BREAKING THROUGH with Madeline Bell

In “Where We Are Now,” a five-episode special series, Madeline Bell speaks with five CHOP researchers about the COVID-19-related work they are leading – and about what gives them hope during this challenging time. With episodes focused on everything from a modeling tool that forecasts the spread of the virus across more than 500 U.S. counties to a unique COVID-19 test developed in the CHOP labs, the series takes listeners on a journey from the beginning of the pandemic to where we are now.

Join Madeline in CHOP’s “lab of the future” in the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center. As Director of the Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics and Chief Scientific Strategy Officer at CHOP, Dr. Davidson is developing innovative gene therapies to treat inherited brain disorders. Listen in as she talks to Madeline about everything from her earliest breakthrough moment to what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated field. You can learn more about supporting research and discovery at CHOP here. #ForBreakthroughs

Ever wondered what informatics is or how CHOP is using it? Get a peek behind the curtain with CHOP’s Chief Health Informatics Officer, Dr. Bimal Desai. Madeline dives into some of CHOP’s most innovative ideas using technology, like bedside cameras for families to check in on their babies, and what is next for our patients. Learn more about supporting research and discovery at CHOP here. #ForBreakthroughs

Madeline has an in-depth conversation with Dr. Christina Master about CHOP’s interdisciplinary approach to concussion, including exciting, cutting-edge diagnosis and treatment options. Concussion Care for Kids: Minds Matter is a specialized program developed to help families, healthcare providers, school staff and coaches recognize the signs and symptoms of concussion and support children's physician-guided recovery. Learn more about supporting research and discovery at CHOP here. #ForBreakthroughs

Every day approximately 700 CHOP employees go to work in the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center, our first research building – one of them is Madeline. She sits down with Leonard to talk about his family’s 30-year relationship with the hospital and how their support has fueled breakthroughs and innovation.

To find out how you can help fuel tomorrow’s breakthroughs at CHOP, click here.

At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), researchers and doctors are working side by side to improve outcomes for children with brain tumors. In honor of Brain Tumor Awareness Month, Madeline recently sat down with Dr. Phillip “Jay” Storm, Chief of CHOP’s Division of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Adam Resnick, a research scientist at CHOP, to talk about how they are using genetic information to match patients with the best brain tumor treatments – and how philanthropy is fueling these breakthroughs. To help fund groundbreaking research at CHOP, visit give.chop.edu.

April is World Autism Awareness Month, and here at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Madeline is serving as Honorary Captain for the Eagles Autism Challenge, a bike ride and run/walk that will be held in Philadelphia on May 18. The money raised at the challenge will help our scientists make breakthroughs for children with autism – and in this special episode, Madeline speaks to one of those scientists, Dr. Julia Parish-Morris. For more information on how you can join or donate to the Eagles Autism Challenge, please visit EaglesAutismChallenge.Org.

The lymphatic system is something we all have in our bodies, but very little is known about it. In this episode, Madeline is joined by Dr. Yoav Dori, Director of Pediatric Lymphatic Imaging and Interventions and Lymphatic Research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Dori and his team have developed advanced technologies to diagnose and treat life-threatening diseases of the lymphatic system. 

To find out how you can help make tomorrow’s breakthroughs at CHOP, click here.

In this episode, Madeline is joined by Dr. Hakon Hakonarson, the founder and director of the Center for Applied Genomics (CAG) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Hakonarson leads one of the world’s largest genetics research programs. His team is working to identify the genes that cause complex medical disorders in children and looking for the genetic causes of cancer, autism, diabetes, obesity, schizophrenia, ADHD and autoimmune disorders – to name just a few. These are very different diseases, but CAG’s objective is the same in each case: to use their discoveries to develop new diagnostic tests and new therapies for pediatric diseases. To find out how you can help make tomorrow’s breakthroughs at CHOP, click here.

In part 2 of a special two-part episode, Madeline is rejoined by four female scientists from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Deborah French, Dr. Allison Curry, Dr. Renata Pellegrino da Silva and Dr. Julia Parish-Morris talk about their own personal journeys and offer advice to aspiring scientists. 

To find out how you can help make tomorrow’s breakthroughs at CHOP, click here.