by Tripp Underwood on February 5, 2011
Here at Children’s Hospital Boston, our staff prides itself on providing world-class care for every patient that comes through our doors. But when they’re not busy performing surgeries, setting bones or caring for patients, many of our clinicians are doing research that will shape the future of pediatrics, or discussing how those changes will impact everyday care for thousands of people. Here’s a quick round up of what Children’s employees have been discussing with the media this past week.
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A safer and earlier way to determine if a fetus has Down syndrome is being studied
An article in The Los Angeles Times discusses new technology soon to be available that will allow women to know early in their pregnancy whether they are carrying a fetus with Down syndrome. Children’s Brian Skotko, MD, MPP, speaks with the paper about the new tests – which are noninvasive and will pose fewer risks to the mother and fetus than current prenatal testing—and the questions they raise.
Dr. Skotko wrote a similar piece for Thrive last week and has opened a wide debate on the subject of prenatal testing.
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Full story »
by Matt Cyr on May 10, 2010
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 14, 2010
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 9, 2010
By Jonathan Kraft, president of The Kraft Group and New England Patriots
As a long-time supporter of stem cell research, I’m proud to announce the launch of a new Children’s Hospital Boston Web site that we hope will demystify the science of stem cells and answer some of the public’s questions about them. For the past three and a half years, my wife, Patti, and I have served as co-chairs of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Stem Cell Task Force because we believe that stem cells hold incredible promise for the future of health care. During this time I’ve gotten to know Len Zon and George Daley, the two physician-scientists who head up the hospital’s Stem Cell Research Program, and I believe that the work they are doing will revolutionize health care. Full story »
by Melissa Jeltsen on December 30, 2009
Leonard Zon, MD, the director of Stem Cell Research Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, is interviewed in this NPR story that recaps a decade of stem cell research.
So where does the science of embryonic stem cells stand after a decade of political wrangling? A lot of exciting basic research is being done with embryonic stem cells, says Len Zon, a stem cell researcher at Children’s Hospital in Boston. But using stem cells for therapy?
“I think that’s still a ways off,” Zon says. “Although there are some studies that the FDA is considering, I think we still have to figure out how to make these cells in a more efficient and effective way, and I think that’s going to take awhile. You have to remember that the stem cell field is only 10 years old at the moment.”
Zon points out that it’s frequently two decades or more before new medical technologies find their way into patients.
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on December 2, 2009
Stem cell researcher Willy Lensch
By M. William Lensch, PhD, from the Stem Cell Program at Children’s Hospital Boston
At just a little after 12:30 p.m. EST today we reached the end of a very long road. That was when the NIH announced that the first human embryonic stem cell lines (hESC) had been approved for federal funding eligibility under the rules put forth in President Obama’s executive order from earlier this year. A small group of us here in George Daley’s lab were listening in to the NIH press conference over the speaker phone. I couldn’t help but clap my hands and cheer! A lot of us have worked toward this moment for a long time. Full story »
by Melissa Jeltsen on December 2, 2009
The National Institutes of Health today announced 13 new government-approved embryonic stem cell lines that scientists can get NIH funding to work with. The newly approved lines–11 of which were developed right here at Children’s–were derived from embryos donated by couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization, and all meet the NIH’s strict ethical standards requiring informed consent from donor couples.
With more lines available, and additional approvals expected to come soon, the pace of stem cell research is expected to pick up — and with it, a better understanding of human diseases and better therapies for treating them.
Read researcher Willy Lensch’s first-person post about what this means to the field of stem cell research – and to him personally.
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on July 7, 2009
Andres Trevino has a very personal take on the NIH’s recent stem cell guidelines. Here, he talks about his son Andy’s rare genetic condition, the daughter whose stem cells saved Andy’s life and the potential stem cells hold for curing other diseases.
Left to right, Tania, Paulina, Sofia, Andres and Andy Trevino
My wife is a carrier of a genetic condition that causes the immune system to fail. Ten years ago, we found out the hard way, after the birth of our son, Andy. He had his first life-threatening infection 48 hours after he was born in Mexico City and it took us 19 difficult months to find him a diagnosis. Full story »
