On the Pulse

Sue Chantorn, laboratory supervisor in Seattle Children’s Research Services Lab, demonstrates sample aliquoting

In a major moment for combatting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), today the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended an RSV vaccine for pregnant persons that researchers have determined is safe and effective in preventing RSV disease in infants through immunization during pregnancy.

The new Pfizer RSV vaccine joins the recently approved monoclonal antibody, nirsevimab, as the first products offered broadly to provide protection against RSV for all babies.

Seattle Children’s researchers studied both the RSV vaccine and the RSV antibody.

Studies for the RSV vaccine at Seattle Children’s were led by Dr. Janet Englund, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher at Seattle Children’s, principal investigator in the Center for Clinical Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW).

RSV is the number one cause of hospitalizations each year at Seattle Children’s Hospital for young children and is the most common cause for hospitalization of all infants in the country, says Dr. Englund.

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In honor of the late Dr. Peter Mansfield, former Seattle Children’s Chief of Surgery, his wife, Jackie Mansfield, has established a fund directly benefitting the Invent at Seattle Children’s Postdoctoral Scholars Program (Invent@SC), which is an investment in training for early career scientists historically underrepresented in or excluded from biotech in the development of therapeutics for childhood conditions.

Jackie also generously donated memorabilia from Dr. Mansfield’s career at Seattle Children’s in the 1970s-1980s to be displayed at the hospital.

The memorabilia includes a letter from USSR thanking him for saving a boy’s life flown in from Georgia, Russia, papers he wrote about wanting to establish something similar to the Invent program during his career, his pediatric pacemaker prototypes, which were the first of their kind, and more.

On the Pulse sat down with Jackie to learn more about Dr. Mansfield, his career and why the Invent program would have meant so much to him.

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Seattle Children’s has appointed Dr. Vittorio Gallo as senior vice president and chief scientific officer.

As senior vice president and chief scientific officer, Dr. Gallo will serve as the principal scientific executive of the health system and partner with Chief Research Operations Officer Dr. Eric Tham and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Leslie Walker-Harding to provide scientific leadership for the research institute.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to support this nationally recognized institution and I look forward to helping accelerate our research to have an even greater impact on pediatric healthcare,” said Gallo. “Our research community plays an essential role in helping deliver cutting-edge clinical care and I am eager to bolster our work to provide more hope, care and cures to the patients and families we serve.”

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It’s estimated nearly 86,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) will be diagnosed with cancer this year; in fact, one-third of patients treated for cancer at Seattle Children’s are AYAs.

These 15- to 39-year-olds face the unique challenges of their life stage — finishing high school or college, starting a career, establishing independence, finding a romantic partner and more — with the added pressure of cancer thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately, AYAs have the lowest clinical trial participation rate of all age groups and slower progress in survival improvement than younger and older patients.

Clinical trials are controlled, scientific studies that test the safety and effectiveness of specific therapeutic interventions. They could involve a new drug, a different way of administering chemotherapy or a new surgical technique.

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Today, leaders from Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) announced the location of its new clinic site in Seattle’s Central District.

The future home of OBCC, situated on the corner of 18^th Ave. S. and S. Jackson St., will serve area patients and families with robust mental health and behavioral health services, nutrition, acute and well-child medical visits, labs, violence and injury prevention support and addiction related resources, which are unique to OBCC and not offered elsewhere.

“The Central District neighborhood is OBCC’s original home, and we are overjoyed to share this news,” said Dr. Shaquita Bell, OBCC’s senior medical director. “This location is in the heart of the Central District and allows us to continue caring for our patients and families in the neighborhood, as we have for over 50 years.”

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As a second-year grad student working toward a doctorate degree in the field of health sciences, Emma is as busy as ever.

But for this 23-year-old, originally of Snohomish, WA, facing extraordinary challenges with determination and resilience is a skill she mastered early on.

In 2017, after experiencing extreme bouts of itchiness from head to toe, Emma went to see a dermatologist to get checked out, thinking she might be developing some form of eczema.

During the appointment, the doctor recommended a chest X-ray to potentially check for anything more serious. Unfortunately, the results were everything they hoped it wouldn’t be.

“I had tumors on my heart, lungs and under my clavicles – basically I had them all throughout my chest region,” Emma explained. “I was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and it was like everything in the world around me slowed down. My body gave out and I just fell into my brother’s arms. At 17, my world completely changed.”

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Each year, Seattle Children’s Craniofacial Center treats hundreds of children with craniosynostosis, a condition most families have never heard of, yet can affect approximately 1 in every 2,500 babies in the United States.

That was the case for Kali Dempsey’s family, of Camano Island, WA, in early 2017.

“We were sent to Seattle Children’s when my son Ronan was about a month old and they diagnosed him there,” explained Dempsey. “It was all brand new. You hear about all kinds of things, but I had never come across craniosynostosis before.”

At birth, the seams between the bone plates in a baby’s skull are not fused together, allowing a child’s head to move through the birth canal and permitting the skull to grow bigger over time. Craniosynostosis is when one or more of these seams closes too early.

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This story is part two of an On the Pulse series. Read part one here. 

Times of transition, especially the start of an academic year, can be stressful for many children, particularly when there is a change in routine.

Seattle Children’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine team specializes in caring for children and teens by providing a wide range of services — from prevention and early intervention programs to highly specialized treatments for chronic mental health and developmental challenges.

To help navigate a positive transition back to school, On the Pulse asked Dr. Kalina Babeva and Dr. Sonia Venkatraman, co-directors of the Mood and Anxiety Program, a specialty program within Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Seattle Children’s, to share some ways that parents and caregivers can best support a child or teen’s mental wellness.

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This story is part one of an On the Pulse series. Read more in part two here.

Whether you’re in the “I need school to start now!” camp or the “Summer just started” camp, the fact is that the new school year is quickly approaching.

Back-to-school time can often be met with emotions ranging from excitement to nervousness or fear.

As students head back to the classroom, Dr. Kalina Babeva and Dr. Sonia Venkatraman, co-directors of the Mood and Anxiety Program at Seattle Children’s, offer ways parents and caregivers can help reduce worries in children.

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As summer starts to cool down, parents are all too familiar with the return of back to school prep and fun fall activities.

While families are busy checking off school supply lists and spending more time indoors through the chillier months, it might be easy to overlook the preventive care to help keep children safe from illnesses in the community and the upcoming annual flu season.

Last year brought an unprecedented tripledemic– with hospitals, including Seattle Children’s, facing a tremendous number of patients diagnosed with the flu, COVID-19 and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that largely affects young children.

In October 2022 alone, Seattle Children’s emergency department saw twice as many patients than usual, sometimes running at 200% capacity.

To shed some light on current public health and safety, On The Pulse spoke with infectious disease experts Dr. Janet Englund and Dr. Sara Vora from Seattle Children’s Research Institute to learn how families can best protect themselves through the upcoming months.

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