May 3, 2016

42716PoplackandPizzo640The 12th Annual Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers Research Symposium on April 7 offered faculty and trainees the opportunity to present their latest research and reunited the editors of the leading textbook on pediatric oncology.

The 7th edition of “Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology” is co-edited by Dr. David Poplack, professor of pediatrics at Baylor and director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, and Dr. Philip Pizzo, former dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine and founding director of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute.

Pizzo, whose career focus has been on the treatment of childhood cancer and infectious complications in children whose immune systems are compromised by diseases such as cancer and AIDS, was the keynote speaker at the symposium’s morning session. He offered a reflection on his career and participated in a question-and-answer session moderated by Poplack.

Dr. Peggy Goodell, professor of pediatrics at Baylor and part of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, delivered the afternoon keynote. The symposium also included a dozen oral research presentations and many more poster presentations.

Oral Presentation Winners:

1st place: Ifigeneia Tzannou, instructor, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy
Administration of most closely HLA-matched multivirus-specific T cells for the treatment of EBV, CMV, AdV, HHV-6 and BKV post allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant

2nd place: Jacob Junco, postdoctoral associate in pediatric oncology
Leukemogenesis in down syndrome acute lymphoblastic leukemia

3rd place: Frank Lin, assistant professor of pediatrics – oncology
Diagnostically and therapeutically relevant alterations in rare pediatric CNS tumors revealed by integrated sequencing

Poster Presentation Winners:

1st place: Paibel Aguayo-Hiraldo, clinical postdoctoral fellow in pediatric hematology/oncology
Adoptive T cell therapy for the prevention and treatment of parainfluenza virus 3 infections post allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant

2nd place: Vijetha Kumar, research assistant in pathology
Clinical validation of a next-generation target RNA sequencing assay for detection of fusion genes in pediatric and solid tumors

3rd place: Arpad Szoor, postdoctoral associate in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy
T cell activating mesenchymal stem cells as a biotherapeutic for HCC

42716MyChartinside350Texas Children’s Pediatrics is making it easier than ever for families to take care of what’s most important to them – their children’s health. Whether they need a same-day sick visit or want to schedule a well-check visit months in advance, our families no longer have to wait for office hours to call their primary care practice. Now, all they have to do is log in to MyChart anytime to make their next appointment.

Families also can:

  •  Send non-urgent messages to the care team
  •  Request prescription refills
  •  Complete questionnaires before appointments
  •  Request medical record copies
  •  Access their child’s medical record, including: test results, allergies/medications, after-visit summaries, growth charts, and immunization records

“We want to make it as easy as possible for our families to access the care they need for their child, even when life gets too busy to call the office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.,” said Sara Montenegro, director of regional operations for Texas Children’s Pediatrics. “This new feature on MyChart gives access to scheduling appointments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, providing a great service to our families.”

42716Dietrichgrantinside640Dr. Jennifer Dietrich, chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, and Dr. Julie Hakim, Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology fellow, have been awarded $50,000 recently by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) for their work on customizable 3-D printed pediatric vaginal stents and vaginal dilators. The stents and dilators are designed for girls born with congenital vaginal abnormalities.

This is the third year the NCC-PDI has held a competition to recognize and fund new and innovative pediatric devices. In addition to receiving the funding, the NCC-PDI will share its expertise in design development and help bring the funded products to market. From the 37 applications this year, six were chosen for funding.

“Because of the need for dilators or vaginal stents determined by women born with congenital anomalies of the reproductive tract and by women who have undergone surgery or radiation for gynecologic cancers, we know there is a market for customized devices such as these,” Dietrich said.

“It has been an incredible learning process during my fellowship to move from seeing a need among our pediatric patients undergoing vaginal surgery, to IRB and IACUC approval, to prototyping and now to company formation and product development. We are looking forward to our products providing better outcomes for our patients,” said Dr. Hakim.

NCC-PDI was formed in September 2013 through the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program to provide infrastructure support and expert consultation on pediatric medical device development throughout the product development lifecycle.

April 27, 2016

42716icims640Earlier this month, Texas Children’s launched a new Applicant Tracking System (ATS) on our Careers website, texaschildrenspeople.org. Powered by iCims, this advanced technology supports our national recruitment strategies to further identify, recruit and engage the best talent.

The many features of our new ATS enable Texas Children’s to conduct our recruitment processes in a more thoughtful approach that reflects our thought leadership as a premium health care employer. There are also social media components that will further engage prospective candidates, thereby creating and growing a pool of talent for our positions.

Our employees will now also have a more personalized recruitment experience. You can access your personal Careers dashboard via our new ATS Resource Center to search and apply to internal job opportunities. You will no longer have to log into MOLI. As part of the ATS transition, we have also imported your current Careers profile into the new system so there is no set-up required on your end*.

To access your Careers profile,

  • Click on the new Careers link under Human Resources on the Texas Children’s Connect homepage
  • This will bring you to our new ATS Resource Center. In the Employee section, you will find
    • Apply – Your new ATS portal
      • This is where you will access your Careers dashboard to update your profile, search job opportunities, and subscribe to news about talent communities that interest you. As long as you are signed into our Texas Children’s network, your login will be automatically authenticated when you click on this function.
    • Job Aids
      • Here you will find step-by-step instructions to help you learn, navigate, and use the features of our new ATS.

To help answer any questions, a Command Center is currently available through Friday, May 6.

Hours of Operation: 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Command Center Main Line: 832-824-1146
After Hours Process: For after hours (before 7 a.m. or after 5:30 p.m.) inquires, email the Talent Acquisition ATS mailbox at taapplicanttrackings@texaschildrens.org

* Please note that non-Texas Children’s personnel such as contingent and contract workers will need to create a new profile on our Careers website.

42716beyondthescale640Together with Weight Watchers, Texas Children’s is excited to introduce Beyond the Scale, a new program with a holistic approach to a healthier, happier life that encompasses the evolving needs, mindsets and science around weight management. As part of our commitment to your health and wellness, Texas Children’s is subsidizing 50 percent of the program cost.

This new program includes:

  • New SmartPoints® plan to make healthy eating simple. The new system delivers weight loss while using the latest nutritional science to go beyond both calories and the previous Weight Watchers PointsPlus system.
  • New fitness approach that fits a busy life. Members receive personalized activity goals and have access to the new FitBreak by Weight Watchers™ app.
  • Personalized program that serves each member’s lifestyle, goals and challenges. Based on an assessment, members receive daily and weekly SmartPoints targets, personalized activity goals and relevant content designed to help find and fuel inner strength.

To learn more about Beyond the Scale, check out this video.

How to Get Started:

  1. Register online at https://wellness.weightwatchers.com
  2. Use the following to login:
    1. Employer ID #10805693
    2. Passcode #WW10805693

Interested in hosting Weight Watchers At Work meetings at your location?
Group meetings are available for groups of 15 or more employees at any location. Please email wellbeing@texaschildrens.org to receive an interest survey and steps to providing At Work meetings.

We are looking to schedule weekly At Work meetings at the Leopold L. Meyer building. If you would like to participate, please complete this interest survey.

Check out our upcoming Employee Health & Wellness events in May!

April 26, 2016

52616MindfulnessMay640Here at Texas Children’s, we lead tirelessly every day at work and home. There are times that even the ordinary demands of life can cause some feelings of unease and stress which may result in mental and physical fatigue or anxiety. The simple act of mindfulness can reduce the negative impact of stress and anxiety by helping us pay attention to our thoughts and feelings in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

To support you on your path to mindfulness, Employee Health and Wellness will be offering a variety of activities in May at both Main and West Campuses. These activities include the following – click here for more details.

Weekly educational mindfulness seminars
Learn how to practice mindfulness in everyday activities during the following sessions:

  • Mindful Eating
  • De-Clutter To Live Your Best Life
  • Putting Mindfulness into Practice
  • Mindfulness in Daily Life

Yoga classes
Practice mindfulness by rebooting, strengthening, and calming your mind and body during this holistic practice. All levels and abilities are welcome.

What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging one’s feelings, thoughts, and physical state. Mindfulness can be used as a therapeutic technique offering lasting benefits for mental functioning, emotional and physical health, overall well-being, and can be implemented in every aspect of daily living.

The many practical benefits of mindfulness include:

  • Enhanced well-being and stress reduction
  • Freedom from harmful patterns of thought and emotion
  • Increased ability to focus as well as clarity of thinking
  • Increased learning capacity, memory, productivity and better communication

To receive Mindful Moment text messages during May, text MINDFULNESS to 882-02. Message and data rates may apply.

42716texansautograph640The NFL Draft is this week, and pre-season games only a few months away. So football season is right around the corner, and Texas Children’s wants to help you gear up for it.

Over the next two weeks, all Texas Children’s employees will have the chance to be selected to attend an exclusive autograph and photograph session with two Houston Texans players: Charles James II, the Texans cornerback who rose to a fan favorite in last season’s Hard Knocks on HBO; and Devon Still, defensive end and recipient of the Jimmy V Perseverance Award for his daughter, Leah’s, courageous fight against cancer. Two Texans cheerleaders also will be in attendance.

To win a chance to attend the event, you must submit your definition of leadership. As you know, Mark Wallace’s Leadership Maxim no. 4 is that “We all should have our personal definition of leadership.”

We will use the leadership definition submissions to randomly select participants for the Houston Texans autograph/photograph session. We also will share some of the leadership definitions on Mr. Wallace’s On the Mark blog.

Submissions will be accepted here until Tuesday, May 3. We will select 400 people from the submissions to attend the autograph and photograph session. Those selected will be contacted by Wednesday, May 11.

Transportation to and from the stadium will not be provided, and only employees can attend. Exempt employees who are scheduled to work that day must obtain leader approval. Non-exempt employees who are scheduled to work that day must obtain leader approval and badge in and out.

“We hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity to meet two Houston Texans players and learn more about our partnership with Houston’s hometown football team,” said Lisa Yelenick, director of Service Line, Community and Brand for the Marketing and Public Relations Department. “Good luck and Go Texans!”

Texas Children’s entered a partnership with the Houston Texans more than a year ago to inspire children to lead healthier, more active lives. The two organizations have since reached thousands of Houston-area children through camps, school programs, special hospital appearances and other events that combine fun with education.

The partnership also includes involvement from players, cheerleaders and TORO in the community and at hospital events hosted by the Texans and Texas Children’s Hospital. Texas Children’s and the Houston Texans will continue identifying ways to grow the partnership and extend its reach even further within the local and regional communities.

To learn more about the partnership, go to texaschildrens.org/texans. For questions about the event, contact Kimberly Vetter at mkvetter@texaschildrens.org.