Meetings

AAP presentations on feeding disorders

Irene Chatoor, M.D., vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Children’s National Health System, specializes in helping children work through their food anxieties and encourages parents to set aside dedicated time for family meals. That’s expertise she will share with peers at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2016 National Conference.

“I also want to help pediatricians to differentiate between toddlers who ‘no-no-NO’ to the few foods they don’t like – which is OK – and children whose food selection is quite limited,” she says. “They need to be aware of red flags, like a child who spits out food, gags, or grimaces in response to certain foods or refuses to eat other foods that may look similar or that have the same texture as the aversive foods.”

Their limited may lead to nutritional problems, and also may have emotional consequences, according to a 2015 article published in Pediatrics for which Dr. Chatoor was senior author.

This makes parents increasingly anxious, and they often try all kinds of distractions to get their child to eat. Dr. Chatoor has described this feeding disorder as infantile anorexia. Interestingly, research has shown that families who eat together at regular times help their children to outgrow their feeding problems.

AAP 2016 presentations:
Saturday, October 22, 2016
• F1069- “Food Refusal: From Picky Eating to Feeding Disorders”
9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

Sunday, October 23, 2016
• F2012- “Food Refusal: From Picky Eating to Feeding Disorders”
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.

Urology research team wins best basic science award

Parasites have developed ingenious strategies to change their host’s biology. A research team led by Michael H. Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Clinic for Adolescent and Adult PedIatric OnseT UroLogy (CAPITUL) at Children’s National, turned the tables on the pesky parasites by using their proteins to provide therapeutic benefits. The team’s paper, “Therapeutic Exploitation of IPSE, a Urogenital Parasite-Derived Host Modulatory Protein, for Chemotherapy-Induced Hemorrhagic Cystitis and Bladder Hypersensitivity,” won the “Best Basic Science” award–a coveted national honor–during the Pediatric Urology Fall Congress in September. “Our work represents the first time that a uropathogen-derived host modulatory molecule has been therapeutically exploited in bladder disease models,” Dr. Hsieh and co-authors write.

David Wessel to speak at USN’s Healthcare of Tomorrow

David Wessel

The fourth annual U.S. News & World Report Healthcare of Tomorrow conference will take place on Nov. 2 in Washington, DC. The leadership forum, which examines challenges in health care and how we must evolve with policies, society, and technology, will hold children’s hospital sessions for the first time. The topics will include pediatric population health, patient safety, strategic partnerships, and genomic medicine. Children’s National’s David Wessel, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, hospital and specialty services, is scheduled to speak during the event.

Pediatric surgical innovation symposium approaches

This year, there were a record number of entries (91) for the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) competition, which will be held  Oct. 8 at the fourth annual Pediatric Surgical Innovation Symposium, hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Health System. Twelve finalists have been selected to pitch their pediatric medical device innovation, and up to six innovations will be awarded up to $50,000 each, with awards based on presentations given before a panel of expert judges.

The finalists are:

  • PECA Labs, Pittsburgh, Pa. – synthetic vascular conduit for surgical repair of congenital heart defects that’s capable of minimally invasive, controlled expansion to grow with the patient
  • Maternal Life, Palo Alto, Calif. – low-cost closed system that captures and administers colostrum to newborns with zero percent loss
  • Magnamosis, Inc., San Francisco, Calif. – device to provide safer, less invasive repair of the esophagus in newborns with esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula, a condition requiring surgery that is currently performed by hand
  • JustRight Surgical, Louisville, Colo. – second generation surgical 5mm stapler sized for use with a wider range of pediatric surgical procedures and bringing the benefits of laparoscopy to patients
  • CareTaker Medical, Charlottesville, Va. – disposable, finger cuff for single patient use to continuously and non-invasively monitor neonatal  heart rate without adhesives, electrodes and wires
  • Nebula Industries, Melrose, Mass. – quick release medical tape to prevent neonatal and pediatric skin injuries
  • Lully, San Francisco, Calif. – moisture sensor and Smart Pod monitor, placed under the mattress, that are wirelessly connected to a smartphone app to prevent bedwetting episodes
  • Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Md. – low-cost, disposable multifunctional incubator for at-risk, low birth weight babies
  • Multisensor Diagnostics, Baltimore, Md. – non-invasive portable handheld device designed to perform rapid medical assessment of key vitals for pediatric patients
  • May & Meadow, Inc., Redwood City, Calif. – low-cost, mobile medical device for assessing feeding ability in infants at risk for feeding problems
  • PediaStent, Cleveland, Ohio – novel pediatric bioresorbable stent for use in repairing congenital heart lesions
  • Averia Health Solutions, Alexandria, Va. – low-cost concussion screening and management system that uses smartphone technology

“The impressive number of well qualified applications we received from all over the US as well as from other countries speaks to the enthusiasm of Medtech innovators to develop and test devices specifically for children,” said Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., M.B.A., P.M.P., Executive Director of the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and NCC-PDI. “We are committed to building on this momentum and keeping the conversation going with all who applied and will provide consultation services if needed.”

Read more.