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“Spine at Risk” Safety Program Receives Prestigious Award from POSNA

May 13, 2022  |  General Post Comment

Seattle Children’s Dr. Jennifer Bauer received prestigious award from POSNA for “Spine at Risk” Safety Program

Competition is steep to receive a research grant from the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America (POSNA), including the once-a-year awarded Quality, Safety, and Value Initiative (QSVI) Grant. This grant encourages the creation and implementation of quality and patient safety programming, and applicants must go through a rigorous multiple-tiered review process for the reward.

Seattle Children’s is thrilled that this year’s 2022 QSVI Grant Winner is Dr. Jennifer Bauer, Chief of Spine Surgery at Seattle Children’s hospital. Bauer was award this grant for her innovative work on the Spine at Risk Safety Program, which was done in partnership with co-investigators and Seattle Children’s spine partners Drs. Burt Yaszay, Wally Krengel and Klane White.

The Spine at Risk Program is a unique Seattle Children’s safety program run by a team of orthopedic and neurosurgery spine providers that ensures that all patients undergoing anesthesia will have appropriate precautions taken to make sure their spine and spinal cord remain safe while asleep. The program has helped protect our patients behind the scenes for over ten years at Seattle Children’s.

With this additional funding, Bauer and her team will continue to progress on previously published and internationally recognized research on the Spine at Risk Safety Program to improve its efficiency and enable it to be implemented at any pediatric hospital around the country.

Differences in Sex Development Require Multidisciplinary, Compassionate Care

February 8, 2022  |  Endocrinology, Urology Post Comment
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Dr. Patricia Fechner is the Medical Director of the Differences in Sex Development Program at Seattle Children’s

A difference in sex development (DSD) is a mismatch between a child’s chromosomes or genetic material and the appearance of the child’s genitalia. DSDs can appear at any age – prenatally, during infancy, during childhood or even during adolescence. The majority of DSD patients are seen after birth because they present with atypical genitalia and need care from specialists in many different fields.

In this Q&A, Dr. Patricia Fechner, medical director of the Differences in Sex Development Program at Seattle Children’s, outlines one of the largest and most comprehensive DSD teams in the nation dedicated to compassionate care for our patients with DSD and their families.

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Improving Hypospadias Outcomes Through Novel Research

December 22, 2021  |  General, Research 1 Comment
A man wearing a suit and tie smiling.

Dr. Nicolas Fernandez, pediatric urologist at Seattle Children’s

Hypospadias (pronounced hype-oh-spay-dee-us) is a birth defect where the opening of the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body, is not located at the tip of the penis. Depending on the severity of the condition, it can affect the penile function and one’s self-perception. It is a common condition that can be treated with surgery in some cases; however, a decision to proceed with surgery needs to be carefully thought through and discussed among the provider, parents and patients.

The current standard treatment for hypospadias starts with the provider defining the severity of the condition. The severity is based on the location of the urethral meatus, the external opening of the urethra, and the penile curvature. Based on the severity,  some patients may be offered surgery as a next step. Surgery involves using local tissue from one part of the patient’s body to relocate the urethral opening to the correct position at the tip of the penis. To date, assessment of the tissue is subjective, and therefore, it is hard for surgeons to repeat the process moving forward.

Dr. Nicolas Fernandez, a pediatric urologist at Seattle Children’s and surgeon scientist at the University of Washington, is working on a research project that aims to reduce this subjectivity and explore new approaches to better assess structural and genetic components of the tissue used for surgery. He is doing so by proposing a novel approach to evaluate hypospadias.

By using technology to detect small genetic differences that can lead to big changes in an individual’s physical characteristics and by applying artificial intelligence on patients with hypospadias, providers can improve clustering of individuals with similar characteristics to ensure a more accurate prediction for treatment and surgery for this condition. This ultimately leads to better, more impactful outcomes for the patient and family.

Dr. Fernandez spoke with On the Pulse about his research.

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