General

Before she was diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL), Kinsey was an active 15-year-old who enjoyed competitive horseback riding, spending time with her family and friends, and dreaming about what her future might look like.

Less than two months into her cancer treatment at Seattle Children’s, however, Kinsey became a shell of herself. While Kinsey’s cancer was advanced, it was treatable.

Her care team in Seattle Children’s Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Program recommended more than two years of chemotherapy treatment in hopes she would go into full remission.

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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.

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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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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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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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Seattle Children’s providers are leaders in brain tumor care and research, offering some of the most advanced treatments, neurosurgeries and clinical trials of any children’s hospital.

Its Brain Tumor Program is the largest in the Northwest and one of the largest in the world.

In this edition of On the Pulse, one Seattle Children’s patient shares their personal experience traveling across the world for medical care, navigating language and education barriers, and finding strength in transition.

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

Seattle Children’s Research Institute (SCRI) is one of the nation’s leading pediatric research facilities, with talented investigators who have made stunning breakthroughs in their ongoing efforts to help every child live a full, healthy life.

Working to inspire and develop the next generation of talent in research and medicine, Seattle Children’s has introduced innovative programs like the SCRI Summer Scholars Program (SSSP), offered by the Science Education team in partnership with Seattle Children’s Center for Diversity and Health Equity.

In 2023, SSSP welcomed 49 new students, out of more than 500 program applicants. Over nine weeks, the Summer Scholars are assisting with 44 lab and clinical research projects involving 39 principal investigators.

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