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Manne Research Institute's President's Message
- Data Shapes New Diagnostic Criteria for Pediatric Sepsis
News from the Manne Research Institute Pillars
- Sustained Remission of Diabetes and Other Obesity-Related Conditions Found a Decade After Weight Loss Surgery in Adolescence
- First Pediatric Guideline on Opioid Prescribing in Primary Care Focuses on Preventing Overdose
- Lurie Children’s to Develop a Novel Genomic Test for More Rapid Precision Diagnosis of Brain Tumors
- Voices of Child Health in Chicago Report: Illinois Parents and the 2024 Election
- Voices of Child Health in Chicago Report: New Report Finds Most Illinois Parents Set Halloween Candy Rules for Their Children
Manne Research Institute in the Media
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Data Shapes New Diagnostic Criteria for Pediatric Sepsis
Our collective expertise at Lurie Children’s and Manne Research Institute drives considerable advances in pediatric medicine to improve the lives of children. One area where our physician-scientists and nurse-scientists are making an impact is sepsis. Earlier this year, three of our researchers with extensive experience in critical care and emergency medicine published two papers in JAMA that provide much-needed evidence to update the definition of sepsis in children. As members of an international effort to develop and validate new clinical criteria for pediatric sepsis, Elizabeth Alpern, MD, Division Head of Emergency Medicine and Vice Chair Department of Pediatrics, L. Nelson Sanchez-Pinto, MD, an attending physician in critical care, and Lauren Sorce, PhD, APRN-NP, a senior nurse scientist in critical care, applied a data-driven approach to developing new diagnostic criteria that stand to have a substantial impact on defining sepsis and septic shock in children.
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NEWS FROM THE RESEARCH PILLARS | |
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Ten years after undergoing bariatric surgery as teens, over half of study participants demonstrated not only sustained weight loss, but also resolution of obesity-related conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to the report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Our study presents impressive outcomes of the longest follow-up of weight loss surgery during adolescence, which validates bariatric surgery as a safe and effective long-term obesity management strategy,” said lead author Justin Ryder, PhD, Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Nationally, bariatric surgery is under-utilized, with only one out of every 2,500 teens with severe obesity undergoing the procedure. In the U.S., almost five million adolescents are eligible for effective weight loss interventions like bariatric surgery, according to current recommendations.
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With its emphasis on opioid overdose prevention, the first guideline for primary care providers from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on prescribing opioids for acute pain in children and adolescents extends beyond responsible pain management. If opioids are prescribed, according to the guideline, families need to be counseled on the warning signs of overdose and have on hand naloxone, the medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. The guideline also urges providers to advise families on safe disposal of unused opioid medication after their child’s pain resolves, instead of keeping it at home for future use.
“Parents need to know how to respond to signs of overdose if their child is prescribed opioids, and they need to understand that safe disposal of unused opioids also is critical to preventing a tragedy,” said co-author of the AAP guideline Mehul Raval, MD, MS, Division Head of Pediatric Surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Dr. Raval served on the core team that developed the guideline. This team included family perspectives, as well as input from pediatricians, anesthesiologists and surgeons.
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Lurie Children’s to Develop a Novel Genomic Test for More Rapid Precision Diagnosis of Brain Tumors | |
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Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago was awarded $3.7 million through the National Cancer Institute Cancer Moonshot Scholars program to advance precision diagnosis of brain tumors in children. The study will be the first to apply a molecular testing technology called optical genome mapping (OGM) to achieve faster and more comprehensive diagnosis of brain tumors, so treatment can be tailored to the specific genetic changes that drive tumor growth. If successful, Lurie Children’s aims to implement this innovative clinical test by the end of the five-year study.
“We will use optical genome mapping for molecular diagnosis of brain tumors, which is a new application of this technology specifically designed to detect structural variants, meaning large changes within the single long strands of DNA that affect function,” said Principal Investigator Miriam Bornhorst, MD, a neuro-oncologist at Lurie Children’s and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Currently, the genomic testing performed on brain tumors focuses on small changes within individual genes. Adding the new test will inform us about larger changes to the whole gene and the genes that surround it. This will allow us to receive more robust test results so that we can initiate treatment earlier and do so with greater precision.”
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Illinois Parents and the 2024 Election
The 2024 election has been a chance for adults to teach children about voting as a civic duty. Elections can place a spotlight on challenging topics for parents to discuss with children and for teens to discuss with their friends. Even if parents try to limit media, children and adolescents are likely to learn about candidates and ballot initiatives through signage, from friends and from pop-up ads. Talking with parents and trusted adults about elections can help children process the information they encounter.
| In this month’s Voices of Child Health Report, we share parents’ responses to questions about the 2024 election. We cover topics such as child and adolescent health issues parents will consider when heading to the voting booth, and whether they plan to talk with their children about the election. We heard from over 1,000 parents from across the state of Illinois, from both urban and rural communities. | |
Report Highlights
- Seventy-two percent of Illinois parents planned to get their children involved in the 2024 election in some way, such as by talking with their children about the election, watching news coverage together or bringing their children along when they vote.
- Reducing the cost of healthcare was the most frequently selected child and adolescent health-related issue parents were factoring into their voting decisions.
- The next most frequent child and adolescent health-related issue was increasing access to mental healthcare for youth.
Click images above to download.
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New Report Finds Most Illinois Parents Set Halloween Candy Rules for Their Children
The latest Voices of Child Health report from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago finds the majority of Illinois parents take steps to ensure a healthy and safe Halloween.
The latest survey conducted in October 2024 by surveying over 1,000 parents across the state found:
- Most parents (84 percent) surveyed said their children go trick-or-treating and nearly all parents of trick-or-treaters reported at least one health or safety issue was on their mind (94 percent).
- More than 2 in 3 parents set rules for how much candy their children can eat each day.
- Almost half of parents said they were concerned about the effects of candy on their children's teeth.
- Illinois parents reported that they take steps to ensure a safe and healthy Halloween such as checking their child’s candy (60 percent) and setting rules for how much candy their child can eat each day (67 percent).
- Parents reported feeling concerned about some of the negative health effects of eating too much candy for their children including the effects on physical health (32 percent), the effects on behavior (36 percent), and the effects on their children’s teeth (46 percent).
“It is a good idea to set limits for the amount of candy children can have each day to avoid the negative effects of too much candy like tummy aches. It is also a good idea to have children brush their teeth after eating candy, especially candy that is sticky like gummy bears. This will help to avoid problems with oral health like cavities,” said Marie Heffernan, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and Director of Voices of Child Health at Lurie Children’s.
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MANNE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN THE MEDIA | |
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