Patient Stories
For Kenny’s family, it’s a beautiful day
As recent immigrants to Boston from Honduras, Jessy and Edgar didn’t have an easy life, but they were happy. They were both working full-time, raising their teen son, and finding their place in the U.S. They were moving forward. Four years after their arrival, the family was elated to be expecting another son. When Kendall ... Read More about For Kenny’s family, it’s a beautiful day
Health and Parenting
Five things parents should know about vascular rings
If your child has a high-pitched cough, breathes loudly, wheezes, has difficulty eating or swallowing, or always seems to be coming down with pneumonia or respiratory infections, the problem could be more complex than you realize. Although rare, abnormal formations of the blood vessels called vascular rings can compress the trachea, esophagus, or both. While ... Read More about Five things parents should know about vascular rings
Our Community
Yoga program helps children and teens better manage IBD and stress
In a dimly lit room, about a half dozen teens stand quietly, each trying to balance on one leg. The teacher demonstrates, her other leg bent and knee pointing to the side, forming a flag shape. This could be a typical yoga class being held just about anywhere in the United States. But the room ... Read More about Yoga program helps children and teens better manage IBD and stress
Patient Stories
Sharing our journey with cavernous malformations
Finley and her twin sister, Rowan, were born seven weeks premature on November 7, 2017 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In July 2019, Finley was diagnosed with a cavernous malformation, an abnormal mass of thin-walled blood vessels, in a part of her brain called the cerebellum. My wife, Jolene, and I were shocked. Although I was diagnosed ... Read More about Sharing our journey with cavernous malformations
Research
Gasdermin E: A new approach to cancer immunotherapy
Tumors have figured out various ways to prevent the immune system from attacking them. Medicine, for its part, has fought back with cancer immunotherapy. The major approach uses checkpoint inhibitors, drugs that help the immune system recognize cancer cells as foreign. Another method, CAR T-cell therapy, directly engineers peoples’ T cells to efficiently recognize cancer ... Read More about Gasdermin E: A new approach to cancer immunotherapy
Research
Designing a coronavirus vaccine for next year – and the years beyond
As the number of coronavirus infections swell daily across the globe, strategies for developing a safe and effective vaccine are rapidly moving forward. In response to this public health crisis, the Precision Vaccines Program (PVP) at Boston Children’s Hospital is on the front lines of developing a coronavirus vaccine targeted especially toward older populations, those ... Read More about Designing a coronavirus vaccine for next year – and the years beyond
Research
Gene therapy reverses heart failure in mouse model of Barth syndrome
Barth syndrome is a rare metabolic disease caused by mutation of a gene called tafazzin or TAZ. It can cause life-threatening heart failure and also weakens the skeletal muscles, undercuts the immune response, and impairs overall growth. Because Barth syndrome is X-linked, it almost always occurs in boys. There is no cure or specific treatment. ... Read More about Gene therapy reverses heart failure in mouse model of Barth syndrome
Health and Parenting
The new coronavirus: Answers to your questions
As the new coronavirus, COVID-19, continues to spread across the world, people are becoming increasingly concerned about how to keep their families safe. To address these concerns, we sat down with Dr. Thomas Sandora from the Division of Infectious Diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital to get answers to some of the most pressing questions. Do we need to ... Read More about The new coronavirus: Answers to your questions
Research
Mouse model could lead to new treatments for endometriosis pain
There are few effective long-term treatments for endometriosis; even fewer options for relieving the often severe pain associated with the condition, which involves tissue overgrowth outside of the uterus. As a first step toward identifying new pain treatments, researchers in the laboratory of Michael Rogers, PhD, in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, ... Read More about Mouse model could lead to new treatments for endometriosis pain
Research
Mouse/human model provides new way to study neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is a rare childhood cancer affecting about 800 children each year in the United States. Because of its unusual behavior — tumors in infants often disappear spontaneously without treatment while it can be aggressive and fatal in toddlers — studying the disease has been complicated. That may change with a new research tool: a ... Read More about Mouse/human model provides new way to study neuroblastoma