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This year’s Dr. M. Judah Folkman Research Day featured more than 100 entries from all over the hospital. Winners were Sunny Hartwig, PhD, Division of Nephrology, for molecular research on kidney development;This year’s Dr. M. Judah Folkman Research Day featured more than 100 entries from all over the hospital. Winners were Sunny Hartwig, PhD, Division of Nephrology, for molecular research on kidney development; Ofra Benny, PhD, Vascular Biology Program, for her use of nanotechnology to revive a potent anti-cancer drug; Justin Klein, MD, Department of Surgery, for using cells from amniotic fluid to craft bone for surgical repair; and Samir Koirala, PhD, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, for revealing an essential gene in cerebellar development.
Houseofficer Development Awards went to Sarah Pitts, MD, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, for her proposed clinical trial of vitamin D supplements in healthy adolescents, and Stefanie Gauguet, MD, Division of Critical Care Medicine/Department of Anesthesia, who will examine H1N1 influenza A’s possible role in exacerbating Staph. aureus infection. Their findings will be presented at next year’s Research Day. Vascular Biology Program, for her use of nanotechnology to revive a potent anti-cancer drug; Justin Klein, MD, Department of Surgery, for using cells from amniotic fluid to craft bone for surgical repair; and Samir Koirala, PhD, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, for revealing an essential gene in cerebellar development.
Houseofficer Development Awards went to Sarah Pitts, MD, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, for her proposed clinical trial of vitamin D supplements in healthy adolescents, and Stefanie Gauguet, MD, Division of Critical Care Medicine/Department of Anesthesia, who will examine H1N1 influenza A’s possible role in exacerbating Staph. aureus infection. Their findings will be presented at next year’s Research Day.
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Though the sky was overcast on June 14, people’s gratitude for Children’s shined brightly. This year, 4,700 walkers—the most in walk history—participated in NSTAR’s Walk for Children’s Hospital Boston. Employees, patient families and corporate sponsors formed the 300 teams that raised more than $1.1 million and counting to support Children’s care and research.
The Multi-Cultural Nurses Forum recently hosted more than a dozen students from Boston public high schools as part of the Students Taking Action for Nursing Diversity (STAND) program. In an effort to increase diversity in nursing, the program provides a fast-track from high school to a nursing degree program for aspiring students.
These students are dually enrolled in a pre-nursing course at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), for joint high school and college credit. Practicing nurses from area hospitals and health centers are paired with a student of color in BHCC’s nursing program for mentoring and shadowing.
Representing the Multi-Cultural Nurses Forum for this event were Luz MarÌa D·vila, RN, Sophy Rodriguez, RN, Ann Leung, RN, Raquel Womble, RN, and Eva GÛmez, RN.
In Hebrew school, Abby Patkin learned about Tikkun Olam (repair the world), a responsibility to make the world a better place. As part of her bat mitzvah celebration this year, Abby chose to collect donations for Hearts & Minds of Ghana, a program staffed by many Children’s volunteers, that provides free cardiac surgery to children, training to doctors and medical equipment to the Komfoanokye Hospital in Ghana.
Through canisters placed in several locations around Boston, Abby collected more than $295 in loose change, which will support the volunteer surgeons, cardiologists, nurses and technicians who go to Ghana and make a difference in the lives of children with heart disease.
Children’s Archives Department has launched a Twitter feed. Check it out at
http://twitter.com/CHBArchives.
Local Rite Aid associates have the prescription for raising funds for Children’s. Employees of the drug store chain organized events, from bake sales to comedy nights, and sold balloon icons in stores to support the hospital. During the recent six-week fundraising campaign, Rite Aids in our region raised more than $400,000—and still counting—for Children’s. That’s already $150,000 more than last year.
The fundraising campaign is run by Children’s Miracle Network (CMN). CMN is a non-profit organization that helps raise funds for 170 pediatric hospitals across North America, including Children’s.Ý
More than 120 people tested their skills at Children’s fifth annual Texas Hold ëEm Tournament in May. The tournament, co-chaired by Tony DiNovi of Thomas H. Lee Partners and David Fialkow of General Catalyst, raised more than $415,000 for Children’s areas of greatest need. World Series of Poker Pro and “Celebrity Apprentice” star Annie Duke emceed the event.
Stacy Leavens, patient and family educator at Martha Eliot Health Center (MEHC), was on the phone talking to her mom when she was asked how work was going. Leavens, an avid reader, expressed to her how she was trying to acquire new or gently used books to distribute to Martha Eliot pediatric patient families in hopes of improving literacy. Always looking for a way to lend a helping hand, Janice Leavens, a lab assistant at Troy Beaumont Hospital in Michigan, asked her co-workers, family and friends to clean out their kids’ rooms and donate unused books.
“Many of the people who donated are people I’ve known for years—while others, like her co-workers at Beaumont, are people that I’ve only met once. I’m sure there are a few have yet to meet. But still, they all jumped in to help out.” After three months, Janice and Les Leavens collected more than 400 books, which they stored in boxes piled high in their living room. As they planned to visit their daughter, they loaded up the books in their Chevy Impala and drove 12 hours from Memphis Michigan to deliver the books to MEHC.
“They did drive through Canada to get here so it was an international event,” Stacy says with a laugh. “I never expected them to collect so many books, but I’m not that surprised. It’s exactly the kind of thing they always do. And then to make it even better, they drove them all the way here!”
Now kids can help find real medical cures by pursuing virtual ones online. Children’s launched the nation’s first online game-a-thon to raise funds for research through Generation Cures. Generation Cures empowers kids to “make it better” for others through child-led fundraising initiatives and online gaming challenges.
During the two-month long “Game for Good” game-a-thon, which ended June 14, kids raised funds for Children’s by securing sponsors for their participation in the educational-adventure game Caduceus. The online game transports kids to a virtual world where they become young healers tracking down the source of a mysterious plague. As kids conquer each level of the game, portions of their sponsor’s pledges are unlocked and donated to Children’s.
The game-a-thon is one of many fun ways Generation Cures teaches children the power of philanthropy. The Generation Cures website also includes an animated cartoon series, kid-directed videos filmed by former Children’s patients, a poster contest and a parent site where adults can monitor their child’s progress. The site always has new content to educate and engage kids.
Inspired by what they see on the site, many kids take their philanthropy offline, collecting donations instead of gifts at their birthday parties, turning their dance recitals or baseball games into fundraisers for Children’s, or participating in hospital-led events like NSTAR’s Walk for Children’s Hospital Boston.
You can help, too. Tell other parents, get your kids involved and sponsor young Generation Cure members. Kids register for free at www.kids.generationcures.org. Adults click “GC Parents” to get to the parent site. And if you’re at Children’s, check-out the Generation Cures kiosk in the main lobby.
Six patient families traveled to Washington, D.C., in June for this year’s National Association of Children’s Hospitals’ Family Advocacy Day. Employees of Children’s Government Relations Department and Public Affairs traveled with the families to the event, which brought together more than 40 patient families from around the country to meet with their federal legislators and advocate for children’s health needs in health reform.
Families and staff attended meetings on Capitol Hill, where each family had the opportunity to share their story and ask that national health reform legislation include affordable health insurance coverage for all children and access to the high-quality, specialized care that children’s hospitals provide.
For the first time, Children’s created a blog specially for Family Advocacy Day, seen at http://childrensindc.wordpress.com/. Visit the blog to read comments from the families and staff about their experience and see more photos.
Congratulations to Children’s Blood Donor of the Month for July, Paul MacMaster.
Shortly after MacMaster began volunteering at Children’s in 1991, he decided he wanted to donate blood. He started with whole blood, but soon tried platelet donation. “As a pretty regular blood donor, I had never heard of platelet donation,” he says. “After I found out how important they are to some of the patients I see when I’m volunteering, and what a short shelf life they have as compared to whole blood, I thought it would be good to start donating as often as I could.”
MacMaster has spent more than 18 years volunteering on the infant and toddler surgical floor (now 10 East). Especially with the economic downturn, he believes donating platelets is an affordable way to make a donation to Children’s. “I’m lucky enough to see the amazing work of the staff and employees result in medical miracles every week when I come in,” he says. “I see firsthand how important blood and platelet donations are to making these kids healthy again.”
For information on how you can become a platelet donor, call 617-355-6677.
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