquainted with Texas Children’s and connect with executives and leaders in an informal and festive atmosphere.

“Mr. Wallace is really personable and everyone is so down to earth,” said Nicole Bolden, an ambulatory service representative II in Developmental Therapy who attended the rally with her colleague, Adina Clay. “You can see why Texas Children’s has such a good culture and reputation in the community.”

With nearly 450 new employees to be celebrated at The Woodlands and his own goal to personally introduce himself to each of them, Mr. Wallace hosted two rallies back to back.

“It means a lot to have our first pep rallies here and give our employees a warm welcome,” said Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown, who also serves as President of The Woodlands. “Our first year has been phenomenal, and it’s our people and our staff who have made The Woodlands so successful for the patients and families we see every day.”

In congratulating the team for the “grand slam” success of The Woodlands thus far and describing Texas Children’s ongoing efforts to expand access and care to even more children and families at the Legacy Tower and in Austin and Central Texas, Mr. Wallace thanked the new employees for supporting each other and working so hard to meet the needs of those we serve.

He also encouraged each new employee to give serious thought to their own personal definition of leadership, reminding them of his top two maxims: that leadership always influences and determines outcomes, and that leadership applies to everyone. Leadership is the reason that Texas Children’s has grown and achieved so much in just the 29 short years since he joined the organization, he said.

“Everyone has to lead; that’s part of our culture here,” Mr. Wallace said. “You’re all leaders, not just the people with a certain title or rank. We want to create a culture of empowerment. We want to listen to you. We want your ideas. We want you to lead. This unfolding story at Texas Children’s keeps happening and we all get to be part of it.”

For Brittnie Wright, a senior administrative assistant who was part of the team that helped bring the vision for The Woodlands to life, the fun and warmth of the pep rally and meeting Mr. Wallace underscored why she enjoys being part of the Texas Children’s family.

“I genuinely love it here. I love my leaders and I love my co-workers,” Wright said. “There’s a certain pride when people see you with that Texas Children’s badge because it stands for something. It makes me feel good to know that we are here for a purpose and we are fulfilling this purpose. We are really helping people in this community.”