PediaPod: PR's Podcast

Tune in here for the below episodes: iTunes, Google Podcast, Overcast,  RSS Feed, and SoundCloud.

December: Early human brain development: insights into macroscale connectome wiring.
In this episode, we meet Kristin Keunen from The University Medical Centre Utrecht. She and her team used postnatal neuroimaging to map early developmental trajectories of structural brain wiring in preterm and full-term neonates. The study provides valuable insights into the early stages of structural connectome development. Related Article. ​

November: Physicians’ experiences, attitudes and challenges in a Pediatric Telemedicine Service.
Telemedicine is estimated to be used in 25% of patient-doctor interactions. It has benefits, including patient's not having to travel and being seen by healthcare professionals when community clinics are closed. But it is considered a high-stress clinical activity and involves decision making under conditions of uncertainty and urgency. In this episode, we speak to Motti Haimi, a Pediatrician and hemato-oncologist at the Clalit Health Services in Israel. He and his team conducted a qualitative assessment of a Pediatric Telemedicine Service operating in Israel in order to assess challenges according to the physicians themselves. Related Article. ​

October: The lifelong impact of fetal growth restriction on cardiac development.
The relationship between birth-weight and heart disease is well documented and is thought to arise from altered developmental trajectories leading to persistent deficits in organ structure and function. Most animal studies looking at the effects of adverse in utero environment have been studied in the context of fetal hypoxia. Less is known regarding the cardiac consequences of maternal malnutrition, a common cause of fetal growth restriction. In this episode, ECI Dr. Brian Stansfield from Augusta University, Georgia, US and his team use a new guinea pig model to test the effects of global maternal nutrient restriction spanning pre-gestation, gestation, and lactation. Related Article. 

September: Improved cognitive functioning in obese adolescents after a 30-week inpatient weight loss program.
Obesity has been shown to be linked with a host of physiological and psychological problems, such as cancer, diabetes and depression. In adults, obesity has also been shown to be related to decreased cognitive function and structural brain differences. The evidence for this effect on cognition is less well established in children and adolescents. In this episode we meet Dr. Stijn Vantieghem from the ARCS research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel who conducted a 30 week weight-loss program for obese adolescents to test its effects on their cognitive function. Related Article. ​

August: Gut microbiota in adolescents and the association with fatty liver: the EPOCH study.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the United States. It's all been steadily rising, along with rising obesity levels. Currently, early interventions for NAFLD include dietary, lifestyle counselling, and vitamin supplementation. Recent evidence suggests that the gut microbiota may be involved in the pathophysiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In this episode, we hear from ECI Maggie Stanislawski from the University of Colorado on her work to expand the options for early intervention into this condition. Related Article. ​

July: Pediatric tuberculosis detection using trained African giant pouched rats.
TB was responsible for 1.8 million deaths in 2015, of which children account for almost 10%. A large proportion of TB patients go undetected in high burden countries due to the poor sensitivity of the smear microscopy used to detect the disease. Paediatric cases are often harder to detect because children produce lower quality sputum samples needed for the smear microscopy. As a result, many children with TB go untreated, and the vast majority of children treated for TB are treated empirically. Georgies Mgode, a research fellow at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania, and his team have tested the use of trained Giant African Pouch rats as an enhanced case finding tool after smear microscopy. Related Article. ​

June: NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale: 1-month normative data and variation from birth to 1 month.
Livio Provenzi is based at the Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea in Italy, where he is involved in the Preterm Behavioral Epigenetics Project, a longitudinal research project in very pre-term infants looking at the long and short-term epigenetic and behavioral effects of painful and invasive procedures during the NICU stay. Livio and his colleagues sought to provide normative neurobehavioral data for healthy infants over the first month of life using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioural Scale (NNNS).Acquiring normative comparisons for at-risk populations (e.g. pre-term infants) is key for behavioral studies and for research on early epigenetic biomarkers of developmental risk. Related Article. ​

May: Paternal smoking and maternal protective behaviors at home on infant’s saliva cotinine levels.
A major source of second hand smoke (SHS) exposure in infants is the home. Some parents are aware of this risk and make efforts to minimize the exposure by employing a total ban on smoking in the home. However, many families opt for a partial smoking ban, only smoking in certain rooms, at certain times, or at certain distances from the child and practice avoidance behaviours like opening windows. In order to better understand how parents' smoking behaviours affected SHS exposure in children, Dr Yi Nam Suen from the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and her team developed a questionnaire for non-smoking mothers with young infants, and measured salivary cotinine levels in their infants. Related Article.​

April: Early career investigator highlight.
During her PhD Maria Luisa Tataranno performed research into early biomarkers of brain development in preterm neonates. Now a fellow of neonatal neurology of the Wilhelmia Children's Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Maria and her team have published a paper into the associations between early brain activity and changes in brain morphology and microstructure. In this episode, Maria tells us about her career as a clinical scientist and advocates the early monitoring of preterm neonate brain activity with electroencephalography. Related Article. ​

March: RSV vs. rhinovirus bronchiolitis: difference in nasal airway microRNA profiles and NFk B signaling.
There are approximately 130,000 infants hospitalised each year in the US due to bronchiolitis. The majority of these cases are caused by either rhinovirus or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Rhinovirus is associated with increased risks of acute and chronic respiratory outcomes compared with RSV, however the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this episode, Kohei Hasegawa from the department of emergency medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses his recent experiment aimed at unravelling the underlying mechanisms between the two viruses' different outcomes by comparing the nasal airway microRNA profiles of infants infected with either virus. Related Article. ​

February: Early career highlight.
Patients with sickle cell disease often experience severe pain as a result of vaso-occlusive episodes. Typically, their pain is managed with opioids, however some patients experience continued and increasing pain, believed to be as a result of opioid-induced hyperalgesia or tolerance. Many patients go on to develop chronic pain which is thought to have a neuropathic component, for which opioids are ineffective. Ketamine has been suggested as an adjuvant to opioids to treat chronic and acute pain. In this episode, we meet an Early Career Investigator, Dr. Raissa Nobrega, who has a passion for paediatric pain management and who recently published an exploratory study into the patient characteristics that affect the response to ketamine and opioids in these patients. Related Article. ​

January: Research in the sciences of improvement, implementation, and pediatric patient safety.
Over the past twenty years, new sciences have developed around the delivery of high quality, safe healthcare, and Pediatric Research has recognized these developments with the creation of a new section dedicated to research in these areas. In this episode, we discuss the Quality and Patient Safety section with newly-appointed editor, Peter Lachman. Related Article. ​