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Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Featured Researcher — Juhi Bagaitkar, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Juhi Bagaitkar, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Juhi Bagaitkar, PhD, a principal investigator in the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute (AWRI) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, studies how immune cells and barrier epithelial cells (the cells that cover all internal and external surfaces in the body) protect their human “hosts,” interact with each other and fall prey to…

NASPGHAN: New Guidance for Surgical Procedure Selection in Pediatric Chronic Pancreatitis
 NASPGHAN: New Guidance for Surgical Procedure Selection in Pediatric Chronic Pancreatitis 899 450 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Informed, multispecialty decision-making is essential to give children with chronic pancreatitis the best chance for long-term pain relief and improved quality of life, according to new guidance issued by the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition.   Chronic pancreatitis has long been an underappreciated and underrecognized condition in children. Now, a NASPGHAN…

Strategies and Resources for Managing Anxiety in Pediatric Patients
 Strategies and Resources for Managing Anxiety in Pediatric Patients 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental health diagnoses affecting children, making regular assessment and robust care resources essential to both primary and specialty care practices. Data from 2016-2019 report indicates that nearly 1 in 10 children ages 3-17 have ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder — a number believed to have…

Optimizing the Body’s Natural Cancer Killers
 Optimizing the Body’s Natural Cancer Killers 1024 649 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Recent advances in the expansion and production of natural killer cells offers pediatric patients new hope for remission after high-risk cancer diagnoses. Natural killer (NK) cells are the innate immune system’s first line of defense for viral infections. Although these white blood cells don’t have the antigen-specific “memory” that characterizes T cells or the antibody-producing…

Making (Lots of) NK Cells
 Making (Lots of) NK Cells 1024 649 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

When Dean Lee, MD, PhD, joined Nationwide Children’s and The Ohio  State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2016, the institutions gave him leadership of a joint program: the Cellular Therapy and Cancer Immunology Program (CTCI), which serves to develop research efforts into clinical care for both pediatric and adult patients. The CTCI team has worked…

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the Blood is Associated With Worse Outcomes in Kids
 SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the Blood is Associated With Worse Outcomes in Kids 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Researchers have identified a risk factor for more severe illness in children with COVID-19: detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA circulating in the blood. Children with detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the blood, called RNAemia, were more likely to require oxygen and be admitted to the intensive care unit than children with COVID-19 who did not have…

Featured Researcher — Diana Thomas, MD, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Diana Thomas, MD, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Diana Thomas, MD, PhD, joined the Biopathology Center (BPC) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as its pathology operations director in 2021. Since then, she has been busy supporting research protocol development and the receipt, processing, banking and distribution of biospecimens for clinical and research investigators around the world. As a biorepository for some of the largest…

Multi-Disciplinary Team Develops Evidence-Based Guidelines for Acute Management of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in Newborns
 Multi-Disciplinary Team Develops Evidence-Based Guidelines for Acute Management of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in Newborns 200 133 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

What began as an internal effort to simplify practice has transformed into published evidence-based guidelines to standardize care for acute stabilization and management of newborns with pulmonary hypertension.   Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is a highly varied and changeable condition that presents a challenge for clinical management, even among tertiary care centers…

Featured Researcher — Tracy Bedrosian, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Tracy Bedrosian, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Tracy Bedrosian, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine and a specialist in brain mosaicism and neurodevelopment working to uncover the impact that localized mutations in brain cells have on epilepsy symptoms, autism and other neurodevelopmental diseases. She collaborates with neurologists and other experts in the Steve…

Pediatric Bone Density Measures Require Adjusted Scoring for Accurate Interpretation
 Pediatric Bone Density Measures Require Adjusted Scoring for Accurate Interpretation 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Understanding the limits of pediatric bone densitometry reports can make results more useful for clinical decision making. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXA, is the standard scan used to assess bone mineral density (BMD) in children. It uses very little radiation and has extensive normative data from pediatric populations, to which a child’s results can be…

Featured Researcher — Will Ray, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Will Ray, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

William C. Ray, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. His work focuses on unique ways to explore, visualize and communicate data using his background in fine arts, molecular…

Old Drug, New Use
 Old Drug, New Use 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Nationwide Children's style illustration showing a row of houses with a prescription in front of it

Researchers have discovered an adult diabetes drug may provide a new and better way to treat children  with nephrotic syndrome.  Nephrotic syndrome is one of the most common kidney diseases seen in children. In most cases the cause is unknown. Nephrotic syndrome involves damage to the filtering units of the kidneys (glomeruli) leading to massive…

Growing Opportunities for Tissue Engineering
 Growing Opportunities for Tissue Engineering 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

A new system removes much of the expense and technical challenges surrounding cell seeding of tissue-engineered vascular grafts, making the technology more accessible to patients everywhere. One of the key challenges in congenital heart surgery is that current grafts used to correct heart defects are not living grafts—they don’t grow with the patient or function…

Multiple Fractures in Children: When to Suspect Medical or Malevolent Causes
 Multiple Fractures in Children: When to Suspect Medical or Malevolent Causes 1024 770 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Girl with cast on her arm

Rapid growth and high-risk activities during childhood leave kids ripe for repeat fracture opportunities, but key factors can alert clinicians to possible underlying disease-related fragility or non-accidental injury. Fractures are common in childhood, with up to 40% of girls and as many as 50% of boys experiencing a fracture. There are many benign explanations for…

Children Testing Positive for X-ALD on Updated Newborn Screening Panels Require Long-Term Monitoring
 Children Testing Positive for X-ALD on Updated Newborn Screening Panels Require Long-Term Monitoring 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

A condition soon to be added to the Ohio Newborn Screening Panel may not affect children for years or even decades after diagnosis, and follow-up involves more than just the infant. Hospitals across the country collect a card of small drops of blood from a baby’s heel shortly after birth. These “bloodspots” are used to…

Featured Researcher — Amit Kapoor, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Amit Kapoor, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Amit Kapoor, PhD, joined Nationwide Children’s Hospital as a principal investigator in the Center for Vaccines and Immunity and The Ohio State University as an associate professor of Pediatrics in 2015. Dr. Kapoor’s lab is working to understand the immunopathogenesis of several viral pathogens that infect humans and animals. His lab is developing new animal…

Epilepsy Surgery Underutilized in Young Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy
 Epilepsy Surgery Underutilized in Young Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Color close up image of young baby girl looking at hanging toys

Research suggests that early surgical intervention can boost developmental outcomes and even cure young children with intractable epilepsy, but low referral rates and other barriers result in limited access for some. Early surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) can improve quality of life by reducing or even eliminating seizures. DRE affects about one in every three…

Addition of a Radiation-Free Evaluation and Parent-Chosen Feeding Method Leads to Superior Outcomes for Infants With Swallowing Difficulties
 Addition of a Radiation-Free Evaluation and Parent-Chosen Feeding Method Leads to Superior Outcomes for Infants With Swallowing Difficulties 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

A recent NIH-NIDDK-funded study suggests that application of novel high-resolution manometry along with guided parental involvement can improve oral feeding success for infants with swallowing difficulties. The prevalence of swallowing difficulties among neonatal intensive care graduates is increasing.  Swallowing difficulties or dysphagia in infants are associated with airway and digestive consequences often presenting with signs…

Featured Researcher — Steve Goodman, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Steve Goodman, PhD 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Steven D. Goodman, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His research centers on bacterial biofilms — interactive ecosystems of bacteria that form a structure to help the bacteria thrive and fight off threats. These biofilms can be found wherever bacteria…

Additional Ventures: Investing in Congenital Heart Disease Research to Advance Care
 Additional Ventures: Investing in Congenital Heart Disease Research to Advance Care 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Additional Ventures is a purpose-driven nonprofit that has developed the Single Ventricle Research Fund (SVRF), an annual research award program dedicated to accelerating research and improving care for people with single ventricle heart defects. The fund supports investigators through multi-year, high-impact grants focused on different elements in their carefully structured research roadmap. By funding investigators…

How Patient-Derived Stem Cells are Changing the Trajectory of Congenital Heart Disease Research
 How Patient-Derived Stem Cells are Changing the Trajectory of Congenital Heart Disease Research 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Small blood samples — and the patient-specific, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) they enable — turn into valuable research material for understanding congenital cardiovascular disorders, especially when united with modern genome sequencing and editing, animal models and three dimensional tissue growth technologies. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have a significant downside for studying most…

Risk for Serious Complications From Vaccine-Preventable Infections After Hematopoietic Cell Transplant
 Risk for Serious Complications From Vaccine-Preventable Infections After Hematopoietic Cell Transplant 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Clinician-scientists reveal the burden of vaccine-preventable infections among children post-transplant, when immunity is low and risk is high. When a hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipient at Nationwide Children’s Hospital was diagnosed with a vaccine-preventable infection (VPI), treating clinicians decided to evaluate the burden of VPI in HCT patients at Nationwide Children’s and elsewhere. The team…

Targeted Muscle Reinnervation for Amputees Offers Chance at Less Pain, More Prosthetic Options
 Targeted Muscle Reinnervation for Amputees Offers Chance at Less Pain, More Prosthetic Options 1024 684 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

The innovative procedure pioneered by surgeons at The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital reduces postoperative pain and enables control of bioprosthetics.   What started as Department of Defense-funded research in adult amputees at The Ohio State University Medical Center about 6 years ago has morphed into standard of care treatment for children undergoing…

Video Game-Based Therapy Makes Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program More Patient-Centric
 Video Game-Based Therapy Makes Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program More Patient-Centric 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Smiling boy outside

Patients can benefit from traditional therapeutic services as well as engaging, updated approaches to improve lung capacity and fitness.  The Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, launched in 2005 after a year-long pilot, has long offered services for patients to improve their ability to engage in exercise, school and activities of daily living. As…

Chronic Pediatric Pancreatitis and (No) Persistent Belly Pain
 Chronic Pediatric Pancreatitis and (No) Persistent Belly Pain 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Underlying — even silent — chronic pancreatitis can be at play in children without previous acute pancreatitis episodes, including among children with little or no reported pain. Pancreatitis in children is rare (about 3-13 per 100,000 people per year), but diagnosis is increasing, at least in part due to increased awareness among physicians. The path…

Antibodies to Spinal Muscular Atrophy Gene Therapy Vector May Dissipate, Allowing More Children to Receive Treatment
 Antibodies to Spinal Muscular Atrophy Gene Therapy Vector May Dissipate, Allowing More Children to Receive Treatment 1024 681 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
sleeping infant

A review of antibody titers for SMA patients revealed that levels may decrease with time, potentially enabling delayed dosing for children who otherwise might have been excluded from life-saving gene therapy. Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are used to deliver gene therapies such as onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi (ZOLGENSMA®), a recently approved gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy…

Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative: Shared Focus on Quality to Improve Outcomes and Family Experiences
 Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative: Shared Focus on Quality to Improve Outcomes and Family Experiences 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Illustration of heart, CAVD

The PAC3 has released three recent studies describing care practices and outcomes across member institutions in an effort to drive improved care. Established in 2014 with the aim of improving acute care outcomes and experience among pediatric cardiology patients, families, clinicians and hospitals, the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) has started to deliver on…

Indicators of Blood Clot Potential Directly Relate to Nephrotic Syndrome Severity
 Indicators of Blood Clot Potential Directly Relate to Nephrotic Syndrome Severity 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Researchers in the NEPTUNE network and collaborators at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have confirmed their preclinical studies demonstrating a direct correlation between the severity of disease and prothrombotic biomarkers in patients with nephrotic syndrome. Nephrotic syndrome (NS) dramatically increases the risk of a life-threatening blood clot, but until recently, clinicians have had no reasonable biomarker to…

Targeting DIPG: The Most Puzzling of Pediatric Brain Tumors
 Targeting DIPG: The Most Puzzling of Pediatric Brain Tumors 772 447 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Survival has dramatically improved for numerous pediatric cancers over the last several decades, with a notable and very deadly exception: diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Now, a community of researchers and clinician-scientists have set the stage for a renewed — and better-armed — assault against this beast of a brain tumor. The past 50 years…

Pediatricians Offer Valuable Oral Health Services for the Very Young, Before and Throughout Pandemic
 Pediatricians Offer Valuable Oral Health Services for the Very Young, Before and Throughout Pandemic 1024 680 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
toddler brushing teeth

Medical professionals see very young children much more frequently during the first several years of life than dentists, and many states’ Medicaid programs have seized the opportunity to reimburse pediatricians for preventive oral care, such as fluoride application and oral hygiene education. Despite reimbursement options and national guidelines recommending dental care begin by age 1,…

Protecting an ‘Open Future:’ Improving Fertility Preservation Decision-Making for Young Males With Cancer
 Protecting an ‘Open Future:’ Improving Fertility Preservation Decision-Making for Young Males With Cancer 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Color photo of Black father holding infant on shoulder in front of nursery background with clouds on the wall

Evidence from a new study highlights the importance of family-centered decision processes and clinician facilitation in improving fertility preservation uptake prior to cancer treatment. Numerous cancer treatments can reduce fertility or render some patients entirely infertile, but fertility preservation (FP) services have historically had low rates of uptake. When a young person is diagnosed with…

More Data on Rare GI Diseases, With Less Work
 More Data on Rare GI Diseases, With Less Work 1024 535 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Collage of health technology tools

Electronic health record systems can drive knowledge acquisition in rare gastrointestinal conditions — and other orphan diseases — without the burden of duplicative data entry. Rare diseases often remain poorly understood and inefficiently treated due to a lack of objective knowledge on their natural history, pathophysiology or clinical outcomes in response to various therapies. Collecting…

Novel Genetic Driver Discovered for Pediatric Meningiomas Using Molecular Profiling
 Novel Genetic Driver Discovered for Pediatric Meningiomas Using Molecular Profiling 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Researchers have uncovered a rare subset of meningiomas with a genetic driver shared by another cancer type, opening the door to new therapeutic considerations. When an interesting or intractable cancer case arises at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, researchers and clinicians involved in the Brain Tumor Protocol through The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine…

CLABSI in Hematology and Oncology: Progress Toward Zero
 CLABSI in Hematology and Oncology: Progress Toward Zero 1024 576 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Blood cells

A thorough review of five years of CLABSI data reveals key gaps in clinical knowledge that must be addressed to further reduce infection rates. For some time, any bloodstream infection (BSI) in a patient with a central venous catheter was considered a central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). In 2013, refined definitions enabled a distinction between…

Transplant-Free Survival Among Children With Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Undergoing Hybrid Palliation
 Transplant-Free Survival Among Children With Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Undergoing Hybrid Palliation 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Young child

The first long-term evaluation of kids with hypoplastic left heart syndrome undergoing hybrid palliation procedures finds transplant-free survival similar to that of the standard treatment at age 15 years. As one of the few teams in the world almost exclusively performing hybrid palliation surgery for babies with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and related congenital…

Comprehensive Type 1 Diabetes Wellness Score to Help Patients and Providers
 Comprehensive Type 1 Diabetes Wellness Score to Help Patients and Providers 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Device for monitoring glucose placed on girl's arm

A quality improvement effort resulted in the first-known composite score to track multiple clinical indicators of diabetes-related health in patients with Type 1. Despite the traditional use of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) as the standard metric for diabetes control, it has its shortcomings, such as an incomplete picture of blood sugar variability and hypoglycemia risk. To…

The New Emergency Department — for Behavioral Health
 The New Emergency Department — for Behavioral Health 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

How pediatric hospitals are creatively tackling the unique care needs of a growing population of youths in crisis. From attention deficit disorder to anxiety or depression, mental health conditions affect about 1 in every 5 children. While some of these cases resolve, many children go on to adulthood with mental or behavioral health disorders, and…

Findings Show TEVG Stenosis Spontaneously Resolves
 Findings Show TEVG Stenosis Spontaneously Resolves 600 400 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Tissue engineered vascular graft

The complication that halted a clinical trial for tissue-engineered vascular grafts for children with congenital heart disease may reverse spontaneously without clinical complications. Based on promising laboratory and animal modeling of a biodegradable scaffold seeded with a patient’s own cells, a clinician-scientist research team now based at Nationwide Children’s Hospital initiated a pediatric tissue engineered…

Finding the Best Treatment for Stable but Severe Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis
 Finding the Best Treatment for Stable but Severe Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

A novel comparison of the modified Dunn procedure for children with stable vs unstable SCFE has identified a new target to improve surgical outcomes. The modified Dunn procedure uses a surgical hip dislocation approach to realign the hip joint in adolescents with slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) — a condition in which the ball of…

CMS Approves New Code for Adult Congenital Heart Disease Subspecialty
 CMS Approves New Code for Adult Congenital Heart Disease Subspecialty 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

The official billing code will enable growth of the subspecialty and is expected to result in improved patient care. In March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a unique code for subspecialists in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). The code will allow board-certified ACHD specialists to bill as such, rather than as…

Choking Education an Important Element of Care for Prader-Willi Syndrome Families
 Choking Education an Important Element of Care for Prader-Willi Syndrome Families 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Choking prevention and intervention education offer a simple way to address this common cause of death among PWS patients. Individuals with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) suffer from poor oral muscle control, generalized low muscle tone that can make it hard to swallow properly, a poor gag reflex and an insatiable desire to eat. Together with a…

Determining Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction Surgical Success Using Biomarkers
 Determining Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction Surgical Success Using Biomarkers 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Biomarkers initially found to differ among patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and healthy controls may also objectively gauge post-surgical resolution of obstruction. A follow-up study of a trial that initially identified four biomarkers that differ between healthy controls and pediatric patients about to undergo surgery for ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) has confirmed that two of…

Preventing and Ameliorating Acute and Chronic Kidney Damage After Chemotherapy
 Preventing and Ameliorating Acute and Chronic Kidney Damage After Chemotherapy 720 480 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Research looking at mitochondrial targets in kidney health holds promise for cisplatin-induced kidney injury. Recent work exploring the mitochrondrial metabolism in the kidneys following exposure to cisplatin, a common chemotherapy, has revealed a key role of superoxide (O2•-, an indicator of oxidative stress in renal cells associated with cell damage and death) in both acute…

Hemophilia Gene Therapy Trials Aim to Reduce Patient Burden
 Hemophilia Gene Therapy Trials Aim to Reduce Patient Burden 1024 495 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
blood cells

Clinical trials using gene therapy to boost the body’s production of clotting factor aim to remove the need for regular infusions — ideally giving patients years or even decades free from daily worry about their condition. Unlike most pediatric treatment centers, Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of only a few dozen sites worldwide selected to…

How Practical COVID-19 Education for Community Providers Sprang From a Pediatric Behavioral Health Project ECHO
 How Practical COVID-19 Education for Community Providers Sprang From a Pediatric Behavioral Health Project ECHO 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

When Partners For Kids® (PFK) and Nationwide Children’s Hospital launched Project ECHO in 2018, they did it to help community providers cope with common behavioral health conditions in their patient populations. Unexpectedly, it became a tool to supply Ohio physicians with some of the most proactive education in the nation about adapting their business practices to accommodate COVID-19-related…

How a Network of Hospitals Reduced Average Age at Cerebral Palsy Diagnosis to 9.5 Months
 How a Network of Hospitals Reduced Average Age at Cerebral Palsy Diagnosis to 9.5 Months 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

In just one year, hospital teams working as part of a network to implement international cerebral palsy diagnosis guidelines successfully reduced average age at diagnosis from 19.5 months to 9.5 months. More than 50% of all eventual cerebral palsy (CP) cases spend time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, making early CP evaluation a crucial…

Transforming Medical Science Through Research Affinity Groups
 Transforming Medical Science Through Research Affinity Groups 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Purposeful synergy drives the most meaningful medical science. Nephrology physician-scientists require tissue samples, urologists desire tests to know which patients truly require surgery, and basic scientists must find ways to meaningfully assess new animal models to yield clinically valuable data. If each of these professionals had a defined network of colleagues from the other disciplines…

Better Bone Healing by Reversing Current Techniques?
 Better Bone Healing by Reversing Current Techniques? 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Bones may heal denser and stronger when given room for controlled micro-movement at first, followed by rigid stabilization — a complete flip-flop of the standard of care. A combination of biology and mechanical influence determines how well a bone heals, for better or worse. For half a century, physicians have believed that complete bone immobilization…

New Application of Nuclear Imaging in the Legs May Enable Early Detection of Cardiovascular Problems
 New Application of Nuclear Imaging in the Legs May Enable Early Detection of Cardiovascular Problems 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Researchers have used a non-invasive imaging modality to quantify perfusion reserve in specific muscles of the extremities — a novel approach with numerous potential clinical applications Researchers have shown for the first time that SPECT/CT imaging can be used to quantify perfusion reserve of specific muscle groups in the lower limbs, which they directly related…

How to Increase Continuous Glucose Monitoring Utilization in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes
 How to Increase Continuous Glucose Monitoring Utilization in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

An innovative quality improvement project grew the use of CGM nearly six-fold in 2 years. A 2017 round-table meeting of the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange revealed that some diabetes clinics had a very small number of patients using continuous glucose monitors (CGM) — devices that allow patients to avoid repeated finger sticks to check glucose…