Researchers aim to understand and prevent sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

While many people with epilepsy live a full life, some die abruptly without warning or other clear medical cause due to a devastating phenomenon called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). SUDEP is the most common cause of death in those with severe forms of epilepsy where seizures cannot be controlled with treatment, but what […]

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Boy gets smile for his 12th birthday

Christian Roberts was as excited for his 12th birthday as any child would be. But this April marked a very special occasion. It was the first time he could express that excitement with a smile. Twelve years ago, Christian was born deaf and with bilateral facial paralysis due to a rare genetic anomaly called CHARGE […]

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New law highlights need for pediatric research funding

“Stop talking and start doing.” The 10-year-old Virginia girl who spoke these words to lawmakers helped increase funding for pediatric research this year with the passing of a new law, and Seattle Children’s Research Institute is celebrating the news. “Pediatrics gets a very small share of the National Institutes of Health budget, certainly not proportional […]

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From a failing heart in Hawaii to a transplant in Seattle, bridging the gap to a heart transplant

Julie Kobayashi, a 12-year-old girl from Hawaii, is Seattle Children’s third patient to receive the HeartMate II ventricular assist device (VAD), a device that allowed Julie to leave the hospital while waiting for a life-saving heart transplant. This is her story, from failing heart to transplant. Julie Kobayashi started feeling sick on a Saturday in […]

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A family comes full circle when a genetic mutation passes from grandmother to daughter to granddaughter

Meet Olivia Rickert and Michile Smith: Two generations apart, but linked forever by their special hands. When Olivia Rickert was still in utero, an ultrasound at 20 weeks revealed that she had inherited a genetic mutation passed down from her mother and maternal grandmother. In Olivia’s case, the mutation was expressed as a cleft (split) […]

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