Blog | Page 12 of 158 | Boston Children's Answers

A new tool could exponentially expand our understanding of bacteria

Posted on February 5, 2025 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: antibiotics, genetics and genomics, imaging, microbes, microbiome

How do bacteria — harmless ones living in our bodies, or those that cause disease — organize their activities? A new study, combining powerful genomic-scale microscopy with a technical innovation, captured which genes bacteria turn on in different situations and in different spatial environments. The technology, described January 23 in Science, promises to take the ... Read More

Tagged: antibiotics, genetics and genomics, imaging, microbes, microbiome

MRI could reduce the mystery of brachial plexus injuries in infants

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Joanne Barker | Clinical, Research

Tags: brachial plexus, hand and upper extremity, neurosurgery, orthopedics, research

About one in 1,000 children are born with brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI), upper extremity weakness or paralysis resulting from trauma to the brachial plexus nerves during childbirth. Most children with BPBI recover with observation and minimally invasive care, but about 30 percent have injuries severe enough to lead to long-term impairment. Thanks to recent ... Read More

Tagged: brachial plexus, hand and upper extremity, neurosurgery, orthopedics, research

Unstoppable: Flatfoot correction helps Jacob take control

Posted on February 3, 2025 by Joanne Barker | Patient Stories

Tags: flatfoot, lower extremity, orthopedics

The first time Dr. Susan Mahan examined Jacob’s feet, she pressed on a tender spot near one of his arches. “You see that?” Jacob’s mother, Lucie, remembers her saying. “That bone isn’t supposed to be there.” Jacob was 13 and had spent a frustrating year trying to figure out why basketball, his greatest source of ... Read More

Tagged: flatfoot, lower extremity, orthopedics

Bringing order to disorder: Jhullian Alston, PhD

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Nancy Fliesler | People, Research

Tags: cellular and molecular medicine, proteomics, research rising stars

Proteins typically fold into orderly, predictable three-dimensional structures that dictate how they will interact with other molecules. Jhulian Alston, PhD, is drawn to intrinsically disordered proteins, whose key feature is a lack of structure. They are difficult to study and far less explored. “They’re floppy, they don’t have specific folds, they can’t slot into each ... Read More

Tagged: cellular and molecular medicine, proteomics, research rising stars

My son is a NICU GraD: Here’s what I’ve learned

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Lia Stelljes | Health and Parenting, Patient Stories

Tags: Fetal Care and Surgery Center, lung disease, newborn medicine, nicu, prematurity

My husband and I aren’t first-time parents, but when our twins were born nine weeks early a year ago, everything we thought we knew went out the window. The thing is, it wasn’t Cal and Theo’s early arrival that was the biggest shock; it was the challenges that came afterward. Life with newborns and a ... Read More

Tagged: Fetal Care and Surgery Center, lung disease, newborn medicine, nicu, prematurity

Status epilepticus: What’s changed, what to know, and a global perspective

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Nancy Fliesler | Clinical Care, Specialty Care

Tags: emergency medicine, epilepsy, neurology, research, seizures

Status epilepticus, or a prolonged seizure lasting more than five minutes, is a rare complication of epilepsy and a medical emergency that can occur even in people without a diagnosis of epilepsy. If not treated quickly, it can cause brain damage, lifelong complications, and even death. “A prolonged seizure is a race against time to ... Read More

Tagged: emergency medicine, epilepsy, neurology, research, seizures

Phenylketonuria: Giving treatment a second chance

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Nancy Fliesler | Clinical Care, Specialty Care

Tags: genetics and genomics, metabolism, rare disease

Phenylketonuria (PKU) was once a common cause of intellectual disability. Children born with this metabolic condition lack phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), the enzyme needed to break down the amino acid phenylalanine (phe). Instead, phe builds up to levels harmful to the brain. PKU was the original condition tested for when newborn screening was piloted in Massachusetts ... Read More

Tagged: genetics and genomics, metabolism, rare disease

Conduction tissue mapping is shown to significantly reduce heart block

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Albert McKeon | Clinical, Research

Tags: biventricular repair, cardiac research, cardiac surgery, cardiology, congenital heart defect, heart, heart center, heterotaxy syndrome, research, single ventricle defects, ventricular septal defect

New research by Boston Children’s validates an innovative approach to mapping the heart’s invisible conduction tissue during surgery. Key takeaways Using a catheter to map unseen conduction tissue drastically reduces heart block during biventricular repair surgeries for several heart conditions. Conduction tissue was identified in 96 percent of patients who were mapped. Only 4 of ... Read More

Tagged: biventricular repair, cardiac research, cardiac surgery, cardiology, congenital heart defect, heart, heart center, heterotaxy syndrome, research, single ventricle defects, ventricular septal defect

Could we cure or prevent food allergy by targeting an intestinal protein?

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: allergy, immunology, immunotherapy, microbiome

When is food simply nourishing and enjoyable, and when does it provoke an allergic reaction? The answer appears to lie in the balance of microbes that live in our intestine — and a specific protein secreted by intestinal goblet cells that influences that balance. Excess amounts of this protein, RELMß, change the profile of intestinal ... Read More

Tagged: allergy, immunology, immunotherapy, microbiome

Crossing the ocean: Kathryn learns how to manage chronic pain

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Jessica Cerretani | Patient Stories

Tags: pain

When Kathryn Chechile, 11, “graduated” from Boston Children’s Pediatric Pain and Rehabilitation Center (PPRC) last year, she painted a tile to hang on the wall of the Center’s space. It’s a fun ritual for patients who complete the intensive day program aimed at helping kids manage chronic pain. Kathryn’s design features a girl looking out ... Read More

Tagged: pain