January 13, 2015

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The look on people’s faces when I tell them our news is always hilarious and always the same: wide eyes, open jaws and nodding heads shaking back and forth in disbelief. If this isn’t the look we receive right away then I immediately know they haven’t heard me correctly. So I restate the facts: “Twins, again. Only 20 months a part. Four kids under the age of 2.” And then I wait for the reaction. And it’s always spot on and always the same.

11415BWelizabeth640-2Most people would classify my husband, Scott, and I as nothing short of crazy. Yes, four kids under the age of 2 is going to be extremely challenging, and yes, I’m aware of how I will rarely have any time left for myself. But in all reality, I consider us to be the luckiest people in the world. How many families do you know that are blessed with two sets of twins? How many people get to grow their family in such a unique way? I come from a large family (I’m the second of five children), and so I’m welcoming the chaos with open arms. My childhood home was always full, always loud and always busy. But above all, it was fun. As a child, I used to crave silence, but now as an adult I can’t imagine anything better than to give our children siblings and to introduce them to the world I knew growing up.

The chaos will increase at the end of January when we welcome babies no. 3 and no. 4. Since our first set of twins are a boy (Charlie) and a girl (Caroline), my husband and I decided to let the next set be a surprise. We’ve had the envelopes revealing their genders for several months, but somehow we’ve managed not to open them. My friends and family ask me all the time how we have the willpower to not rip them open and find out the surprise, but it honestly hasn’t been that hard for me. The only focus we have is on healthy children. As long as they arrive healthy and strong, we couldn’t care less what their genders are. We already feel blessed beyond measure and can’t wait to become a family of six in just a few weeks!

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Texas Children’s is excited to announce the arrrival of Dr. Benjamin Shneider, our new chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Shneider was also appointed professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Shneider obtained his undergraduate education at Stanford University and earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago. He completed pediatric residency training at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, as well as a subspecialty fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at Yale University.

Shneider served as chief of the Division of Pediatric Hepatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine before moving to the University of Pittsburgh and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC where he served as professor of pediatrics and director of Pediatric Hepatology.

Shneider’s clinical expertise includes liver disease in children with a particular focus on cholestatic liver disorders and portal hypertension. His current basic research focus is on intestinal gene regulation, while his translational and clinical research centers on pediatric liver diseases. His basic, translational and clinical research in intestinal gene expression and liver diseases has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1993.

Shneider has authored 114 original research papers published in the peer-reviewed medical literature and 104 additional textbook chapters, case reports and review articles. He has delivered 199 invited lectures at top medical centers and scientific meetings around the world. He is an elected member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

“Dr. Shneider is an internationally-recognized clinician, researcher and expert in diseases of the liver and gastrointestinal system,” said Dr. Mark W. Kline, physician-in-chief at Texas Children’s and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor. “We are confident his leadership will continue to advance the international prominence of our gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition team.”

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Three inspirational women who are members of the Texas Children’s family have been inducted into the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC) Hall of Fame.

Dr. Lucy Puryear and Texas Children’s Board of Trustees members Jan Duncan and Cindy Taylor were among the 13 outstanding women recognized at last month’s Hall of Fame Gala. The ceremony honored female leaders who have made significant contributions to the advancement of women through leadership, education, advocacy and mentoring in the Greater Houston community.

Texas Children’s was the only organization that had more than one inductee into the Hall of Fame, which speaks volumes about our organization’s incredible leadership.

“We are thrilled that several of our own female leaders were awarded this prestigious honor,” said Cris Daskevich, senior vice president at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “These dynamic women are making a profound impact in their respective fields and helping Texas Children’s advance care for children and women in our region and around the world.”

The awards ceremony featured a heartfelt video tribute applauding each of our female leaders for their efforts in promoting Texas Children’s passion for the mission.

Jan Duncan
Jan Duncan serves on the Board of Trustees and has been a long-time supporter of Texas Children’s. She and her late husband, Dan, helped establish the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s, which has led to remarkable advances in the diagnosis and treatment of rare, childhood neurologic diseases. Their commitment of $50 million to the NRI is the largest single gift in Texas Children’s history.

As an advocate for children’s health, Duncan serves as an honorary chair of Texas Children’s Heal Sick Children campaign. She also supports Texas Children’s Cancer Center, the Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative and has ensured the success of our Vision 2010 initiatives.

Dr. Lucy Puryear
Dr. Lucy Puryear has been a passionate advocate for women’s mental health and her ongoing efforts have not gone unnoticed in her profession. Recently, she received the GHWCC’s coveted Kathryn S. Stream Award for Excellence in Women’s Health.

Puryear is the medical director of The Women’s Place: Center for Reproductive Psychiatry at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and co-director of The Menopause Clinic, an initiative to improve the health of women as they age. One of her current projects is to initiate maternal depression screening for women throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period to help enhance their quality of life through early diagnosis and treatment.

Puryear is a nationally recognized expert on women’s mental health and has delivered numerous presentations to health professionals and lay persons through invited lectures, print and television appearances. She is the author of the book, “Understanding Your Moods When You’re Expecting: Emotions, Mental Health, and Happiness, Before, During and After Pregnancy.”

Cindy Taylor
Outside of her professional achievements in the oil and gas industry, Cindy Taylor has served on Texas Children’s Board of Trustees since 2012. In these short years, she has helped our organization create a roadmap for the future.

As chair of the Board’s Operations, Planning and Development Committee, she oversaw the very important CareFirst planning process to evaluate the hospital’s critical needs and help us set the right course for Texas Children’s for decades to come. At the heart of this process is our organization-wide focus on quality, safety, patient experience and proactive growth.

Congratulations to Texas Children’s remarkable female leaders on a job well done!

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Texas Children’s Hospital is excited to announce Dr. Lauren Kane as a new cardiovascular surgeon at Texas Children’s Heart Center. Kane, whose appointment is effective this week, is also an assistant professor of surgery and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Kane join our growing team as she brings with her a great array of clinical and research experience,” said Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., chief of congenital heart surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children’s, as well as professor of pediatrics and chief of congenital heart surgery at Baylor. “Not only will her addition to the team allow for more convenient access for children in need of cardiac surgery, but we’re confident her research will continue to advance the national prominence of our cardiovascular team.”

Kane’s clinical and research interests include the full spectrum of congenital heart surgery, with a particular interest in neonatal palliation and outcomes-based research.

Kane previously served as assistant professor of congenital heart surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She earned her bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Arlington, and her medical degree from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Kane completed her surgical residency at The University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Emory University and a fellowship in congenital heart surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Ranked No. 2 nationally in cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report, Texas Children’s Heart Center cares for children of every age, including preterm and low-birth-weight newborns tailoring procedures and treatments to the needs of each individual child and his or her family. Texas Children’s Heart Center is recognized across the globe as a leader in the highly specialized field of pediatric congenital heart surgery and performs more than 800 surgical cardiac procedures each year with outcomes among the best in the nation.

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Do you need extra hands-on assistance this summer? Do you need assistance with office work or need help to keep patients busy? The 2015 Summer Junior Program will run from Monday, June 8, to Friday, August 14, with more than 100+ Summer Junior volunteers Summer Junior Volunteers are high school students who will commit to 12 hours a week within a variety of service assignments.

Employees and all departments are encouraged to request Summer Junior volunteers to provide a fun, rewarding experience at Texas Children’s Hospital. The volunteers will be able to assist in office tasks, patient interaction, and overall staff support. Please fill out the required form to request volunteers for your department (Main Campus only) by Sunday, March 1.

Please contact Melisa Akin for any questions.

January 6, 2015

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This year’s flu season is in full force with about half of the country, including Texas, experiencing high levels of influenza activity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu has claimed the lives of 21 children and hospitalized almost 4,000 people in the United States.

Dr. Carol Baker, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and executive director of the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research at Texas Children’s Hospital, says it’s not too late to get vaccinated against the potentially deadly infection and penned a column that ran in the Dec. 29 edition of the Houston Chronicle urging people to do so.

Read her column below, and if you haven’t already, get your annual flu vaccine. Employee Health is administering free seasonal influenza vaccinations to all Texas Children’s employees, Baylor College of Medicine employees working in Texas Children’s facilities, Texas Children’s medical staff and volunteers. Call the Employee Health Clinic at Ext: 4-2150 today to make an appointment to get your flu vaccine.

Recently, the news has been dominated by the dangers and deaths from Ebola virus, with thousands of Americans being deployed to West Africa to fight Ebola. Yet we need to also be concerned about another epidemic, one that hits us every year: influenza virus or the flu, which killed more Americans last year than the current total deaths from Ebola in Liberia. While the severity of the flu epidemic is unpredictable, it always hospitalizes thousands of Americans and last year killed 107 children, almost half of whom were previously healthy; so far this year, five children have died. This month ushered in this year’s epidemic in Texas. We also learned from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the most frequent strain of the four influenza viruses, H3N2, is dominant so far. H3N2 flu is linked to severe influenza seasons, with high rates of hospitalization and death. Also, a little more than half of the patients with H3N2 flu disease so far have virus that has mutated slightly, making this part of the vaccine less effective.

You may think this change in one of the four flu viruses is a reason not to get vaccinated. This is simply not the case. The influenza vaccine remains the best way to protect yourself and your family from the flu, and it is better than other important strategies, like hand and cough hygiene and staying away from people with flu symptoms. Even with the mutated H3N2 flu circulating, this year’s flu vaccine protects against other strains causing flu. While this year’s vaccine could be somewhat less effective, opting for no vaccination assures no protection.

Getting the flu vaccine is especially important to protect the most vulnerable: pregnant women, children under two years of age, the elderly and those people with diseases or receiving medications that impair the immune system (e.g., cancer). Last year, only 52 percent of pregnant women and 70 percent of children under two were vaccinated. Pregnant women are five times more likely to have a complication from influenza that results in hospitalization than nonpregnant women of the same age. Vaccination not only protects the woman, but the antibodies created by the mother in response to flu vaccine pass through the umbilical cord and breast milk to the baby, protecting the baby before age 6 months when the flu vaccine can be given. Also, flu-vaccinated pregnant women have fewer premature and low-birth weight babies, and millions of flu vaccine doses given in the past have proven how safe this vaccine is for mother and baby.

While you may think that flu is no worse than other respiratory viruses common this time of year, flu is distinct. It causes high fever, severe muscle aches, fatigue, sore throat and in children sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, symptoms that last a week or more. Getting the vaccine not only protects, but if you do get the flu, the symptoms are less severe and don’t last as long.

Every year, my colleagues and I care for far too many vulnerable infants and children who suffer needlessly from an infection that can be prevented. It’s not too late to be immunized: The flu epidemic typically peaks in February and continues into the spring. Vaccine is still available; if your physician has no more supply, go to a pharmacy or the health department. It takes 14 days to be protected after vaccination, so readers who haven’t already done so should take this opportunity to seek the flu vaccine as soon as possible.

We still anticipate seeing an increase in cases at our hospitals, so there is still time to protect yourself and your loved ones. Flu vaccine is truly the best personal protective equipment you can wear during flu season.

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Texas Children’s researchers have embarked on a five-year crossover dietary intervention study that could determine why certain children with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) develop symptoms when eating wheat.

IBS is a common gastrointestinal (GI) disorder that can develop in children at any age. Since IBS patients have extremely sensitive digestive tracts, they may experience frequent abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence and changes in bowel habits that include diarrhea and/or constipation.

A group of sugars called FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols) are known to exacerbate IBS symptoms. Since these sugars are poorly digested in the small intestine, trillions of bacteria in the colon ferment the sugars, which can produce excessive gas in IBS sufferers. One of these hard-to-digest sugars is fructans.

In collaboration with researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Texas Children’s Gastroenterologist Dr. Bruno Chumpitazi and his team are conducting a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study to examine the effects of fructans – a natural sugar found in wheat – in 80 children with IBS.

“Certain IBS children experience unpleasant GI symptoms when challenged with fructans,” said Chumpitazi, director of Texas Children’s Neurogastroenterology and Motility program. “We hypothesize these symptoms are due to the composition of bacteria in their gut, or gut microbiome, and what these bacteria do with the fructans.”

All 80 children will receive the same low FODMAP diet with varying drinks prepared by the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor. Based on randomization, one drink will contain fructans while the other will contain maltodextrin, a starch that our bodies can easily absorb without the help of gut bacteria.

“The children will consume the assigned diet over a period of 72 hours,” said Chumpitazi. “They will return to their normal diet for at least seven days before starting the low FODMAP diet with a different drink combination.”

With the help of Texas Children’s Microbiome Center led by Dr. James Versalovic and the Texas Children’s Center for Pediatric Abdominal Pain Research led by Dr. Robert J. Shulman, researchers will track the children’s symptoms daily and collect stool samples before and after the dietary interventions to monitor changes in their gut microbiome’s bacterial composition and bacterial byproducts. The byproducts produced by the bacteria will also be measured through breath testing.

The objective of the NIH-funded study is to identify whether bacteria in the gut and/or other factors are responsible for IBS symptoms in patients when fructans are consumed.

“If we understand why IBS children in the trial respond differently to the fructan challenge, it could help scientists develop targeted therapies to enhance the quality of life for patients with this GI disorder,” said Chumpitazi.

Other Baylor College of Medicine scientists collaborating in this study include Dr. Joe Petrosino and Dr. Aleksander Milosavljevic.