Blog

Helping your child understand puberty

We all remember the changes — and awkwardness — of puberty. But helping your child navigate puberty is a whole different matter. For answers, we turned to Boston Children’s Primary Care Alliance physician Caitlyn Hark, MD, at Framingham Pediatrics, and Frances Grimstad, MD, a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist in the Division of Gynecology at Boston ... Read More

Beyond average-based medicine: HIE as a blueprint for data-informed care

Historically, outcome prediction in medicine has followed a familiar formula: run a clinical trial, publish the results, guide care based on averages. The model has served for decades, despite its limits. In neonatal care, where decisions can carry lifelong consequences, averages are often insufficient. That’s why Ellen Grant, MD, MSc, director of the Fetal Neonatal ... Read More

Stay chill, show up, move forward: Nolan’s journey with ITP

At 18 years old, Nolan Ryan is an all-around athlete. Between basketball, football, and lacrosse, sports have shaped his daily life for years. He’s a true team player who shows up to every game with humility and dedication, whether he’s on the field or sitting on the sidelines. Like most student-athletes, Nolan had to balance ... Read More

Nanoparticle drug combo treats venous malformations

Venous malformations are abnormally shaped veins that develop when the cells lining the blood vessels grow too fast when they aren’t supposed to. Children can be born with them, and as the child grows, the venous malformations can get bigger. Venous malformations are a type of vascular malformation that can range from small and superficial ... Read More

Biventricular repair linked to better outcomes in superior-inferior ventricles treatment

The complexity of superior-inferior ventricles — a condition in which one ventricle is positioned on top of the other — has often limited surgical treatment. But Boston Children’s heart specialists recognized an opportunity to make treatment for the rare condition more accessible to children. Their solution has been a procedure the hospital is at the ... Read More

Small gains with big meaning: Loic’s story of deep brain stimulation for PKAN care

Loic, 5, lives in Montana with his parents, Sherine and Mark, and his sister, Selah. He loves Spider-Man, sushi, and the Fourth of July. He laughs easily, sings along to his favorite shows, and is a big flirt. These are the little things that Sherine says make Loic, Loic, and which, until earlier this year, ... Read More

‘So much has changed’: Advances in XLH care help siblings thrive

Learn more about our Skeletal Health Center.    When Stephanie Capone was a child, she was diagnosed with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH), a rare genetic condition that makes bones weak, soft, and easy to fracture. XLH, which can be passed down through families, can lead to difficulty walking, bowlegs, short stature, and other challenges. “I underwent ... Read More

Mapping ‘neighborhoods’ in aggressive childhood brain tumors

The third-most common kind of childhood brain tumor, supratentorial ependymoma, is an aggressive cancer that often returns after surgery and radiation therapy. By learning more about the makeup of these tumors, Boston Children’s researchers hope to better understand how to treat them and prevent recurrence. In a new study published in Nature, and led by ... Read More

Gene therapy for hearing loss: Tag-teaming from the lab to the clinic

Two-year-old Miles is one of the first patients with hereditary hearing loss to receive gene therapy at Boston Children’s Hospital — to striking effect. In May 2025, Miles received an injection delivering a healthy copy of a gene called OTOF into the cochlea of his inner ear. Now, Miles is thriving. He’s had no adverse ... Read More

A rare injury, a more determined player: Adrian’s knee dislocation

Adrian can barely remember a time when he didn’t play football. Now 16, he grew up watching games with his father, Antron, who’d played for a top-tier college and practiced with the NFL. In addition to televised games, the two often traveled to Tennessee for football weekends with his father’s former teammates. “Football is a ... Read More

A reunion of the heart: Grace and Amy bond through HLHS

At first glance, Grace and Amy have a pretty typical friendship: they joke around, cheer each other on, and keep in touch mostly through texts and FaceTime. But look a little deeper and there’s something extraordinary about their bond, or more specifically, how and where it began. Grace, 22, and Amy, 21, were both born ... Read More