Our Community
Staff Spotlight: Meet Sue-mei Portugues
Sue-mei Portugues is the global patient access manager for the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. What’s your role at the hospital? I assist some of the families that come from all over the world for cardiac surgeries throughout the second opinion process. I’m often the first person they connect with when they reach ... Read More about Staff Spotlight: Meet Sue-mei Portugues
Clinical Care
How do you implement change? Lessons from a QI project in the NICU
Kristen Leeman, MD, is Director of Quality in the Division of Newborn Medicine and Associate Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Boston Children’s Hospital. What if you were taught to do things a certain way, the way things were always done, and then a randomized clinical trial comes out supporting a different ... Read More about How do you implement change? Lessons from a QI project in the NICU
Research
CRUSH: Developing a sexual education program for young adults on the autism spectrum
For many young adults on the autism spectrum, developing and maintaining positive intimate relationships can be challenging. But collaboration between Boston Children’s Hospital and UMass Boston hopes to provide some on-point guidance through a new initiative¾the Competence in Romance and Sexual Health (CRUSH) program, aimed at developing a new sex education curriculum for young adults ... Read More about CRUSH: Developing a sexual education program for young adults on the autism spectrum
Health and Parenting
Relationship talks: Staying together through a child’s illness
Among the many stresses of having an ill or injured child, parents often feel a strain on their marriage. Whenever she can, clinical social worker Katherine Preston, LICSW, reassures families that a child’s illness does not automatically spell the end of the parents’ relationship. Based on studies of families facing childhood cancer and diabetes, Preston ... Read More about Relationship talks: Staying together through a child’s illness
Research
Migraine prevention in children and teens: Weak support for medication
Several medications successfully treat an active migraine. But a review of the medical literature from Boston Children’s Hospital finds only weak evidence that drug treatment prevents migraine in children and adolescents. Only two medications — topiramate and propranolol — showed any difference in preventing migraine in this age group compared with a placebo. Joe Kossowsky ... Read More about Migraine prevention in children and teens: Weak support for medication
Research
Going into science: Women scientists at Boston Children’s offer advice to girls
In honor of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11), we invited women scientists at all stages of their careers at Boston Children’s Hospital to share their scientific agendas. Here is some of what they had to say. The scientists also offered their advice for girls interested in entering the field. ... Read More about Going into science: Women scientists at Boston Children’s offer advice to girls
Health and Parenting
Early sports specialization: How to support your child
Early sports specialization — intensive training and competition in a single sport at the expense of other activities — has become the expected norm for many young athletes hoping to excel. While parents and athletes may see specializing as the only way to achieve future athletic glory, getting too serious too early has produced a ... Read More about Early sports specialization: How to support your child
Research
Studying tools to improve the quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis
Thanks to advances in treatments in recent years, people with cystic fibrosis (CF) are living longer than ever before. Along with this increasing longevity comes some ongoing challenges for patients — from adhering to their treatment plans to managing symptoms to optimize their quality of life. The Cystic Fibrosis Center, through the Division of Pulmonary ... Read More about Studying tools to improve the quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis
Patient Stories
Jason: My remarkable journey
Most people associate the city of Boston with the Red Sox or the Patriots. I, however, cannot help but associate it with brain surgery. I had my first seizure in the summer of 2006, when I was 14 years old and at camp in Connecticut. Gradually, the seizures increased in intensity and frequency. My parents took me ... Read More about Jason: My remarkable journey
Patient Stories
Ava’s journey with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy
Claire Poole never thought a 10-year-old could have a heart condition. So when her daughter, Ava, slumped against the wall exhausted and complaining of arm pain one Sunday in 2012, Claire assumed she had overextended herself at a sleepover the previous night. “When we got into the car, Ava turned grey and had trouble breathing,” ... Read More about Ava’s journey with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy