Health and Parenting
Not home for the holidays? How you can help inpatient families
There’s nothing like being home for the holidays. But for families with a child in the hospital, being home might be a distant dream. As a friend or family member, you may wonder what you can do to make the holidays a little brighter. For ideas, we turned to those who have been there before ... Read More about Not home for the holidays? How you can help inpatient families
Research
The Beauty of the Brain
Every year, the Harvard Brain Science Initiative sponsors its Beauty of the Brain contest. This year, two Boston Children’s Hospital images are among the six winners drawn from a pool of forty submissions. Above, Mary Whitman, MD, PhD, and Jess Bell, from the laboratory of Elizabeth Engle, MD, developed this image of a developing mouse ... Read More about The Beauty of the Brain
Health and Parenting
Opioids for acute pain in kids: Four things to know
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. Opioid use disorder can include addiction to heroin, as well as to fentanyl and other prescription opioid analgesics. In fact, research suggests that nearly 80 percent of heroin users report using prescription opioids first. It’s ... Read More about Opioids for acute pain in kids: Four things to know
Patient Stories
Noah the brave: A cross-country quest for a biventricular repair
If you walked down Binney Street next to Boston Children’s hospital this fall, you might’ve noticed something a bit out of the ordinary. Parked on the sidewalk, just out of the way of passers-by, sat a large RV. On the back of the camper, a large photo of a smiling 5-year-old Noah Alderson told part ... Read More about Noah the brave: A cross-country quest for a biventricular repair
Our Community
Provider Spotlight: Meet Dr. Steve Fishman
How did you become interested in pediatric surgery? I became interested in pediatric surgery when I was first exposed to a dedicated and talented surgeon as a medical student in Chicago. I realized that children never deserved to suffer and that the opportunity to help them could have benefits that last a lifetime. I was ... Read More about Provider Spotlight: Meet Dr. Steve Fishman
Our Community
The Transplant Center’s Family Celebration Day 2019 is filled with inspiration
High school prom. College graduation. Wedding. Honeymoon. Job. These are just some of the plot points from Erin Geraghty’s life. While to her they just feel like ‘normal’ accomplishments, to other transplant families her ability to live such a “typical” life gives them hope for their own happy ending. Erin received a heart transplant at Boston ... Read More about The Transplant Center’s Family Celebration Day 2019 is filled with inspiration
Research
Targeted small-molecule agent shows early promise against a dangerous infant leukemia
Leukemias involving reshuffling or rearrangement of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene, known as MLL-rearranged or MLL-r leukemias, account for 70 to 80 percent of acute leukemias in infants under one year old. In these blood cancers, a subset of acute myeloid and acute lymphoid leukemias (AML and ALL), the MLL gene breaks and reattaches ... Read More about Targeted small-molecule agent shows early promise against a dangerous infant leukemia
Research
Gene therapy to boost fetal hemoglobin continues to do well in sickle cell trial
A pilot gene therapy treatment for sickle cell disease, restoring patients’ ability to make fetal hemoglobin, has produced good results in the first three patients to receive it. Investigators at Boston Children’s Hospital reported the findings of their ongoing clinical trial this week at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting. The three adult ... Read More about Gene therapy to boost fetal hemoglobin continues to do well in sickle cell trial
Patient Stories
After hip dysplasia, Emma smashes her cast
When she could walk again, Emma Wilkinson and her parents threw a big party. Diagnosed with hip dysplasia at the age of 4, Emma had spent 10 weeks in a spica cast that made almost all physical activity impossible. Now, baseball bat in hand, she took aim at a piñata replica of her cast while ... Read More about After hip dysplasia, Emma smashes her cast
Patient Stories
Foot deformity and amputation: Maria’s tough choice
Whenever she could, Maria Dupuis found a way to walk. She walked when she had to wear a cast from her chest to her ankles. She walked when the curve in her spine reached 94 degrees. When her right foot pointed up to the sky rather than straight ahead, she walked on her heel. Maria ... Read More about Foot deformity and amputation: Maria’s tough choice