March 29, 2017

Dr. Huda Zoghbi, director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine, is being honored by the Gairdner Foundation with the 2017 Canada Gairdner International Award for seminal discoveries and contributions to biomedical science. This award recognizes some of the most significant medical discoveries from around the world.

Zoghbi, who also is professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Baylor, is one of five individuals given this award. She is being recognized for her work surrounding the discovery of the gene responsible for Rett syndrome.

After years of treating patients, Zoghbi began to focus on finding the genetic causes of the disease, which strikes after a year of normal development and presents with developmental regression, social withdrawal, loss of hand use and compulsive wringing of the hands, seizures and a variety of neurobehavioral symptoms.

Zoghbi identified that mutations in MECP2 are the cause of Rett syndrome, revealing the importance of MeCP2 for the function of various neuronal subtypes. Her work showed just how sensitive the brain is to the levels of MeCP2 and that doubling MeCP2 levels causes progressive neurological deficits. This disorder is now recognized as MECP2 Duplication Syndrome in humans.

Her recent work showed the symptoms of adult mice modeling the duplication disorder can be reversed using antisense oligonucleotides that normalize MeCP2 levels.

The discovery of the Rett syndrome gene provided a straightforward diagnostic genetic test, allowing early and accurate diagnosis of the syndrome. It also revealed that mutations in MECP2 also can cause a host of other neuropsychiatric features ranging from autism to juvenile onset schizophrenia. Further, it provided evidence that an autism spectrum disorder or an intellectual disability disorder can be genetic even if it is not inherited.

Her discovery opened up a new area of research on the role of epigenetics in neuropsychiatric phenotypes. Her use of an antisense oligonucleotide to lower MECP2 levels provides a potential therapeutic strategy for the MECP2 duplication syndrome and inspires similar studies for other duplication disorders.

Zoghbi will be presented her award at a gala in Toronto on Thursday, October 26. Each award carries an honorarium of $100,000 to support continued research.

March 21, 2017

Imagine spending several months trying to find the pathogen responsible for a cluster of Burkholderia cepacia infections among critically ill, hospitalized patients. For infection preventionists, solving this mystery can be a daunting task but not impossible if you have the epidemiology skills and collaborative resources in your investigative toolbox.

When Texas Children’s had a small outbreak of B. cepacia infection last year, Texas Children’s Quality and Safety Director Elaine Whaley immediately sprang into action to identify the cause of the outbreak. Her extensive experience in infection prevention and control coupled with her professional networking skills helped her locate an infection preventionist at another pediatric hospital one-thousand miles away who had experienced a similar outbreak. Together, they identified the pathogen responsible for the B. cepacia outbreak in their respective hospitals.

Partnering with Infection Preventionist Angela Rupp of Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, their collaborative investigation expedited the nationwide recall of liquid docusate, a medication used to treat constipation. This product was later found to be contaminated with the bacterium B. cepacia, which was directly responsible for the sudden outbreak of infection at both hospitals.

As a result of their work and commitment to promoting a culture of safe patient care, Whaley and Rupp will be recognized with the Heroes of Infection Prevention Award during a special ceremony in Portland by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

“It is a great honor to have one of our own be nationally recognized for this heroic award in patient safety,” said Trudy Leidich, Texas Children’s assistant vice president of Quality and Safety. “We are grateful to Elaine and our Infection Control team for identifying the direct source of contamination in order to keep our patients safe and free from preventable harm.”

B. cepacia is the name for a group of bacteria that can be found in soil and water and are often resistant to antibiotics. The bacterium can cause life-threatening infection in high-risk, medically complex children, such as children with cystic fibrosis and immunocompromising conditions.

In February 2016, when a small cluster of patients at Texas Children’s and Lurie Children’s Hospital came down with B. cepacia infection, Whaley and Rupp initiated separate outbreak investigations. But once the two hospitals’ clusters were confirmed to be identical, the patients were combined to facilitate the investigation.

After thorough analyses, their investigation found that the ducosate product at each hospital came from the same manufacturer. After reporting these findings to the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration was called into the investigation which subsequently resulted in a national product recall. This recall protected patients at Texas Children’s and patients at other pediatric hospitals across the nation from this serious pathogen.

February 21, 2017

More than 600 employees and staff with 12,480 combined years of Texas Children’s service and expertise were honored last week at the organization’s 29th Annual Employee Recognition Celebration.

Held on February 14 at the Bayou Event Center, Valentine’s Day provided the perfect opportunity to celebrate the heart of Texas Children’s past, present and future and recognize our long-time honorees and award recipients for their continued passion and commitment to the mission of Texas Children’s.

“There is a lot of love and dedication in this room today,” said Human Resources Senior Vice President Linda Aldred. “There is more history here today than we can probably imagine when we think about the stories and the milestones we have accomplished together.”

Inside a large ballroom decked out in lavish decor, students from Houston’s Parker Elementary Chorus serenaded the crowd before the awards presentation got underway.

After lunch, each honoree was led down a red carpet and onto a stage where President and CEO Mark A. Wallace, Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline and Texas Children’s Board of Trustee member Michael Linn shook their hands and thanked them for their 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 45 years of service at Texas Children’s.

In addition to long-time honorees, the ceremony recognized recipients of the Best of the West, Mark A. Wallace Catalyst Leadership, Smiles and Super Star awards.

“All of you have been such a powerful part of Texas Children’s growth and development,” Wallace said. “Because of your infinite passion for the mission of Texas Children’s, we are able to reach more children and women beyond the Texas Medical Center and even beyond the great state of Texas.”

Christina Atiba, a nurse in the Pulmonary Adolescent Endocrine Unit, has worked at Texas Children’s for 25 years and loves her job. While she enjoys taking care of children, she admires the organization’s commitment to advancing the educational and professional development opportunities for employees.

“The hospital has a developmental plan for every employee, and the sky is the limit at Texas Children’s,” Atiba said. “You can be whatever you want to be and they support you every way they can.”

The annual event was a day to celebrate accomplishments and honor those who have done so much to carry out the values and the mission of Texas Children’s to ensure we meet the health care needs of our patients and their families.

“We will always be grateful for your commitment and hard work, and we will always recognize you,” Aldred said. “We will always celebrate you in everything we have achieved together.”

Congratulations to all of our honorees!

Click here for a copy of the event’s program, including a complete list of honorees. Click here to watch the photo gallery.

Dr. Michael Paldino’s paper entitled “Brain Network Architecture and Global Intelligence in Children with Focal Epilepsy” was recently selected as the 2016 Lucien Levy Best Research Article Award Winner in the American Journal of Neuroradiology (AJNR).

This award is named for the late AJNR senior editor who championed its establishment and recognizes the best original research paper accepted in 2016. The winning paper, submitted by Paldino and fellow Texas Children’s radiologists Drs. Farahnaz Golriz, Wei Zhang and Zili Chu, was published electronically on October 13, 2016 and appeared in the February print issue of the journal.

The paper was selected by a vote of the journal’s editor-in-chief and senior editors.

The Clinical Research Center/Research Resources Office will present the Clinical Research Award for First Quarter 2017 to Dr. Beth Carter, Department of Pediatrics-Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine.

The award was established by the Clinical Research Center in collaboration with the Research Resources Office to recognize and honor individual contributions to protecting the best interest of the research subjects and compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

Dr. Carter’s research activities in the CRC focus on pediatric short bowel syndrome, intestinal failure, and the clinical treatment of these conditions. Dr. Carter is a leader in the development of new approaches to the treatment of pediatric short bowel and has been a significant contributor to the recent pediatric clinical trials of teduglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 2 analogue that is under investigation for the use in moderate to severe short bowel syndrome patients that are failing to progress in regards to enteral advances and/or TPN (total parenteral nutrition) weaning.

Texas Children Radiologist Dr. Nadia Mahmood was recently named Secretary of the Pediatric Ultrasound Community of the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine (AIUM). Mahmood will become chair of the committee in 2021.

This is a major responsibility for Mahmood, especially at the association’s annual convention in March, involving selection of topics, speakers and moderators for sessions. AIUM is a multidisciplinary medical association of more than 9,000 physicians, sonographers, scientists, students and other health care providers. Established more than 50 years ago, the AIUM is dedicated to advancing the safe and effective use of ultrasound in medicine through professional and public education, research, development of guidelines, and accreditation.

Mahmood is a board certified radiologist by the American Board of Radiology. Her clinical and research interests include lymphoma, neuroblastoma and oncology-related imaging. She also serves as one of four radiologists in the division of nuclear imaging with a focus on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging. Mahmood completed her subspecialty in Pediatric Imaging at Texas Children’s Hospital. Apart from her clinical and research responsibilities, Mahmood also serves as associate director of the Radiology Education Program as well as interim section chief of Ultrasound Imaging. She has published in numerous peer reviewed journals, with her most recent project pertaining to urinary tract infections in neonates. In addition, Mahmood is involved in multiple regional and national committees, including the one she was recently appointed to with the AIUM.

For more information about Mahmood click here.

February 7, 2017

2817SohailShah175Pediatric surgeon Dr. Sohail Shah was recently awarded the Texas Children’s Hospital Auxiliary Denton A. Cooley Fellowship in Surgical Innovation award for 2016-2017. The award is for $75,000 and is given to a physician whose surgical research focuses on innovative ways to help children and to save lives.

Shah will use his reward to create, implement and evaluate an innovative health care delivery model that engages patients and families in the choice of how they receive postoperative care (in-person, telephone, tele-health, or as needed).

To learn more about Shah and his research and clinic areas of expertise and interest, click here.