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Abbie Miller

Using an Evidence-Based Parenting Program to Engage a Community
 Using an Evidence-Based Parenting Program to Engage a Community 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Given the similar size and distribution of Asian and Hispanic populations in central Ohio, Michael Flores, PhD, clinical team coordinator in the Big Lots Behavioral Health Services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, was puzzled about why significantly fewer Asian families were seeking mental and behavioral health services at Nationwide Children’s. Roughly 4.9% of the Columbus population…

Reducing Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits
 Reducing Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits 480 320 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Through serial interventions and teamwork, the initiative reduced asthma-related ED utilization rates by nearly 4% per year at a time when national rates were rising. Numerous studies have demonstrated that quality improvement (QI) methodologies improve asthma outcomes. However, moving that success from individual patients to a large population is challenging. In a recent study published…

Percutaneous Occlusion Linked to Respiratory Improvements in Low-Weight Infants with PDA
 Percutaneous Occlusion Linked to Respiratory Improvements in Low-Weight Infants with PDA 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Nurse caring for infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Percutaneous occlusion for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in infants weighing less than 6 kg is associated with potential longer term improvements in respiratory health, research by investigators at Nationwide Children’s Hospital shows. “A new device for PDA closure recently approved by the FDA has potential to reduce the incidence of device-related complications. This important work…

When Should Preoperative Neuromonitoring for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Be Used?
 When Should Preoperative Neuromonitoring for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Be Used? 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Study leads researchers to recommend against routine use of preoperative SSEP/TMS testing in cases of AIS requiring corrective surgery. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a coronal curvature of the spine that affects 1 to 3% of adolescents. Of these, a very small percentage – at most 0.5% – progress to the point of needing surgical…

Improving Medication Dosing Consistency for Infants With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
 Improving Medication Dosing Consistency for Infants With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

A quality improvement initiative effectively increases the percentage of infants dosed according to birth weight. From 2000 to 2009, prenatal maternal opiate use increased from 1.2 to 5.6 per 1,000 births, with up to 80% of in utero exposed infants requiring pharmacotherapy for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). In Ohio, home of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the exposure rate…

It’s Not All About Weight: Treating and Managing Obesity in Pediatric Patients
 It’s Not All About Weight: Treating and Managing Obesity in Pediatric Patients 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Study highlights different metrics for measuring success of a weight management program for pediatrics. For pediatric patients who have severe obesity that is not well managed with the routine standard of care – diet, exercise and a meeting with a dietician – a more structured, multidisciplinary approach may be warranted. And for patients with endocrine…

Meet Oluyinka Olutoye, MD, PhD
 Meet Oluyinka Olutoye, MD, PhD 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In August 2019, Nationwide Children’s welcomed Oluyinka Olutoye, MD, PhD, as surgeon-in-chief. In a Q&A, the internationally renowned fetal surgeon shares his thoughts about the past, present and future of fetal surgery and the challenges and opportunities facing pediatric surgeons today.   Q: What brought you to Nationwide Children’s Hospital? I was initially attracted to…

Bias: Do You See What Influences You?
 Bias: Do You See What Influences You? 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In the United States, children of color have worse clinical outcomes than white children. Racial disparities have been documented in nearly every pediatric specialty. Among the most studied and most widely perpetuated disparities are those between black and white children. For example: The infant mortality rate, while declining overall, is nearly three times higher for…

How and When Do Children Become Aware of the Construct of “Race”?
 How and When Do Children Become Aware of the Construct of “Race”? 1024 737 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Researchers have shown that babies of color are just as likely to experience bias as adults of color. But very young children don’t interpret that experience in the same way as older children. “Children become aware of differences in physical characteristics of human beings when they are 3 years old. They notice differences in sex…

Stopping Progression of Tissue Injury after Button Battery Ingestion
 Stopping Progression of Tissue Injury after Button Battery Ingestion 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Irrigation with acetic acid neutralizes tissue and prevents delayed esophageal complications. Button battery injuries in children have been increasingly severe – resulting in devastating injuries and even death. Button batteries damage esophageal tissue through isothermic hydrolysis reactions, resulting in alkaline caustic injury, which leads to tissue necrosis. Prompt removal of the battery is critical to…

Swallowing Functions Remain Worse in Preterm Infants Even at Full-Term Equivalent Age
 Swallowing Functions Remain Worse in Preterm Infants Even at Full-Term Equivalent Age 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Preterm infants exerted greater effort than full-term infants to consume less than half the volume in a recent study led by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Preterm infants face many challenges as they enter the world too soon. One of the biggest challenges is learning the coordination of the suck-swallow refex that allows them to…

Study Finds No Correlation Between Brain Function and Head Impacts After Two Seasons of Youth Tackle Football
 Study Finds No Correlation Between Brain Function and Head Impacts After Two Seasons of Youth Tackle Football 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In a prospective study of children playing tackle football, researchers find minimal changes in neurocognitive outcomes – and any changes were not correlated to number or severity of head impacts. Many parents, potential players and medical providers are increasingly wary of youth contact sports participation. The concern over the potential short- and long-term effects of…

Pinterest Perfect Isn’t the Whole Story When It Comes to Safety
 Pinterest Perfect Isn’t the Whole Story When It Comes to Safety 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Imagine the scene: It’s late at night. You’re planning a party for your friend/spouse/child. Your phone is in your hand. What are you doing? You’re probably looking for inspiration on Pinterest or other social media sites. And while they might be the perfect places to find ideas for decorations or a new cupcake recipe, would…

An Infant. A Virus. An Emergency IND. A Life Saved.
 An Infant. A Virus. An Emergency IND. A Life Saved. 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Clinician scientists collaborate to use virus-specific T-cells from the mother to successfully treat a systemic adenovirus infection in a preterm infant. It’s not every day that researchers can say that they’ve written and submitted and emergency investigational new drug (EIND) application to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and saved a life. But that’s what…

What’s Next for NEC?
 What’s Next for NEC? 898 504 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Red. White. Black. These are the colors of necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC. When surgeons open the distended abdomens of the tiny infants affected by NEC, they see a mottled mixture of red (inflamed), white (ischemic) and black (dead) tissue. Their first task is to assess whether or not there is enough viable tissue to save.…

Fetal Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty for Critical Aortic Stenosis
 Fetal Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty for Critical Aortic Stenosis 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Fetus in utero receiving valvuloplasty

Some heart defects, such as aortic stenosis can be detected on fetal ultrasound. For some fetuses, an intervention can be beneficial before birth. Aimee Armstrong, MD, director of Cardiac Catheterization and Interventional Therapies at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, performs fetal balloon aortic valvuloplasty among other fetal heart catheterization procedures as part of the Congenital Heart Collaborative, a…

Long-Term Follow Up of Patients Receiving Novel Gene Therapy for SMA Type I
 Long-Term Follow Up of Patients Receiving Novel Gene Therapy for SMA Type I 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (SMA1) is a rare neuromuscular disease in which 75 percent of affected children die or require permanent ventilation by 13.6 months. Researchers recently published the long-term outcomes of patients who received the investigational drug AVXS-101 – an adeno-associated virus serotype 9 mediated gene replacement therapy. Twelve children aged 1 to…

Collaboration Key in Recent Advances for Batten Disease
 Collaboration Key in Recent Advances for Batten Disease 1024 683 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Batten disease (neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis) is a collection of lysosomal storage disorders caused by a variety of genetic mutations. These disorders cause an accumulation of cellular “trash” to build up, ultimately causing the neurons to die. So far, scientists have identified 13 different versions of Batten disease, each with its own associated genetic mutation. Each version…

National Survey of Emergency Department Management of Self-Harm Highlights Successes, Room for Improvement
 National Survey of Emergency Department Management of Self-Harm Highlights Successes, Room for Improvement 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Only 15 percent of hospitals surveyed routinely provided all recommended safety planning elements. Approximately half a million patients in the United States arrive in emergency departments (EDs) after deliberate self-harm annually. In the short term following the ED visit, these patients are at high risk for repeated self-harm and suicide. In a study published [today]…

New Guidelines for Home Oxygen Therapy in Pediatric Patients
 New Guidelines for Home Oxygen Therapy in Pediatric Patients 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Suicide Deaths Among Incarcerated Youth
 Suicide Deaths Among Incarcerated Youth 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Influences of Maternal Diabetes on Fetal Heart Development
 Influences of Maternal Diabetes on Fetal Heart Development 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Big Gains in FSHD Research: A Newly Published Model of FSHD and a Potential Gene Therapy to Improve Functional Outcomes
 Big Gains in FSHD Research: A Newly Published Model of FSHD and a Potential Gene Therapy to Improve Functional Outcomes 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

The model aims to provide the basis for many future studies to bring therapeutic options to patients with FSHD. Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is the most prevalent dominantly inherited muscular dystrophy in the world. To date, there are no pharmacologic treatments available for the more than 850,000 people affected worldwide. Developing models to use for…

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: “They Get the Job Done”
 Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: “They Get the Job Done” 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2018 National Conference finds that the growing number of grandparents serving as sole caregivers for their grandchildren are coping well. In the United States, millions of children are being raised solely by their grandparents. As the opioid crisis and other factors continue to disrupt families, experts expect the number…

Using Quality Improvement to Customize Opioid Reduction Strategies
 Using Quality Improvement to Customize Opioid Reduction Strategies 1024 681 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Different specialties across pediatrics have different uses, indications and practices when it comes to opioids. Many primary care pediatricians do not routinely prescribe them. Pediatric surgical specialties, however, may use opioid medications more frequently depending on the patient and procedure performed. While broad restrictions, such as those enacted on the federal and state levels, aimed…

The Impact of Opioids on Children
 The Impact of Opioids on Children 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
A black-and-white image of an adolescent White boy, a young Black girl, an adolescent White girl, a Black teen boy, and a young White mom and her infant, all in a row across the screen, all in white shirts, and all with solemn expressions.

The faces above represent the young lives affected by the opioid crisis. Children who are losing their parents to addiction and overdoses. Children who live in instability and uncertainty. Children who spend their earliest weeks in withdrawal. And children who are at risk of developing their own addictions. Here in Columbus, Ohio, we’ve had a…

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Transforming Care for Newborns and Their Families
 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Transforming Care for Newborns and Their Families 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

If there’s a success story to be told at this point in the history of the opioid crisis, it’s in the newborn intensive care unit. From changing attitudes to standardizing treatment, clinical care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and their families is markedly different than it was 10 years ago.   CHANGING ATTITUDES…

What Happens When Opioid-Exposed Babies Go Home?
 What Happens When Opioid-Exposed Babies Go Home? 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Black and white image of an unsmiling White woman holding a young, awake infant in the right third of the frame

Follow-up for babies with NAS or prenatal opioid exposure is essential for understanding risks and outcomes.

Managing Pain in an Era of Opioid Abuse
 Managing Pain in an Era of Opioid Abuse 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
A black-and-white image of an adolescent White boy, a young Black girl, an adolescent White girl, a Black teen boy, and a young White mom and her infant, all in a row across the screen, all in white shirts, and all with solemn expressions.

Managing pain is complicated. Not that long ago, perhaps 50 years or so, pain was understood to be a multidisciplinary issue requiring many different approaches. Doctors would recommend lifestyle changes, complementary therapies and medications to treat chronic pain. Then something changed. Opioids began being marketed as “nonaddictive.” Pain became the “5th vital sign,” and physicians…

What Can Bench Science Teach Us About Opioid Abuse?
 What Can Bench Science Teach Us About Opioid Abuse? 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In vitro models can help answer big questions about neonatal abstinence syndrome and fetal drug exposure.

Breaking the Cycle: Preventing and Treating Addiction in Youth
 Breaking the Cycle: Preventing and Treating Addiction in Youth 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Virtually all addictions begin during adolescence. And nearly 4 million 12-25 year olds in the United States have a substance abuse problem, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Substance abuse in adolescents is not restricted to opioids, but in the midst of this national crisis, too many young people are finding…

Is Your Patient Really Allergic to Penicillin?
 Is Your Patient Really Allergic to Penicillin? 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Cumulative Subconcussive Impacts in a Single Season of Youth Football Not Associated With Declines in Neurocognitive Measures
 Cumulative Subconcussive Impacts in a Single Season of Youth Football Not Associated With Declines in Neurocognitive Measures 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In an investigation of head impact burden and change in neurocognitive function during a season of youth football, researchers find that sub-concussive impacts are not correlated with worsening performance in neurocognitive function. Each year, more than 3 million children in primary and high school play tackle football in the United States. Growing concern about the…

Housing for Health: An Early Look at What Can Happen When a Pediatric Health System Begins to Treat a Neighborhood as a Patient
 Housing for Health: An Early Look at What Can Happen When a Pediatric Health System Begins to Treat a Neighborhood as a Patient 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

In a recent publication in the journal Pediatrics, researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital present a case study for treating a neighborhood as a patient. Neighborhood effect syndrome, characterized by symptoms of extreme poverty including blight, housing insecurity, racial segregation, trauma, violence, poorly performing schools, low social cohesion and support and environmental toxins, has debilitating consequences…

QI Project Improves Response Time to Nurse Triage Phone Calls in Busy ENT Practice
 QI Project Improves Response Time to Nurse Triage Phone Calls in Busy ENT Practice 1024 683 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

A high-volume pediatric otolaryngology practice receives a lot of phone calls from patients and families. The practice at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which sees 32,000 clinic visits and 9,000 surgical patients each year, averaged more than 200 triage calls per week over the last 5 years. The response times to those calls needing clinician input ranged…

A Better Way to Administer Probiotics?
 A Better Way to Administer Probiotics? 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Researchers have designed a delivery system to treat premature infants with necrotizing enterocolitis that may have applications beyond the NICU. Most of the time, we think biofilms are bad news. And when pathogenic microbes form biofilms, they are. The biofilms created by pathogenic microbes create fortresses that make them resistant to attack by the immune…

How to Make a Viral Vector
 How to Make a Viral Vector 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is the home to a current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) Clinical Manufacturing Facility (CMF) that operates according to FDA cGMP Guidelines to ensure the safety of manufactured biologic products. The Space The CMF is a 9000-sq-ft space, including a 7500-sq-ft clean room suite with ISO Class 5/7/8 spaces…

Bridging the Gap Between the Genomics Lab and the Cardiology Clinic: CardioGX for Phenotype-Driven Variant Analysis
 Bridging the Gap Between the Genomics Lab and the Cardiology Clinic: CardioGX for Phenotype-Driven Variant Analysis 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

The cloud-based platform is a free tool that empowers clinicians and fosters collaboration to find new genetic mutations that cause heart disease. Finding ways to support clinicians and researchers in accessing and utilizing genomic data is paramount to incorporating genomics into clinical care. CardioGX (CardioGenomics eXchange commons) is an interactive web application designed to help clinicians and…

Age-Related Racial Disparities in Suicide Rates Among Youth Ages 5 to 17 Years
 Age-Related Racial Disparities in Suicide Rates Among Youth Ages 5 to 17 Years 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Under the age of 13, suicide rates are roughly double for black children compared with white children. Suicide rates in the United States have traditionally been higher among whites than blacks across all age groups. However, a new study from researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and collaborators published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that racial disparities in suicide…

From What-if to Widely Available – A Proposed Path for Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts
 From What-if to Widely Available – A Proposed Path for Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

What if you could utilize tissue engineering, imaging and 3D printing technologies to bring the benefits of a tissue engineered vascular graft to every child who needs one? Children born with a single ventricle heart defect undergo a series of surgeries and procedures to reroute the blood flow through their heart. The Fontan operation is…

Is Caregiver Education About Sickle Cell Trait Effective?
 Is Caregiver Education About Sickle Cell Trait Effective? 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Color photo of Black father holding infant on shoulder in front of nursery background with clouds on the wall

Researchers evaluate the standardized education in Ohio to determine if it achieves high caregiver knowledge. Despite universal newborn screening that detects the presence of sickle cell trait (SCT), only 16 percent of Americans with SCT know their status. To address this issue, in Ohio, in-person education is offered to caregivers of referred infants with SCT.…

How Can We Optimize Fertility Related Discussions With Male Survivors of Childhood Cancer?
 How Can We Optimize Fertility Related Discussions With Male Survivors of Childhood Cancer? 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

A recent study suggests that fertility is a “later” issue for adolescents and young adults, rather than a “now” concern, leading to low rates of conversation with health care providers. Survival rates for pediatric cancers exceed 80 percent. But late effects can persist throughout the survivor’s lifetime. Among those late effects, infertility may have both…

Can Gene Therapy Treat Dominantly Inherited Disorders?
 Can Gene Therapy Treat Dominantly Inherited Disorders? 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Colorful illustration of gene therapy in action

Recent applications of adeno-associated virus (AAV) mediated gene therapy have focused mainly on correcting recessively inherited diseases. But what about dominantly inherited disorders? It looks like AAV could be a delivery mechanism for treating those genetic disorders, too. Most applications of AAV-mediated gene therapy research are in recessively inherited rare diseases. The affected individuals have…

FDA APPROVAL: Gene Therapy Comes of Age
 FDA APPROVAL: Gene Therapy Comes of Age 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Colorful illustration of gene therapy in action

UPDATED: May 2019 On May 24, 2019, the FDA approved Zolgensma (formerly AVXS-101), a first-of-its-kind gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy. In the 13 months that have passed since this article first posted, the long-term outcomes of gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have continued to bolster the community’s hope for the treatments. Now,…

A Heart in Three Dimensions
 A Heart in Three Dimensions 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

The 3D Printing Lab at Nationwide Children’s Hospital provides comprehensive patient-specific treatment planning and device development services from a pediatric perspective. The tiny heart pictured above is just one of the many 3D printed models created by the 3D Printing Team at Nationwide Children’s. It represents one of the many helped by the technology and…

Can We Prevent Future Language Delays in the NICU?
 Can We Prevent Future Language Delays in the NICU? 150 150 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Researchers investigate the use of event related potentials to measure the effects of mother’s voice exposure on speech sound differentiation. Preterm infants are at high risk for neurosensory impairments and developmental delays, including hearing loss, which may have lasting consequences. Compared to babies born at term, preterm infants are twice as likely to have a…

Small Trial of Omega Fatty Acid Supplementation in Toddlers Born Preterm Points to Possible Therapeutic Intervention
 Small Trial of Omega Fatty Acid Supplementation in Toddlers Born Preterm Points to Possible Therapeutic Intervention 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Color close up image of young baby girl looking at hanging toys

Researchers show that supplementation of omega fatty acids may improve symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorder in toddlers who were born very preterm. Researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital have shown that omega fatty acid supplements may improve autism spectrum disorder symptoms in toddlers who were born very preterm (<29 weeks gestation). The study was published in The Journal…

The Challenge of Studying Supplementation: Omega Fatty Acids to Prevent Preterm Birth and Associated Complications
 The Challenge of Studying Supplementation: Omega Fatty Acids to Prevent Preterm Birth and Associated Complications 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Dietary supplements: it seems that medical professionals either love them or hate them. And while much research shows that the average healthy adult with a good diet probably doesn’t need them, studies of specific supplements in specific patient populations may show efficacy. For example, studies show that omega-3 fatty acid supplements can reduce inflammation and…