Surgical Innovation

Research & Innovation Campus

Children’s National welcomes Virginia Tech to its new campus

Children’s National Hospital and Virginia Tech create formal partnership that includes the launch of a Virginia Tech biomedical research facility within the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus.

Children’s National Hospital and Virginia Tech recently announced a formal partnership that will include the launch of a 12,000-square-foot Virginia Tech biomedical research facility within the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus. The campus is an expansion of Children’s National that is located on a nearly 12-acre portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and is set to open its first phase in December 2020. This new collaboration brings together Virginia Tech, a top tier academic research institution, with Children’s National, a U.S. News and World Report top 10 children’s hospital, on what will be the nation’s first innovation campus focused on pediatric research.

Research & Innovation Campus

“Virginia Tech is an ideal partner to help us deliver on what we promised for the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus – an ecosystem that enables us to accelerate the translation of potential breakthrough discoveries into new treatments and technologies,” says Kurt Newman, M.D., president and CEO, Children’s National. “Our clinical expertise combined with Virginia Tech’s leadership in engineering and technology, and its growing emphasis on biomedical research, will be a significant advance in developing much needed treatment and cures to save children’s lives.”

Earlier this year, Children’s National announced a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC to launch JLABS @ Washington, DC at the Research & Innovation Campus. The JLABS @ Washington, DC site will be open to pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health technology companies that are aiming to advance the development of new drugs, medical devices, precision diagnostics and health technologies, including applications in pediatrics.

“We are proud to welcome Virginia Tech to our historic Walter Reed campus – a campus that is shaping up to host some of the top minds, talent and innovation incubators in the world,” says Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. “The new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus will exemplify why D.C. is the capital of inclusive innovation – because we are a city committed to building the public and private partnerships necessary to drive discoveries, create jobs, promote economic growth and keep D.C. at the forefront of innovation and change.”

Faculty from the Children’s National Research Institute and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) have worked together for more than a decade, already resulting in shared research grants, collaborative publications and shared intellectual property. Together, the two institutions will now expand their collaborations to develop new drugs, medical devices, software applications and other novel treatments for cancer, rare diseases and other disorders.

“Joining with Children’s National in the nation’s capital positions Virginia Tech to improve the health and well-being of infants and children around the world,” says Virginia Tech President Tim Sands, Ph.D. “This partnership resonates with our land-grant mission to solve big problems and create new opportunities in Virginia and D.C. through education, technology and research.”

The partnership with Children’s National adds to Virginia Tech’s growing footprint in the Washington D.C. region, which includes plans for a new graduate campus in Alexandria, Va. with a human-centered approach to technological innovation. Sands said the proximity of the two locations – just across the Potomac – will enable researchers to leverage resources, and will also create opportunities with the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va. and the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Science and Technology campus in Roanoke, Va.

Carilion Clinic and Children’s National have an existing collaboration for provision of certain specialized pediatric clinical services. The more formalized partnership between Virginia Tech and Children’s National will drive the already strong Virginia Tech-Carilion Clinic partnership, particularly for children’s health initiatives and facilitate collaborations between all three institutions in the pediatric research and clinical service domains.

Children’s National and Virginia Tech will engage in joint faculty recruiting, joint intellectual property, joint training of students and fellows, and collaborative research projects and programs according to Michael Friedlander, Ph.D., Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology, and executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

“The expansion and formalization of our partnership with Children’s National is extremely timely and vital for pediatric research innovation and for translating these innovations into practice to prevent, treat and ultimately cure nervous system cancer in children,” says Friedlander, who has collaborated with Children’s National leaders and researchers for more than 20 years. “Both Virginia Tech and Children’s National have similar values and cultures with a firm commitment to discovery and innovation in the service of society.”

“Brain and other nervous system cancers are among the most common cancers in children (alongside leukemia),” says Friedlander. “With our strength in neurobiology including adult brain cancer research in both humans and companion animals at Virginia Tech and the strength of Children’s National research in pediatric cancer, developmental neuroscience and intellectual disabilities, this is a perfect match.”

The design of the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus not only makes it conducive for the hospital to strengthen its prestigious partnerships with Virginia Tech and Johnson & Johnson, it also fosters synergies with federal agencies like the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which will collaborate with JLABS @ Washington, DC to establish a specialized innovation zone to develop responses to health security threats. As more partners sign on, this convergence of key public and private institutions will accelerate discoveries and bring them to market faster for the benefit of children and adults.

“The Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus pairs an inspirational mission to find new treatments for childhood illness and disease with the ideal environment for early stage companies. I am confident the campus will be a magnet for big ideas and will be an economic boost for Washington DC and the region,” says Jeff Zients, who was appointed chair of the Children’s National Board of Directors effective October 1, 2019. As a CEO and the former director of President Obama’s National Economic Council, Zients says that “When you bring together business, academia, health care and government in the right setting, you create a hotbed for innovation.”

Ranked 7th in National Institutes of Health research funding among pediatric hospitals, Children’s National continues to foster collaborations as it prepares to open its first 158,000-square-foot phase of its Research & Innovation Campus. These key partnerships will enable the hospital to fulfill its mission of keeping children top of mind for healthcare innovation and research while also contributing to Washington D.C.’s thriving innovation economy.

baby with tubes

BPA analogues may be less likely to disrupt heart rhythm

Some chemical alternatives to plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), which is still commonly used in medical settings such as operating rooms and intensive care units, may be less disruptive to heart electrical function than BPA.

A poster at the AHA Scientific Sessions suggests bisphenol-s (BPS) and bisphenol-f (BPF) may have less impact on heart function than bisphenol-a (BPA).

Some chemical alternatives to plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), which is still commonly used in medical settings such as operating rooms and intensive care units, may be less disruptive to heart electrical function than BPA, according to a pre-clinical study that explored how the structural analogues bisphenol-s (BPS) and bisphenol-f (BPF) interact with the chemical and electrical functions of heart cells.

The findings suggest that in terms of toxicity for heart function, these chemicals that are similar in structure to BPA may actually be safer for medically fragile heart cells, such as those in children with congenital heart disease. Previous research has found a high likelihood that BPA exposure may impact the heart’s electrical conductivity and disrupt heart rhythm, and patients are often exposed to the plastic via clinical equipment found in intensive care and in the operating room.

“There are still many questions that need to be answered about the safety and efficacy of using chemicals that look and act like BPA in medical settings, especially in terms of their potential contribution to endocrine disruption,” says Nikki Gillum Posnack, Ph.D., the poster’s senior author and a principal investigator in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Hospital. “What we can say is that, in this initial pre-clinical investigation, it appears that these structural analogues have less of an impact on the electrical activity within the heart and therefore, may be less likely to contribute to dysrhythmias.”

Future studies will seek to quantify the risk that these alternative chemicals pose in vulnerable populations, including pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery patients. Since pediatric patients’ hearts are still growing and developing, the interactions may be different than what was seen in this pilot study.

Learn more the impacts of exposure to plastics such as bisphenol-A and plasticizers such as DEHP and MEHP that are commonly used in medical devices:

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Bisphenol-a Analogues May Be Safer Alternatives For Plastic Medical Products
Rafael Jaimes, Damon McCullough, Luther M Swift, Marissa Reilly, Morgan Burke, Jiansong Sheng, Javier Saiz, Nikki G Posnack
Poster Presentation by senior author Nikki G Posnack
CH.APS.01 – Translational Research in Congenital Heart Disease
AHA Scientific Sessions
November 16, 2019
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Newborn baby laying in crib

Can cells collected from bone marrow stimulate generation of new neurons in babies with CHD?

Newborn baby laying in crib

The goal of the study will be to optimize brain development in babies with congenital heart disease (CHD) who sometimes demonstrate delay in the development of cognitive and motor skills.

An upcoming clinical trial at Children’s National Hospital will harness cardiopulmonary bypass as a delivery mechanism for a novel intervention designed to stimulate brain growth and repair in children who undergo cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD).

The NIH has awarded Children’s National $2.5 million to test the hypothesis that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), which have been shown to possess regenerative properties and the ability to modulate immune responses in a variety of diseases, collected from allogeneic bone marrow, may promote regeneration of damaged neuronal and glial cells in the early postnatal brain. If successful, the trial will determine the safety of the proposed treatment in humans and set the stage for a Phase 2 efficacy trial of what could potentially be the first treatment for delays in brain development that happen before birth as a consequence of congenital heart disease. The study is a single-center collaboration between three Children’s National physician-researchers: Richard Jonas, M.D., Catherine Bollard, M.B.Ch.B., M.D. and Nobuyuki Ishibashi, M.D.

Dr. Jonas, chief of cardiac surgery at Children’s National, will outline the trial and its aims on Monday, November 18, 2019, at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2019. Dr. Jonas was recently recognized by the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative for his lifelong research of how cardiac surgery impacts brain growth and development in children with CHD.

Read more about the study: Researchers receive $2.5M grant to optimize brain development in babies with CHD.

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Regenerative Cell Therapy in Congenital Heart Disease – Protecting the Immature Brain
Presented by Richard Jonas, M.D.
AHA Scientific Sessions
Session CH.CVS.608 Congenital Heart Disease and Pediatric Cardiology Seminar: A Personalized Approach to Heart Disease in Children
9:50 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.
November 18, 2019

Evan P Nadler

Biliary complication rates similar for kids and adults after weight-loss surgery

Evan P Nadler

“We definitely need more research, across a more diverse population, to understand the mechanisms behind this higher likelihood of acute pancreatitis in pediatric patients,” says Evan Nadler, M.D., “More importantly, this study provides a proof point that weight-loss surgery doesn’t pose any higher risk of biliary complications for kids than it does for adults.”

Adolescents and teens experience biliary side effects after weight-loss surgery at about the same rate as adults. However, in younger patients, the symptoms are more likely to manifest as pancreatic inflammation, or acute pancreatitis, according to a new study published in the November issue of the journal Obesity.

“Biliary issues after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy occur with about the same frequency in pediatric patients as they do in adults,” says Evan Nadler, M.D., senior author on the study and director of the Bariatric Surgery Program at Children’s National Hospital. “We were surprised, however, to find that the small number of pediatric patients who do experience these complications seem to be more likely to have acute pancreatitis as a result. In adults, it’s more commonly the gall bladder that acts up as opposed to the pancreas.”

The study included 309 patients without previous or concurrent history of biliary disease or gallstones who had undergone laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at Children’s National. Twenty-one patients, or 6.7% of the cohort, were diagnosed with biliary disease after surgery. Sixty-two percent of the pediatric patients with biliary disease also showed signs of acute pancreatitis, while only one-third of those with post-operative biliary disease presented with a gallstone blockage, or biliary colic. In adults, biliary colic is a primary symptom after surgery and far fewer adults experience acute pancreatitis.

“We definitely need more research, across a more diverse population, to understand the mechanisms behind this higher likelihood of acute pancreatitis in pediatric patients. More importantly, this study provides a proof point that weight-loss surgery doesn’t pose any higher risk of biliary complications for kids than it does for adults.”

Obesity’s editorial team selected the study as one of the Top 5 most innovative scientific research studies to prevent and treat obesity in 2019. It appears in a special section of the November 2019 print edition. Dr. Nadler will present his findings during the Obesity Journal Symposium on Nov. 5, 2019, as part of ObesityWeek®, the annual meeting of The Obesity Society.

“We’ve got one of the largest, if not the largest, weight-loss surgery programs dedicated solely to caring for children and adolescents,” adds Dr. Nadler. “That gives us a unique ability to collect and analyze a statistically significant sample of pediatric-specific patient data and really contribute a better understanding of how bariatric surgery specifically impacts younger patients.”

In late October 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued guidance with the aim of providing severely obese teens easier access to bariatric surgery.

“Our study is just the latest contribution to a significant body of evidence that weight-loss surgery should be considered a viable treatment approach for children and teenagers with severe obesity, an idea that is now endorsed by the nation’s largest organization of pediatricians,” he points out.

The Obesity Journal Symposium occurs on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. at the Mandalay Bay South Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev. ObesityWeek® is a partnership of The Obesity Society and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

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Presentation: Pattern of Biliary Disease Following Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Adolescents

Session: Obesity Journal Symposium

Date/Time: 11/5/2019, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Co-authors: Jun Tashiro , Arunachalam A. Thenappan, and Evan P. Nadler

Dr. Jonas and research collaborator Nobuyuki Ishibashi in the laboratory.

Cardiac surgery chief recognized for studies of surgery’s impacts on neurodevelopment

Dr. Jonas and research collaborator Nobuyuki Ishibashi in the laboratory.

Dr. Jonas and research collaborator Nobuyuki Ishibashi in the laboratory.

Richard Jonas, M.D., is this year’s recipient of the Newburger-Bellinger Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Award in recognition of his lifelong research into understanding the impact of cardiac surgery on the growth and development of the brain. The award was established in 2013 by the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative (CNOC) to honor Jane Newburger and David Bellinger, pioneers in research designed to understand and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for children with heart disease.

At Children’s National, Dr. Jonas’ laboratory studies of neuroprotection have been conducted in conjunction with Dr. Vittorio Gallo, director of neuroscience research at Children’s National, and Dr. Nobuyuki Ishibashi, director of the cardiac surgery research laboratory. Their NIH-supported studies have investigated the impact of congenital heart disease and cardiopulmonary bypass on the development of the brain, with particular focus on impacts to white matter, in people with congenital heart disease.

Dr. Jonas’s focus on neurodevelopment after cardiac surgery has spanned his entire career in medicine, starting with early studies in the Harvard psychology department where he developed models of ischemic brain injury. He subsequently undertook a series of highly productive pre-clinical cardiopulmonary bypass studies at the National Magnet Laboratory at MIT. These studies suggested that some of the bypass techniques used at the time were suboptimal. The findings helped spur a series of retrospective clinical studies and subsequently several prospective randomized clinical trials at Boston Children’s Hospital examining the neurodevelopmental consequences of various bypass techniques. These studies were conducted by Dr. Jonas and others, in collaboration with Dr. Jane Newburger and Dr. David Bellinger, for whom this award is named.

Dr. Jonas has been the chief of cardiac surgery and co-director of the Children’s National Heart Institute since 2004. He previously spent 20 years on staff at Children’s Hospital Boston including 10 years as department chief and as the William E. Ladd Chair of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

As the recipient of the 2019 award, Dr. Jonas will deliver a keynote address at the 8th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative in Toronto, Ontario, October 11-13, 2019.

Dr. Eurgenie Heitmiller

The origins of a go-to perioperative crisis app

Dr. Eurgenie Heitmiller

Children’s Chief of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Dr. Heitmiller, was part of the team that originally launched the peer-reviewed perioperative crisis app, Pedi Crisis.

Around the same time that Atul Gawande and colleagues were developing adult operating room crisis checklists, a dedicated group of expert pediatric anesthesiologists were working on a set of checklists for pediatric specific, peer-reviewed algorithms to treat critical events in the perioperative setting.

Eugenie Heitmiller, M.D., chief of Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine at Children’s National Health System, was one of the initiators of what is known today as the Pedi Crisis App—a widely used reference tool designed to support clinician responses to life-threatening critical events.

Dr. Heitmiller and her colleagues on the Quality and Safety Committee of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) sought to create this series of standard algorithms that could be referenced both as teaching tools and as cognitive aids to be used in real time during rare critical occurrences in the perioperative setting.

“Most kids do well under anesthesia, but every once in a while, you have a child who has an event you don’t see that often, no matter how experienced you are,” she says. Having these checklists means we have a peer-reviewed, expert checklist at our fingertips.”

The original version of the checklists launched in 2010 as “Pediatric Critical Event Checklists”,  a Microsoft PowerPoint file that could be downloaded from the SPA website. Eventually, the checklists were adapted into an iPhone application as well as being translated into several languages.

Years after launch, these tools continue to be a mainstay for education, training, and critical event preparations for pediatric anesthesiologists and perioperative staff. A 2017 study found that in a three-month period of 2014, the app was accessed more than 4,000 times in 108 countries.

This year, the organizers of the joint SPA and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) meeting invited Dr. Heitmiller to moderate a panel that included talks on the launch of Pedi Crisis App 2.0 and its subsequent revisions. The newest edition of the Critical Events Checklists adds critical components including an updated smartphone app available for both the iPhone and Android, and the latest peer-reviewed content.

Pedi Crisis 2.0 also takes into account how people access and use the tool by incorporating elements that address human factors. The development team brought in  NASA senior research psychologist, Barbara Burian, Ph.D., to help make the content as intuitive as possible for quick access, accurate presentation, and recollection, even in a crisis. And, as Dr. Heitmiller points out, because pulling out a cell phone isn’t always the most realistic option in a sterile operating room environment, the content is always available for free outside of the mobile platform in a downloadable format on the SPA website so it can be accessed on any computer screen in any location.

Murray Pollack

Exploring accurate data use that supports clinical judgment

Murray Pollack

A new research collaboration between Children’s National Health System and KenSci seeks to understand how current data streams in health care can be used to enhance clinical decision making. The partnership seeks to develop personalized data-driven dynamic outcomes prediction for individual patients.

“These data are all around us in clinical medicine,” says Murray Pollack, M.D., MBA, of Children’s National Center for Translational Research. “Our goal for this project is to apply machine learning and statistical modeling to apply that data in ways that will enhance the work of the patient’s medical providers.”

“Since the mid-80s we have been able to predict mortality risks in pediatric ICUs using risk scores. In most cases these scores are used for quality assessment.,” Dr. Pollack continues. “Our collaborative goals are to study the temporal variation in data, taking the first step towards dynamic risk scoring for pediatric ICUs.”

“We see tremendous possibilities for how this wealth of data can be used safely and securely to supplement the clinician’s judgment,” says Hiroki Morizono, Ph.D., director of Biomedical Informatics at the Children’s National Center for Genetic Medicine Research. “This type of modeling, if successful, could perhaps predict an individual patient’s likelihood for deterioration or improvement.”

Over the course of one year, the two groups will come together and apply KenSci’s prediction platform to test different models and compare their accuracy to previous iterations developed at Children’s National.

Ankur Teredesai, KenSci’s co-founder, chief technology officer and professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, acknowledged the strategic nature of this collaboration, “Time is our best ally if integrated appropriately with other variables in healthcare machine learning and AI. Adding dynamism holds tremendous promise to be assistive for critical care. Caregivers in Pediatric ICUs serve the most vulnerable patients in our population, and this collaboration advances KenSci’s vision to be the best system of intelligence for healthcare.

Read KenSci’s press release about the partnership.

Marius George Linguraru

Marius George Linguraru, D.Phil., M.A., M.Sc., awarded Department of Defense grant for Neurofibromatosis application development

Marius George Linguraru

Marius George Linguraru, D.Phil., M.A., M.Sc., is a principal investigator in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National, where he founded and directs the Precision Medical Imaging Laboratory. He’s an expert in quantitative imaging and artificial intelligence.

Marius George Linguraru, D.Phil., M.A., M.Sc., a principal investigator in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National has been awarded a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) grant through the Department of Defense. This grant allows Dr. Linguraru to develop a novel quantitative MRI application that can inform treatment decisions by accurately identifying which children with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and optic pathway glioma (OPG) are at risk of losing their vision.

This grant is part of the Neurofibromatosis Research Program of the CDMRP, which fills research gaps by funding high impact, high risk and high gain projects. Dr. Linguraru, who directs the Precision Medical Imaging Laboratory in the Sheikh Zayed Institute, is collaborating with the Gilbert Family Neurofibromatosis Institute and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on this project.

An expert in quantitative imaging and artificial intelligence, Dr. Linguraru has published several peer-reviewed studies on NF1 and OPG, a tumor that develops in 20 percent of children with NF1. The OPG tumor can cause irreversible vision loss, leading to permanent disability in about 50 percent of children with the tumor. This project, titled “MRI Volumetrics for Risk Stratification of Vision Loss in Optic Pathway Gliomas Secondary to NF1” will provide doctors certainty when identifying which children with NF1-OPG will lose vision and when the vision loss will occur.

Dr. Linguraru and his team will validate the quantitative MRI application that they’re developing by studying children at 25 NF1 clinics from around the world. Doctors using the application, which will perform comprehensive measurements of the OPG tumor’s volume, shape and texture, will upload their patient’s MRI into Dr. Linguraru’s application. Using recent advances in quantitative image analysis and machine learning, the application will then definitively determine whether the child’s NF1-OPG is going to cause vision loss and therefore requires treatment.

This diagnosis can occur before visual acuity starts to decline, which provides an opportunity for early treatment in children at risk for vision loss. Dr. Linguraru believes that early diagnosis and treatment can help to avoid lifelong visual impairment for these patients while preventing unnecessary MRIs and aggressive chemotherapy in pediatric patients who are not at risk of vision loss.

Occurring in one in 3,000 to 4,000 live births, NF1 is a genetic condition that manifests in early childhood and is characterized by changes in skin coloring and the growth of tumors along nerves in the skin, brain and other parts of the body. It is unknown why the OPG tumor caused by NF1 only results in vision loss for 50 percent of children. Some children will sustain lifelong disability from their vision loss, despite receiving treatment for their tumor, likely because treatment was started late. In other instances, doctors are unknowingly treating NF1-OPGs that would never cause vision loss.

Dr. Linguraru and his team have already proven that their computer-based, quantitative imaging measures are more objective and reliable than the current clinical measures, enabling doctors to make earlier and more accurate diagnoses and develop optimal treatment plans.

spectrometer output

Understanding low cardiac output after surgery

spectrometer output

Rafael Jaimes, Ph.D., created an algorithm that is being tested in a pre-clinical model to characterize the light absorbance spectrum from different heart regions using a spectrometer.

After intense cardiac surgery, sometimes a patient’s heart is unable to effectively deliver oxygenated blood and nutrients throughout the recovering body. Known as inadequate or low cardiac output, the condition occurs in about a quarter of patients following surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, including young children who require complex procedures to correct congenital heart defects at Children’s National Health System.

Researchers at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation are exploring several facets of this challenge, with the goal of better understanding post-operative recovery trajectories in pediatric patients. Rafael Jaimes, Ph.D., a staff scientist at the institute, leads this work to identify when and how low cardiac output occurs, pinpoint the physical hallmarks of this condition and use that information to prevent long term damage and complications after surgery, including cardiac arrest.

“More research needs to be done to understand the cause of this overarching and multi-faceted syndrome,” says Dr. Jaimes. “I’m interested in understanding how metabolic insufficiency contributes to this condition, and also exploring how we can use current imaging and diagnostic tools to measure, track and treat the insufficiencies that contribute to low cardiac output.”

Tracking inadequate oxygen and nutrient delivery to the parts of the heart that have been repaired is one avenue under exploration. Currently, a cardiac-specific real-time device to measure the oxygen state of the heart, while a patient is in post-operative critical care, is under development.

The heart’s complexity has made using current oxygen measurement devices, such as spectrometers, very difficult. To date no tool exists that effectively screens out artifacts and noise to allow clear visualization. However, during his post-doctoral work, Dr. Jaimes has created a new algorithm that may be the first of its kind to accomplish this feat.

This work on low cardiac output recently received a Congenital Heart Defect Research Award, which is a collaborative program of the Children’s Heart Foundation and the American Heart Association that supports innovative research, seeking to understand and treat congenital heart defects.

A new research study will build on his previous studies by using the algorithm to characterize the absorbance spectrum from different heart regions in a pre-clinical model. The data collected will serve as the baseline for development of a prototype spectrometer software, capable of tracking changes in heart oxygenation before, during and after surgery.

The end goal is to more effectively identify when parts of the heart are deprived of oxygen and nutrients and prevent resulting impacts on cardiac metabolism and output. Doing so will decrease short term mortality and morbidity and may also improve circulation systemically, potentially reducing long term health impacts of reduced oxygenation, such as neurodevelopmental disorders.

Antonio R. Porras

Antonio R. Porras, Ph.D., awarded prestigious NIH grant for craniosynostosis modeling, career advancement

Antonio R. Porras

Antonio R. Porras, Ph.D., is a staff scientist in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Health System.

Antonio R. Porras, Ph.D., a staff scientist in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Health System, has received the prestigious Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This award funds Dr. Porras’ research for the next five years, enabling him to develop two bone growth models that will better inform clinicians treating patients with craniosynostosis and help to optimize outcomes. Also referred to as the K99/R00 grant, this NIH award is for researchers who are either in the postdoctoral/residency period or who are early career investigators. It is designed to transition them from mentored positions to independent, tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions so that they can launch competitive research careers.

Marius George Linguraru, D.Phil., M.A., M.Sc., a principal investigator in the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, is Dr. Porras’ primary mentor on this research project along with co-mentors Robert Keating, M.D., division chief of neurosurgery at Children’s National, and Maximilian Muenke, M.D., chief in the Medical Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Dr. Porras has taken a research interest in craniosynostosis, the early fusion of one or more cranial sutures that may lead to craniofacial malformations and brain growth constraints during childhood. With this NIH K99/R00 award, Dr. Porras will employ his expertise in computer science, biomedical engineering, quantitative imaging and statistical modeling to create a personalized computational predictive model of cranial bone growth for subjects without cranial pathology and for patients with craniosynostosis. Dr. Porras will also quantify the coupled growth patterns of the cranial bones and the brain using an existing brain growth model.

Affecting one in 2,100 to 2,500 live births, craniosynostosis complications can result in elevated intra-cranial pressure and subsequent impaired brain growth. While treatable, optimal outcomes are stymied by subjectivity in the evaluation of cranial malformations and prediction of cranial bone development. There are currently no personalized clinical tools available to predict healthy or pathological cranial growth and no objective techniques to optimize the long-term outcome of treatment for patients with craniosynostosis.

Children’s National ranked No. 6 overall and No. 1 for newborn care by U.S. News

Children’s National in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s No. 6 children’s hospital and, for the third year in a row, its neonatology program is No.1 among all children’s hospitals providing newborn intensive care, according to the U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals annual rankings for 2019-20.

This is also the third year in a row that Children’s National has been in the top 10 of these national rankings. It is the ninth straight year it has ranked in all 10 specialty services, with five specialty service areas ranked among the top 10.

“I’m proud that our rankings continue to cement our standing as among the best children’s hospitals in the nation,” says Kurt Newman, M.D., President and CEO for Children’s National. “In addition to these service lines, today’s recognition honors countless specialists and support staff who provide unparalleled, multidisciplinary patient care. Quality care is a function of every team member performing their role well, so I credit every member of the Children’s National team for this continued high performance.”

The annual rankings recognize the nation’s top 50 pediatric facilities based on a scoring system developed by U.S. News. The top 10 scorers are awarded a distinction called the Honor Roll.

“The top 10 pediatric centers on this year’s Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll deliver outstanding care across a range of specialties and deserve to be nationally recognized,” says Ben Harder, chief of health analysis at U.S. News. “According to our analysis, these Honor Roll hospitals provide state-of-the-art medical expertise to children with rare or complex conditions. Their rankings reflect U.S. News’ assessment of their commitment to providing high-quality, compassionate care to young patients and their families day in and day out.”

The bulk of the score for each specialty is based on quality and outcomes data. The process also includes a survey of relevant specialists across the country, who are asked to list hospitals they believe provide the best care for patients with challenging conditions.

Below are links to the five specialty services that U.S. News ranked in the top 10 nationally:

The other five specialties ranked among the top 50 were cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and gastro-intestinal surgery, orthopedics, and urology.

Dr. Anitha John, third from right, director of the Washington Adult Congenital Heart Program, hosts the eighth-annual “Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the 21st Century” conference

CME spotlight: Treating adult congenital heart disease

Dr. Anitha John, third from right, director of the Washington Adult Congenital Heart Program, hosts the eighth-annual “Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the 21st Century” conference

Dr. Anitha John, third from right, director of the Washington Adult Congenital Heart Program, hosts the eighth-annual “Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the 21st Century” conference, which takes place Oct. 4-5, 2019.

A two-day continuing medical education (CME) conference for physicians and clinicians treating patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) takes place Oct. 4-5, 2019, at the Bethesda Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland.

The eighth-annual conference, “Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the 21st Century,” hosted by Children’s National Health System and MedStar Washington Hospital Center provides a comprehensive review of the evaluation, diagnosis and management of ACHD, including guidelines to help ACHD patients manage a healthy pregnancy and clinical guidance about the progression of congenital heart disease (CHD) treatment from adolescence through adulthood.

Two tracks accommodate these themes, with the first focusing on a multidisciplinary approach clinicians can use to help ACHD patients assess risks for pregnancy complications, while planning and managing a healthy pregnancy, with input from cardiologists, anesthesiologists and maternal fetal medicine specialists. The second focuses on cardiac defects, starting with anatomical cardiac lessons with 3D heart models, then moves to imaging review, examining echocardiograms and MRI’s, and ends with clinical management review.

“This conference brings the best science and the most innovative approaches to treatment with questions doctors receive in the exam room,” says Anitha John, M.D., Ph.D., the conference organizer and director of the Washington Adult Congenital Heart program at Children’s National. “We’re inviting patients to join the afternoon of the second day of the CME conference again this year to support shared knowledge of these concepts, which supports lifelong treatment and education.”

Dr. John planned this year’s conference with the November 6 ACHD board exams in mind, integrating topics that will appear on the third ACHD certification exam issued by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

At this year’s CME conference, more than a dozen faculty members, including several physicians and nurses from Children’s National, will guide lectures to help attendees meet 13 objectives, from understanding the prevalence of congenital heart disease and its complications to learning about when surgical interventions and referrals to specialists are necessary.

Attendees will review new and innovative PAH therapies, mechanical support therapies, catheter-based interventional procedures and appraise the use of pacemaker and defibrillator therapy among adults with CHD.

Patients and families attending the patient sessions, held from 12:30 to 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, October 5, have a chance to participate in three sessions that support the medical and social needs of ACHD patients. Topics range from workshops that address the neurodevelopment and psychosocial factors of living with a congenital heart defect to sessions that focus on reproductive options for patients and personalized lifestyle recommendations, including fitness and exercise guidelines.

“To support cardiovascular health throughout the lifespan, it helps to educate patients about their heart’s structure and unique needs,” notes Dr. John. “We want to spark a dialogue now and have future conversations with patients, especially while they are young.”

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines updated ACHD treatment recommendations in August 2018, the first time in 10 years, and many of these guidelines manifest as panel discussions and interactive lectures presented at the 2019 Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the 21st Century conference.

Attendees can receive up to 12.5 credits from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of PAs.

Those interested in starting their own ACHD program can attend an evening symposium, entitled “ACHD Program Building 101,” hosted by representatives from the Mid-Atlantic ACHD Regional Group. Topics in the six-session panel range from managing ACHD patients in a pediatric hospital setting to the role of clinical nurse coordinators in ACHD care.

To learn more about or to register for the conference, visit CE.MedStarHealth.org/ACHD. You can also listen to an interview with Dr. Anitha John about the upcoming Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) conference.

NCC-PDI Pitch Winners

NCC-PDI announces medical device pitch winners

NCC-PDI Pitch Winners

Five pediatric medical device innovators each captured $50K in funding and access to a new pediatric device accelerator program in a competition hosted April 30, 2019 by National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation that focused on orthopedic and spine devices. Clockwise from front left: Kolaleh Eskandanian, Children’s National Health System; Cristian Atria, nView Medical; John Barrett, Auctus Surgical Inc.; Paul Mraz, ApiFix; Dan Sands, AMB Surgical II; Anuradha Dayal, BabySteps, Children’s National Health System; Paul Grand, MedTech Innovator; (center) Bill Bentley, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland.

The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) announced five winners of its “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition held on April 30 at the University of Maryland. Each winner receives $50,000 in grant funding and gains access to the consortium’s first-of-its-kind “Pediatric Device Innovator Accelerator Program” led by MedTech Innovator.

NCC-PDI, one of five FDA Pediatric Device Consortia grant programs that support the development and commercialization of pediatric medical devices, is led by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Health System and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. The consortium recently added new accelerators BioHealth Innovation and MedTech Innovator and design firm partner, Smithwise.

A panel of 32 expert judges from business, healthcare, regulatory and legal sectors selected the winners based on the clinical significance and commercial feasibility of their medical devices for children. The competition focused solely on advancing care in the pediatric orthopedics and spine sector which the FDA identified as an emerging underserved specialty lacking innovation.

The competition winners are:

  • AMB Surgical, LLC, Dayton, Ohio – FLYTE, a device designed to reduce invasive and repetitive surgery in children and teens with orthopedic illnesses such as scoliosis and limb abnormalities
  • Auctus Surgical, Inc., San Francisco, Calif. – Auctus Surgical Dynamic Spinal Tethering System, a mechanism used to correct the scoliotic spine in pediatric patients through a tethering procedure
  • ApiFix Ltd, Boston, Mass. – ApiFix’s Minimally Invasive Deformity Correction (MID-C) System, a posterior dynamic deformity correction system for surgical treatment to provide permanent spinal curve correction while retaining flexibility
  • Children’s National Health System, Washington, D.C.– Babysteps platform to improve initial assessment of clubfoot deformity and predict the magnitude of correction
  • nView Medical, Salt Lake City, Utah – Surgical scanner using AI-based image creation to provide instant 3D imaging during surgery to improve imagery speed and accuracy

“All finalists are winners and we believe that, with NCC-PDI’s support, some of the awarded devices will be available to orthopedic and spine clinicians in the near future. That is vitally important since innovation has been stagnant in this area,” says Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., MBA, PMP, vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National and principal investigator of NCC-PDI. “This competition aims to increase the profile of companies by exposing them to a panel of industry leaders who may become future investors or strategic partners.”

Through the inaugural NCC-PDI “Pediatric Device Innovator Accelerator Program,” MedTech Innovator is providing winners with virtual in-depth, customized mentorship from some of the industry’s leading executives and investors. MedTech Innovator has a proven track record of identifying early-stage medical device companies with the key characteristics required for commercial success and accelerating their growth through its vast ecosystem of resources.

“As a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, I am encouraged by the innovations presented at this competition,” says Matthew Oetgen, M.D., division chief of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at Children’s National, who served on the judging panel. “We need more devices that compensate for the smaller size of children compared to adults and that can adapt as children’s bones continue to grow and develop. The finalists who competed fully embraced that challenge.”

This was NCC-PDI’s eighth competition in six years and a ninth competition is planned for fall 2019 that focuses on NICU. Including this recent round of winners, the consortium has supported 94 pediatric medical devices and helped five companies receive FDA or CE mark regulatory clearance.

To learn more about the winners and the fall 2019 pitch competition, visit the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation website.

Billie Lou Short and Kurt Newman at Research and Education Week

Research and Education Week honors innovative science

Billie Lou Short and Kurt Newman at Research and Education Week

Billie Lou Short, M.D., received the Ninth Annual Mentorship Award in Clinical Science.

People joke that Billie Lou Short, M.D., chief of Children’s Division of Neonatology, invented extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, known as ECMO for short. While Dr. Short did not invent ECMO, under her leadership Children’s National was the first pediatric hospital to use it. And over decades Children’s staff have perfected its use to save the lives of tiny, vulnerable newborns by temporarily taking over for their struggling hearts and lungs. For two consecutive years, Children’s neonatal intensive care unit has been named the nation’s No. 1 for newborns by U.S. News & World Report. “Despite all of these accomplishments, Dr. Short’s best legacy is what she has done as a mentor to countless trainees, nurses and faculty she’s touched during their careers. She touches every type of clinical staff member who has come through our neonatal intensive care unit,” says An Massaro, M.D., director of residency research.

For these achievements, Dr. Short received the Ninth Annual Mentorship Award in Clinical Science.

Anna Penn, M.D., Ph.D., has provided new insights into the central role that the placental hormone allopregnanolone plays in orderly fetal brain development, and her research team has created novel experimental models that mimic some of the brain injuries often seen in very preterm babies – an essential step that informs future neuroprotective strategies. Dr. Penn, a clinical neonatologist and developmental neuroscientist, “has been a primary adviser for 40 mentees throughout their careers and embodies Children’s core values of Compassion, Commitment and Connection,” says Claire-Marie Vacher, Ph.D.

For these achievements, Dr. Penn was selected to receive the Ninth Annual Mentorship Award in Basic and Translational Science.

The mentorship awards for Drs. Short and Penn were among dozens of honors given in conjunction with “Frontiers in Innovation,” the Ninth Annual Research and Education Week (REW) at Children’s National. In addition to seven keynote lectures, more than 350 posters were submitted from researchers – from high-school students to full-time faculty – about basic and translational science, clinical research, community-based research, education, training and quality improvement; five poster presenters were showcased via Facebook Live events hosted by Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Two faculty members won twice: Vicki Freedenberg, Ph.D., APRN, for research about mindfulness-based stress reduction and Adeline (Wei Li) Koay, MBBS, MSc, for research related to HIV. So many women at every stage of their research careers took to the stage to accept honors that Naomi L.C. Luban, M.D., Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, quipped that “this day is power to women.”

Here are the 2019 REW award winners:

2019 Elda Y. Arce Teaching Scholars Award
Barbara Jantausch, M.D.
Lowell Frank, M.D.

Suzanne Feetham, Ph.D., FAA, Nursing Research Support Award
Vicki Freedenberg, Ph.D., APRN, for “Psychosocial and biological effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention in adolescents with CHD/CIEDs: a randomized control trial”
Renee’ Roberts Turner for “Peak and nadir experiences of mid-level nurse leaders”

2019-2020 Global Health Initiative Exploration in Global Health Awards
Nathalie Quion, M.D., for “Latino youth and families need assessment,” conducted in Washington
Sonia Voleti for “Handheld ultrasound machine task shifting,” conducted in Micronesia
Tania Ahluwalia, M.D., for “Simulation curriculum for emergency medicine,” conducted in India
Yvonne Yui for “Designated resuscitation teams in NICUs,” conducted in Ghana
Xiaoyan Song, Ph.D., MBBS, MSc, “Prevention of hospital-onset infections in PICUs,” conducted in China

Ninth Annual Research and Education Week Poster Session Awards

Basic and Translational Science
Faculty: Adeline (Wei Li) Koay, MBBS, MSc, for “Differences in the gut microbiome of HIV-infected versus HIV-exposed, uninfected infants”
Faculty: Hayk Barseghyan, Ph.D., for “Composite de novo Armenian human genome assembly and haplotyping via optical mapping and ultra-long read sequencing”
Staff: Damon K. McCullough, BS, for “Brain slicer: 3D-printed tissue processing tool for pediatric neuroscience research”
Staff: Antonio R. Porras, Ph.D., for “Integrated deep-learning method for genetic syndrome screening using facial photographs”
Post docs/fellows/residents: Lung Lau, M.D., for “A novel, sprayable and bio-absorbable sealant for wound dressings”
Post docs/fellows/residents: Kelsey F. Sugrue, Ph.D., for “HECTD1 is required for growth of the myocardium secondary to placental insufficiency”
Graduate students: Erin R. Bonner, BA, for “Comprehensive mutation profiling of pediatric diffuse midline gliomas using liquid biopsy”
High school/undergraduate students: Ali Sarhan for “Parental somato-gonadal mosaic genetic variants are a source of recurrent risk for de novo disorders and parental health concerns: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis”

Clinical Research
Faculty: Amy Hont, M.D., for “Ex vivo expanded multi-tumor antigen specific T-cells for the treatment of solid tumors”
Faculty: Lauren McLaughlin, M.D., for “EBV/LMP-specific T-cells maintain remissions of T- and B-cell EBV lymphomas after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation”

Staff: Iman A. Abdikarim, BA, for “Timing of allergenic food introduction among African American and Caucasian children with food allergy in the FORWARD study”
Staff: Gelina M. Sani, BS, for “Quantifying hematopoietic stem cells towards in utero gene therapy for treatment of sickle cell disease in fetal cord blood”
Post docs/fellows/residents: Amy H. Jones, M.D., for “To trach or not trach: exploration of parental conflict, regret and impacts on quality of life in tracheostomy decision-making”
Graduate students: Alyssa Dewyer, BS, for “Telemedicine support of cardiac care in Northern Uganda: leveraging hand-held echocardiography and task-shifting”
Graduate students: Natalie Pudalov, BA, “Cortical thickness asymmetries in MRI-abnormal pediatric epilepsy patients: a potential metric for surgery outcome”
High school/undergraduate students: Kia Yoshinaga for “Time to rhythm detection during pediatric cardiac arrest in a pediatric emergency department”

Community-Based Research
Faculty: Adeline (Wei Li) Koay, MBBS, MSc, for “Recent trends in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area”
Staff: Gia M. Badolato, MPH, for “STI screening in an urban ED based on chief complaint”
Post docs/fellows/residents: Christina P. Ho, M.D., for “Pediatric urinary tract infection resistance patterns in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area”
Graduate students: Noushine Sadeghi, BS, “Racial/ethnic disparities in receipt of sexual health services among adolescent females”

Education, Training and Program Development
Faculty: Cara Lichtenstein, M.D., MPH, for “Using a community bus trip to increase knowledge of health disparities”
Staff: Iana Y. Clarence, MPH, for “TEACHing residents to address child poverty: an innovative multimodal curriculum”
Post docs/fellows/residents: Johanna Kaufman, M.D., for “Inpatient consultation in pediatrics: a learning tool to improve communication”
High school/undergraduate students: Brett E. Pearson for “Analysis of unanticipated problems in CNMC human subjects research studies and implications for process improvement”

Quality and Performance Improvement
Faculty: Vicki Freedenberg, Ph.D., APRN, for “Implementing a mindfulness-based stress reduction curriculum in a congenital heart disease program”
Staff: Caleb Griffith, MPH, for “Assessing the sustainability of point-of-care HIV screening of adolescents in pediatric emergency departments”
Post docs/fellows/residents: Rebecca S. Zee, M.D., Ph.D., for “Implementation of the Accelerated Care of Torsion (ACT) pathway: a quality improvement initiative for testicular torsion”
Graduate students: Alysia Wiener, BS, for “Latency period in image-guided needle bone biopsy in children: a single center experience”

View images from the REW2019 award ceremony.

Beth Tarini

Getting to know SPR’s future President, Beth Tarini, M.D., MS

Beth Tarini

Quick. Name four pillar pediatric organizations on the vanguard of advancing pediatric research.

Most researchers and clinicians can rattle off the names of the Academic Pediatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Pediatric Society. But that fourth one, the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR), is a little trickier. While many know SPR, a lot of research-clinicians simply do not.

Over the next few years, Beth A. Tarini, M.D., MS, will make it her personal mission to ensure that more pediatric researchers get to know SPR and are so excited about the organization that they become active members. In May 2019 Dr. Tarini becomes Vice President of the society that aims to stitch together an international network of interdisciplinary researchers to improve kids’ health. Four-year SPR leadership terms begin with Vice President before transitioning to President-Elect, President and Past-President, each for one year.

Dr. Tarini says she looks forward to working with other SPR leaders to find ways to build more productive, collaborative professional networks among faculty, especially emerging junior faculty. “Facilitating ways to network for research and professional reasons across pediatric research is vital – albeit easier said than done. I have been told I’m a connector, so I hope to leverage that skill in this new role,” says Dr. Tarini, associate director for Children’s Center for Translational Research.

“I’m delighted that Dr. Tarini was elected to this leadership position, and I am impressed by her vision of improving SPR’s outreach efforts,” says Mark Batshaw, M.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Academic Officer and Physician-in-Chief at Children’s National. “Her goal of engaging potential members in networking through a variety of ways – face-to-face as well as leveraging digital platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – and her focus on engaging junior faculty will help strengthen SPR membership in the near term and long term.”

Dr. Tarini adds: “Success to me would be leaving after four years with more faculty – especially junior faculty – approaching membership in SPR with the knowledge and enthusiasm that they bring to membership in other pediatric societies.”

SPR requires that its members not simply conduct research, but move the needle in their chosen discipline. In her research, Dr. Tarini has focused on ensuring that population-based newborn screening programs function efficiently and effectively with fewer hiccups at any place along the process.

Thanks to a heel stick to draw blood, an oxygen measurement, and a hearing test, U.S. babies are screened for select inherited health conditions, expediting treatment for infants and reducing the chances they’ll experience long-term health consequences.

“The complexity of this program that is able to test nearly all 4 million babies in the U.S. each year is nothing short of astounding. You have to know the child is born – anywhere in the state – and then between 24 and 48 hours of birth you have to do testing onsite, obtain a specific type of blood sample, send the blood sample to an off-site lab quickly, test the sample, find the child if the test is out of range, get the child evaluated and tested for the condition, then send them for treatment. Given the time pressures as well as the coordination of numerous people and organizations, the fact that this happens routinely is amazing. And like any complex process, there is always room for improvement,” she says.

Dr. Tarini’s research efforts have focused on those process improvements.

As just one example, the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, a federal advisory committee on which she serves, was discussing how to eliminate delays in specimen processing to provide speedier results to families. One possible solution floated was to open labs all seven days, rather than just five days a week. Dr. Tarini advocated for partnering with health care engineers who could help model ways to make the specimen transport process more efficient, just like airlines and mail delivery services. A more efficient and effective solution was to match the specimen pick-up and delivery times more closely with the lab’s operational times – which maximizes lab resources and shortens wait times for parents.

Conceptual modeling comes so easily for her that she often leaps out of her seat mid-sentence, underscoring a point by jotting thoughts on a white board, doing it so often that her pens have run dry.

“It’s like a bus schedule: You want to find a bus that not only takes you to your destination but gets you there on time,” she says.

Dr. Tarini’s current observational study looks for opportunities to improve how parents in Minnesota and Iowa are given out-of-range newborn screening test results – especially false positives – and how that experience might shake their confidence in their child’s health as well as heighten their own stress level.

“After a false positive test result, are there parents who walk away from newborn screening with lingering stress about their child’s health? Can we predict who those parents might be and help them?” she asks.

Among the challenges is the newborn screening occurs so quickly after delivery that some emotionally and physically exhausted parents may not remember it was done. Then they get a call from the state with ominous results. Another challenge is standardizing communication approaches across dozens of birthing centers and hospitals.

“We know parents are concerned after receiving a false positive result, and some worry their infant remains vulnerable,” she says. “Can we change how we communicate – not just what we say, but how we say it – to alleviate those concerns?”

Jeffrey Lukish

Pediatric Surgeon receives ACS/APSA Health Policy Scholarship

Jeffrey Lukish

Jeffrey Lukish, M.D., a pediatric surgeon at Children’s National Health System, has been named a 2019 American College of Surgeons (ACS) and American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) Health Policy Scholar for 2019.

The scholarship supports Dr. Lukish’s attendance at the Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management at Brandeis University, which teaches knowledge and skills essential for participating in health care policy and equips health leaders with tools to create innovative and sustainable ways to improve health care service delivery. As a 2019 scholar, he will also provide health policy-related assistance to the ACS and the APSA as requested, and will have opportunities to build relationships with local, state and federal lawmakers.

Dr. Lukish is a nationally recognized expert in advanced minimally invasive surgery in infants and children, as well as pediatric surgical innovation. He has been voted a Baltimore Top Doctor by his peers for five of the last eight years. He holds academic appointments as a professor of surgery from the Uniformed Services University and associate professor of surgery at the George Washington University.

Dr. Lukish is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and member of several prominent professional societies, including the American Pediatric Surgical Society, the Pediatric Cancer Oncology Group and the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group.  He has authored over 100 publications.

ACC19 attendees from Children's National

ACC.19: A focus on pediatric cardiology

ACC19 attendees from Children's National

Dr. Gerard Martin, center, accepts an award before delivering the 2019 Dan G. McNamara Keynote lecture at ACC.19.

“Innovation meets tradition,” is how many attendees and journalists described the American College of Cardiology’s 68th Scientific Sessions (ACC.19), which took place March 16-18, 2019 in New Orleans, La.

Gerard Martin, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A., a pediatric cardiologist and the medical director of Global Services at Children’s National, supported this narrative by referencing both themes in his 2019 Dan G. McNamara keynote lecture, entitled “Improved Outcomes in Congenital Heart Disease through Advocacy and Collaboration.” Dr. Martin highlighted advancements in the field of pediatric cardiology that took place over the past 15 years, while touting modern advancements – such as pulse oximetry screenings for critical congenital heart disease – that were a result of physician-led advocacy and collaboration.

Dr. Martin’s message was to continue to invest in research and technology that leads to medical breakthroughs, but to remember the power of partnerships, such as those formed by the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative. These alliances, which generated shared protocols and infrastructure among health systems, improved interstage mortality rates between surgeries for babies born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

A dozen cardiologists and clinicians from the Children’s National Heart Institute also participated in CME panel discussions or delivered poster presentations to support future versions of this template, touching on early-stage innovations and multi-institution research collaborations. The themes among Children’s National Heart Institute faculty, presented to a diverse crowd of 12,000-plus professional attendees representing 108 countries, included:

Personalized guidelines:

  • Sarah Clauss, M.D., F.A.C.C., a cardiologist, presented “Unique Pediatric Differences from Adult Cholesterol Guidelines: Lipids and Preventive Cardiology,” before Charles Berul, M.D., division chief of cardiology and co-director of the Children’s National Heart Institute, presented “Unique Pediatric Differences from Adult Guidelines: Arrhythmias in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease,” in a joint symposium with the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
  • Berul, who specializes in electrophysiology, co-chaired a congenital heart disease pathway session, entitled “Rhythm and Blues: Electrophysiology Progress and Controversies in Congenital Heart Disease,” featuring components of pediatric electrophysiology, including heart block, surgical treatment of arrhythmias and sudden death risk.

Early detection:

  • Anita Krishnan, M.D., associate director of the echocardiography lab, presented “Identifying Socioeconomic and Geographic Barriers to Prenatal Detection of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Transposition of the Great Arteries” as a moderated poster in Fetal Cardiology: Quickening Discoveries.
  • Jennifer Romanowicz, M.D., a cardiology fellow, and Russell Cross, M.D., director of cardiac MRI, presented the “Neonatal Supraventricular Tachycardia as a Presentation of Critical Aortic Coarctation” poster in FIT Clinical Decision Making: Congenital Heart Disease 2.
  • Pranava Sinha, M.D., a cardiac surgeon, presented the poster “Neuroprotective Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation in Children with Cyanotic Heart Defects: Insights from a Rodent Hypoxia Model” in Congenital Heart Disease: Therapy 2.

Coordinated care:

  • Ashraf Harahsheh, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.A.P., a cardiologist with a focus on hyperlipidemia and preventive cardiology, co-presented an update about BMI quality improvement (Q1) activity from the American College of Cardiology’s Adult Congenital and Pediatric Quality Network – BMI Q1 leadership panel.
  • Niti Dham, M.D., director of the cardio-oncology program, and Deepa Mokshagundam, M.D., cardiology fellow, presented the poster “Cardiac Changes in Pediatric Cancer Survivors” in Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies: Clinical 3.
  • Nancy Klein, B.S.N., R.N., C.P.N., clinical program coordinator of the Washington Adult Congenital Heart program at Children’s National, presented the poster “Improving Completion of Advanced Directives in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease” in Risks and Rewards in Adult Congenital Heart Disease.

Innovation:

  • Jai Nahar, M.D., a cardiologist, moderated “Future Hub: Augmented Cardiovascular Practitioner: Giving Doctors and Patients a New Voice.” The session focused on technical aspects of artificial intelligence, such as language processing and conversational artificial intelligence, as well as how applications are used in patient-physician interactions.
  • Nahar also participated in a key event on the Heart-to-Heart stage, entitled “Rise of Intelligent Machines: The Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Cardiovascular Care.”

“While I enjoyed the significant representation of Children’s National faculty at the meeting and all of the presentations this year, one research finding that I found particularly compelling was Dr. Krishnan’s poster about geographical disparities in detecting congenital heart disease,” says Dr. Berul. “Her research finds obstetricians providing care to women in the lowest quartile of socioeconomic areas were twice as likely to miss a diagnosis for a critical congenital heart defect during a fetal ultrasound, compared to obstetricians providing care for women in the highest quartiles.”

Dr. Krishnan’s study was the collaborative effort of 21 centers in the United States and Canada, and investigated how socioeconomic and geographic factors affect prenatal detection of hypoplastic left heart syndrome and transposition of the great arteries.

“We studied over 1,800 patients, and chose these diseases because they require early stabilization by a specialized team at a tertiary care center,” says Dr. Krishnan, who led the research in conjunction with the Fetal Heart Society Research Collaborative. “We hope that by understanding what the barriers are, we can reduce disparities in care through education and community-based outreach.”

Kinsley and Dr. Timothy Kane

Case study: Diagnosing a choledochal cyst in utero

Kinsley and Dr. Timothy Kane

The Feigel family worked with Timothy Kane, M.D., the division chief of general and thoracic surgery at Children’s National, to ensure an accurate diagnosis, coordinate a corrective procedure and support a strong recovery for Kinsley, who just celebrated a 5-month milestone.

On Sept. 30, 2018, Elizabeth Feigel gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Kinsley Feigel. Thirty-two days later, Elizabeth and her husband, Steven Feigel, delighted in another hospital moment: Kinsley, who developed a choledochal cyst in utero, was recovering from a surgical procedure to remove an abnormal bile duct cyst, which also required the removal of her gallbladder.

While the series of events, interspersed with multiple hospital visits, would likely create uneasiness in new parents, the Feigel family worked with Vahe Badalyan, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Children’s National Health System, and with Timothy Kane, M.D., the division chief of general and thoracic surgery at Children’s National, to ensure an accurate diagnosis, coordinate a corrective procedure and support a strong recovery for Kinsley, who just celebrated a 5-month milestone.

One of the keys to Kinsley’s success was close communication between her parents and providers.

Dr. Badalyan and Dr. Kane listened to Elizabeth and Steven’s concerns, explained complex medical terms in lay language, and provided background about Kinsley’s presenting symptoms, risk factors and procedures. Instead of second-guessing the diagnosis, Elizabeth and Steven put their trust into and remained in contact with the medical team, sharing updates about Kinsley at home. This parent-physician partnership helped ensure an accurate diagnosis and tailored treatment for Kinsley.

Here is her story.

An early diagnosis

During a 12-week prenatal ultrasound, Elizabeth discovered that Kinsley had an intra-abdominal cyst. Before Elizabeth came to Children’s National for an MRI, she met with several fetal medicine specialists and had a variety of tests, including an amniocentesis to rule out chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome.

The team at Children’s National didn’t want to prematurely confirm Kinsley’s choledochal cyst in utero, but additional ultrasounds and an MRI helped narrow the diagnosis to a few conditions.

After Kinsley was born, and despite looking like a healthy, full-term baby, she was transported to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Children’s National. Dr. Badalyan and Dr. Kane analyzed Kinsley’s postnatal sonogram and found the cyst was bigger than they previously thought. Over a five-day period, the medical team kept Kinsley under their close watch, running additional tests, including an additional sonogram. They then followed up with Kinsley on an outpatient basis to better understand and diagnose her cyst.

Outpatient care

Over the next few weeks, Kinsley, Elizabeth and Steven returned to Children’s National to coordinate multiple exams, ranging from an MRI to a HIDA scan. During this period, Elizabeth and Steven remained in contact with Dr. Badalyan. They heard about Kinsley’s lab results and sent updates about her symptoms, including her stool, which helped the medical team monitor her status.

Meanwhile, Dr. Badalyan and Dr. Kane worked closely with the lab to measure Kinsley’s bilirubin levels. Her presenting symptoms and risk factors, she had jaundice and is a female baby of Asian descent, are associated with both choledochal cysts and biliary atresia.

Over time and with the help of Elizabeth, Steven and the pediatric radiologists, Dr. Badalyan and Dr. Kane confirmed Kinsley had a type 1 choledochal cyst, the most common. Originally, the plan was to operate at three to six months, but Dr. Kane needed to expedite the procedure and operate on Kinsley at one month due to a rise in her bilirubin, a sign of progressive liver disease.

Higher bilirubin levels are common in newborns and remain elevated at about 5 mg/dL after the first few days of birth, but Kinsley’s levels peaked and remained elevated. Instead of her bile flowing into her intestine, her choledochal cyst reduced the flow of bile, which accumulated and started to pour back into her liver. The timing of the surgery was as important as the procedure.

The surgery

On Oct. 31, Halloween, Kinsley had laparoscopic surgery to remove the choledochal cyst. Approximately five to seven patients per year undergo choledochal cyst removal at Children’s National. Smaller infants typically undergo removal of a choledochal cyst using a large incision (or open procedure). Kinsley was the smallest baby at Children’s National to have this type of surgery performed by minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, which required a few 3-mm incisions – the size of coriander seeds.

Some hospitals use the da Vinci robot, which starts at 8-mm incisions, the size of a small pearl, to conduct this procedure on infants, but this method cannot effectively be done in very small infants. Instead, Dr. Kane prefers to stitch sutures by hand. This technique keeps the incisions small and is technically demanding, but Dr. Kane doesn’t mind (he views this as an advanced technical skill). The goal for this surgery was to cut out the abnormal piece of Kinsley’s common bile duct, comprised of the cyst, remove  this and then sew the bile duct to the small intestine (duodenum), creating a digestive pathway. The new digestive tube allows for bile to flow from her liver through the common hepatic duct, in place of the pathway where the cyst formed, and into her intestine.

Like other surgeries, Dr. Kane needed to adapt the procedure, especially with Kinsley’s size: Taking too much from the bile duct would create a tight space, and could create obstruction, blocking bile, while leaving too much room could create leakage and spilling of the bile, requiring a follow-up surgical procedure within a week or two of the original operation.

Dr. Kane had a few options in mind before he operated. He didn’t know which would be most suitable until the operation, but he remained open and prepared for all three. Adopting this mindset, instead of having one procedure in mind, has helped Dr. Kane with precise and tailored surgeries, which often result in the best procedure and a stronger recovery period for young patients.

After 4.5 hours, the surgery, a two-part procedure – removing the cyst and recreating a functional bile duct – was complete.

Kinsley moved into the recovery unit, where she rested and recovered under close medical supervision for five days. During the first few days, she didn’t have liquids or milk, but she did have two bedside nurses monitoring her status in addition to surgeons making regular rounds. Elizabeth and Steven were relieved: The diagnosis and surgery were over.

Managing risk factors

Before Kinsley left the hospital, Elizabeth and Steven scheduled a follow-up visit to ensure Kinsley was recovering well and avoided risk of infection, such as cholangitis, which can occur suddenly and become chronic.

Following Kinsley’s post-surgical bloodwork in early November, Dr. Badalyan noticed Kinsley’s white blood count was high, signaling infection, and he immediately brought the family back to the hospital. To help her body fight the infection, Kinsley received antibiotics and intravenous fluids. She stayed in the hospital for five days. Fortunately, cholangitis is easy to treat with antibiotics; the key is to detect it early.

Kinsley returned home in time for Thanksgiving. She came back to the hospital for biweekly visits. At this point, she was filling out, reaching a 2-month milestone and nearing a full recovery. She returned for follow-up visits in December and January – and has been healthy ever since. She will continue to make routine visits during her first year to ensure her white blood count remains in a healthy range.

Investing in youth resilience

Dr. Badalyan and Dr. Kane envision a healthy future for Kinsley. They don’t expect she’ll need additional operations. Her parents are also looking on the bright side: Since gallbladders aren’t essential for survival or long-term health outcomes, and since many people can easily live without them, Kinsley may be at an advantage. Elizabeth thinks Kinsley may be more cautious about lifestyle choices to support living without a gallbladder, which also support longevity.

Another perspective noted by Dr. Badalyan and Dr. Kane is Kinsley’s resilience factor. Having the surgery earlier brought unique challenges, but her age makes it easier for Kinsley to bounce back as her body rapidly develops. Her tissues were healthy, compared to adult patients undergoing surgery with chronic liver problems or heart disease, which puts her at an advantage for a faster healing process. Dr. Badalyan also mentions that while it’s good for her Kinsley and her family to continue to monitor risks for infections, she won’t have gallstones.

Elizabeth also started to notice something that Kinsley’s doctors likely wouldn’t pick up on: Her personality seems to be a result of her hospital experience and stay. Kinsley’s an easy baby. She eats well and sleeps well, which Elizabeth credits to being around clinicians and to learning the art of self-soothing, a skill she likely acquired while recovering from surgery.

This month, Kinsley has another adventure. She’ll travel with her parents to visit extended family in Seattle, Napa Valley, Calif. and West Virginia. She has several relatives and family friends, all of whom are looking forward to meeting her.

Dr. Kurt Newman in front of the capitol building

Kurt Newman, M.D., shares journey as a pediatric surgeon in TEDx Talk

Kurt Newman, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Children’s National, shares his poignant journey as a pediatric surgeon, offering a new perspective for approaching the most chronic and debilitating health conditions. In this independently-organized TEDx event, Dr. Newman also shares his passion for Children’s National and the need to increase pediatric innovations in medicine.

The traction sisters

Spinal-halo-gravity traction times three

The traction sisters

Three girls received spinal-halo-gravity traction at the same time at Children’s National prior to surgery for acute idiopathic scoliosis.

Washington, D.C.’s ABC affiliate, WJLA, recently featured a story about three girls who received treatment for acute idiopathic scoliosis through the Children’s National Spinal Fusion Surgical Home, a comprehensive and effective program that has demonstrated reductions in pain medication usage and medical stays following posterior spinal fusion surgery.

All three girls had extremely severe curvatures of the spine requiring a month long inpatient stay for spinal halo-gravity traction prior to surgical intervention. Spinal curves severe enough to require traction are rare, and often impede a child’s quality of life just as severely – eating, breathing and moving are difficult. Given the long hospital stay required and the challenges of asking a child to stay in a traction frame 23 hours out of every day, the orthopaedic surgery team tries to coordinate cases so that when possible, patients can support each other throughout the process. This was the first time, however, that the team had three traction patients on similar trajectories on the unit at the same time.

Spinal halo-gravity traction can reduce the degree of surgical intervention necessary by accomplishing some pre-operative gradual straightening of the spine prior to spinal fusion procedures. For severe spinal deformities this has been shown to improve the safety and effectiveness of the final surgical procedure.