Wordless Wednesday 9.1.10
September 1st, 2010 Contributed by Choco
CHOC Using Stem Cells To Study Impact Of Autism
August 31st, 2010 Contributed by Choco
Last year, CHOC Children’s Research Institute received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Grant to generate, investigate, and store neural stem cells derived from skin cells, donated by children with autism. The program is designed to provide an important new tool for studying the impact of autism on the developing brain.
Check out what Philip H. Schwartz, Ph.D., principal investigator on the NIH grant and founding director, National Human Neural Stem Cell Resource at CHOC, has to say about this exciting research:
Q: How unique is this study, and what do we hope to learn from it?
A: By using easily obtainable skin cells, we can now generate patient-specific brain cells in the laboratory. This allows us to study what is going wrong in the brain of a patient with a genetic disease such as autism without ever having to touch their brain, a huge leap forward if there ever was one!
Only a very few laboratories are doing this and, in fact, the National Institutes of Health is convening a special meeting of scientists, including me, this October to discuss the best ways to move this new and exciting research forward.
Q: What are neural stem cells and how are they obtained?
A: Neural stem cells are immature brain cells that can divide many, many times and can mature into all the types of brain cells that make up our brains; all the brain cells that make up our entire brain are derived from neural stem cells. We can obtain these cells from the brain itself during surgery or after death or we can derive these cells, using modern technology, from skin rather than the brain.
Q: How will this study benefit patients and families?
A: Because we can now make brain cells from skin, we can now study brain cells from many patients simultaneously. This will allow us to directly probe what is wrong with these cells and, as a result, come up with new ways to diagnose and treat these very prevalent brain diseases.
Importantly, autism seems to be a class of diseases rather than a single disease and because we can now make patient-specific brain cells from the patient’s own skin, we may be able to tailor therapy to the patient.
CHOC Walk Ambassador
August 27th, 2010 Contributed by CHOC Children's
Every year, a special child leads 15,000 CHOC supporters down Main Street, U.S.A. in the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim California. This remarkable child reminds us of how important CHOC Children’s is to our community. It’s for the children that we walk and it’s for them that CHOC makes miracles and Disney® makes magic!
We are honored to introduce the 2010 CHOC Walk in the Park Ambassador, Alexys Alonzo! To read Alexys’ story, please visit http://www.chocwalk.net
National Immunization Awareness Month
August 24th, 2010 Contributed by Choco
August, National Immunization Awareness Month, is the perfect time to remind family, friends, and co-workers, to get up to date with their vaccinations to protect themselves from serious, life-threatening infections.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the need for protection is underscored by current outbreaks of pertussis, also known as “whooping cough,” which has killed six infants in California this year, as well as recent outbreaks of Hib meningitis in Minnesota and measles in the San Diego area.
Check out these great sites for more information, including a must-see video with Dr. Jasjit Singh:
http://chocspace.org/choco/page/2/
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niam/default.htm
Why Research Matters
August 20th, 2010 Contributed by CHOC Children's
Watch as Diane Nugent, MD, tells us how the research happening at CHOC Children’s is changing screening and treatment for childhood disease. And not just in Orange County–across the country.
Learn more about the CHOC Children’s Research Institute.
Study at CHOC May Improve Outcome for Preemies
August 17th, 2010 Contributed by Choco
Chad Lieber, Ph.D., director of the CHOC Bio-Optics Laboratory, and CHOC neonatologist John Cleary, M.D., are focusing on one of the greatest challenges facing preemies – nutrition. In studies over the next two years, sponsored by the Gerber Foundation, small optical sensors will be placed on nearly 200 CHOC NICU babies’ foreheads and bellies, to attempt to predict preemies’ tolerance for feeding and ultimately help improve the long-term outcome for these vulnerable babies. Dr. Lieber (pictured above) talks more about this unique study:
Q: What are these optical sensors and what will they measure?
A: These are the same sensors that are rapidly becoming standard practice in measuring oxygenation in the brain. They are about the size of a Band-Aid, and emit low levels of light on one end which travels through the tissue before being collected on the other end of the sensor.
Q: What makes this study so unique?
A: Since this technique uses light, it is done painlessly and instantaneously. Two very important things for patients, their families, and caregivers. But the technique itself, known as near-infrared spectroscopy or NIRS, has been used for many years to determine brain oxygenation in critical care children and adults.
We are simply moving the sensor from the forehead (where it measures the brain) to the abdomen (where it can measure the bowel). What is truly unique about our study is that our primary goal is to provide reassurance that babies can tolerate food, and secondarily to provide early indication of intolerant digestive systems.
Q: How will this method benefit premature babies and their families?
A: At this point, we don’t know that it will, in fact, benefit anybody. But some of our preliminary data leads us to believe that it could, and this is why the Gerber Foundation has invested in our study.
In brief, our approach may allow caregivers an accurate assessment of the maturity of babies’ bowels, so they can decide whether to give them food by mouth or via an intravenous (IV) needle, with the main goal of providing optimum nutrition without inducing any injury.
Q: Why is optimal nutrition for preemies so important?
A: Particularly in very small preterm babies, the bowel sometimes hasn’t matured enough to be up to the task of handling food. So caregivers are faced with a double-edged sword: (A) give food too early and risk injuring an immature digestive system that may then require surgery to correct, or (B) try to avoid such injury by feeding through an IV and risk suboptimal nutrition that can permanently impair brain development.
These are not one-time choices, but decisions that are made on a continuous basis while the baby is in the unit. Choosing correctly each time is vital to ensuring that babies get the right nutrition to develop properly and without further complication.
CHOC Research Institute Makes a Mark
August 11th, 2010 Contributed by Choco
CHOC Research Institute Associate Ryan Roberts is working with a team of scientists to identify specific genetic markers for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia .
By carefully studying the genetic origins of pediatric disease, he is helping to pioneer new screenings and treatments for red cell abnormalities.
To learn more about The CHOC Research Institute, click here.
