We're all about children!
 August 2006
This edition:
Letter From Our Chair
As the roles of researchers and clinicians continue to grow more and more connected and synergic, it is an exciting time to be in the world of medicine. We are proud to have the responsibility of preparing the next generation of pediatric health professionals as they rise to these new challenges. That preparation for the future includes competing for and winning prestigious grants such as the T32 MUSC Southeastern Predoctoral Training in Clinical Research (SPTCR) program. It is a great honor to have qualified for and achieved this award. [read more] Feature Story Moving full-speed ahead in the race to train young researchers
The university is one of ten nationwide to receive an NIH grant to fund pre-doctoral training in clinical and translational research. This is a very prestigious award," says Dr. Tom Hulsey, co-PI of the Southeastern Pre-doctoral Training in Clinical Research (SPTCR) T32 award, along with Drs. Barbara Tilley and Perry Halushka. "The need is to move knowledge learned at the bench into patient care more rapidly than has been done in past. In order to speed that process up, the NIH is putting more focused training programs, like this SPTCR grant, into place." [read more] Update From Our Administrator
Earlier this year, we installed the Get Well Network for patients and their families in the Children's Hospital. This system allows patients and parents to connect to the internet through a television in each patient room. In addition to being able to connect to personal email, families can watch movies that are approved for family viewing, play games and receive specific information about the Children's Hospital and the University. This exciting new tool allows families to provide feedback on the care they receive by sending notes to the management team. For example, if a patient is having a problem with his room or care, he or his family can alert the system and an email will automatically be sent to the unit manager and administration so that we can address the problem immediately. The majority of the Get Well Network emails we receive are complementary of the care we provide and the skills of our physicians, nurses and staff. Going forward, our goal is to use this tool to provide families with important educational information about the care of their child. The possibilities seem endless. We are very excited about the Get Well Network and now see it as a vital part of our hospital. Darby Children's Research Institute News
Bioengineering advances in the DCRI Thanks to a new NIH grant, DCRI researchers are busy developing and exploring new technologies that will hopefully help in the fight against childhood diseases. Dr. Anand Ramamurthi, PhD, of the Clemson-MUSC Bioengineering program, is to receive a two-year exploratory research grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. The NIH grant will fund Dr. Ramamurthi's research on hyaluronan scaffolds for regenerating elastin matrices. "This research addresses the problem of several genetic disorders which effect elastin in connective tissues, including Marfans syndrome, Williams-Beuren syndrome and Ehler-Danlos syndrome," explains Dr. Ramamurthi, who is collaborating with Dr. Bryan Toole of the department of cell biology and anatomy, Dr. Naren Vyavahare of Clemson University, and Dr. Benjamin Chu, of the State University of New York. [read more] Evidence-Based Tip
In children with recurrent otitis media, are grommets (ventilation tubes) more effective than antibiotics or no treatment (placebo), in reducing the frequency of episodes and the duration of the episodes? We need evidence to answer this. What kind of evidence should we look for? EBM relies on a pyramid of evidence, with the best experimental studies at the top, followed by observational studies, and ending with expert opinion. For the type of question we have above, a therapy or treatment question, we would hope to find the higher form of evidence, such as a well designed and executed randomized controlled trial. In fact, we might hope that many such trials have been conducted, so that a statistical summary from a meta analysis of those studies would be available. Perhaps there is even a systematic review, reviewing and analyzing all the studies done on this question. Not all questions can be answered by these higher levels of evidence. A prognosis question, such as, Does poor nutrition during gestation, expressed as low birth weight, lead to insulin resistance later in life? will rely on data from observational data from retrospective and prospective cohort studies. Another type of question, the diagnostic question, must be answered by comparing the gold standard diagnostic test to the newer or less-standard test. A diagnostic question, such as, How reliable is a mother's touch in indicating fever in her child? needs to give the sensitivity (how many children whose mothers say have a fever actually have a fever) and specificity (how many children whose mothers say they don't have a fever actually do not have a fever) by comparing touch with thermometer readings. A special thanks to the following individuals for their efforts in putting together Kids Connection each month. Managing Editor: Bernard L. Maria, MD, MBA Publisher: Jennifer Cherock (Trio Solutions Inc.) and Jessica Munday (Trio Solutions Inc.) Web design: Brian Dadin (Trio Solutions Inc.) Feature Writer: Mary Sue Lawrence, Trio Solutions Inc Contributing Writers: Lyndon Key, Bernard Maria, John Sanders, Inderjit Singh, Laura Cousineau |
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