Guest: Bruce Komiske, MHA

Host: Bruce Japsen

As if finding treatments and cures for diseases and injuries of children was not a big enough of a challenge for researchers, try your hand at building a facility to meet tomorrow's needs for specialized pediatric care. Bruce Komiske, chief of hospital design and construction at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, tells host Bruce Japsen about the complex and rewarding challenges involved in planning and building new pediatric facilities.

Host: Bruce Japsen

Guest: Christina Economos, PhD

When first lady Michelle Obama launched Let's Move to get young people healthy, she looked to the town of Somerville, Massachusetts, and its academic partner Tufts University. Tufts' anti-obesity initiative, known as Shape Up Somerville, was a 3-year-long obesity prevention intervention targeted at young children in the Boston suburb. Dr. Christina Economos, principle investigator on the study, talks to host Bruce Japsen about Shape Up and its role in shaping the ideology of Mrs. Obama's Let's Move initiative.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA

Guest: Rear Admiral Michael Milner, PA-C

Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin has two new priorities: to combat childhood obesity and to encourage all Americans to put their health histories online. So how do practitioners get involved in these new government initiatives? Rear Admiral Michael Milner, assistant surgeon general and chief of the US Public Health Services Corps, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to get the message out about the latest technology allowing patients to easily share their medical records with doctors and family members, as well as getting kids to start exercising and eating healthily.

Guest: Paul Ehrmann, DO

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD

The general public and medical community alike face a difficult question on childhood obesity: are we witnessing the development of a supersized generation of children? Could this generation even fail to outlive their parents? Dr. Paul Ehrmann, a family practice physician and award-winning community activist, argues that this potential outcome is a reality. Host Dr. Mary Leuchars overviews Dr. Ehrmann's leading efforts with the novel Children's Health Initiative Programs (CHIPs) to counter national trends toward 'Generation XL' at the community level.

Guest: Barry Sarvet, MD

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Research tells us that roughly one in 20 teenagers in the United States suffers from clinical depression. The problem is most are not receiving treatment because they haven't been diagnosed. In a recent report, the US Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation for the routine screening of all adolescents in the primary care setting, even if they don't show signs of depression. Is this recommendation practical? And, can our healthcare system accommodate the likely increase in teens who would subsequently become candidates for mental health treatment? Dr. Barry Sarvet, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, joins host Dr. Jennifer Shu for a discussion of the pros and cons of routine depression screening for teenagers.

Guest: Captain Timothy Harrelson

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA

For his efforts in Afghanistan stabilizing victims wounded in Taliban offensives and providing clean water to families, Cpt. Timothy Harrelson was awarded the Bronze Star. Cpt. Harrelson talks with host Lisa Dandrea Lenell about his lifesaving work with malnourished children in Qalat, Afghanistan. Cpt. Harrelson was involved in the formulation of nutrition that reduced the pediatric mortality rate in Qalat by 25 percent.

Guest: Susan Weisberg, MD

Host: Michael Greenberg, MD

Dr. Janucz Korczak (1878-1942) was a Polish-Jewish pediatrician who had revolutionary ideas about humanism for children, and was one of the first proponents of children's rights. He established the first progressive orphanages in Poland, and wrote numerous books on child psychology, including How to Love a Child and the Child's Right to Respect. Pediatrician Dr. Susan Weisberg describes how Dr. Korczak has inspired her life's work, and tells the story of Dr. Korczak's tragic but noble Holocaust death. Dr. Michael Greenberg hosts.

Guest: Christine Ren, MD

Host: Mary Leuchars, MD

When does surgery become the best option for treating obese adolescents? Dr. Christine Ren, founder and director of the New York University (NYU) Program for Surgical Weight Loss and assistant professor of surgery at NYU School of Medicine, addresses this question and identifies target patients for whom surgery is recommended. She also discusses both physical and psychosocial outcomes for adolescents undergoing weight loss procedures, as well as important post-op nutritional complications clinicians should anticipate. Hosted by Dr. Mary Leuchars.

Guest: Mark Boucek, MD

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD

For years, we have performed pediatric heart transplants following the declaration of brain death in donors. To this point, those who die of cardiovascular complications have not been considered for heart donorship. How are advances in this area forcing us to reconsider the prospect of a heart transplant after cardiocirculatory death? Host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill considers the potential ramifications of this fascinating investigation with Dr. Mark Boucek, director of pediatric cardiovascular services at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, and the lead author of research published in the New England Journal of Medicine on three cases of pediatric heart transplantation after cardiocirculatory death. Does this successful restarting of the heart in transplant recipients suggest that the donor's heart stoppage was not irreversible?

Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Guest: E. Steve Roach, MD

Pediatric and adolescent stroke differ from adult stroke in frequency, presentation, management and prognosis. What causes childhood stroke, and how can we diagnose and treat the condition? Dr. E. Steve Roach, professor of pediatrics and neurology at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, and chief of the division of child neurology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, explains who, among our young patients, is at greater risk for stroke and how the clinical presentation is often very similar to that of an elderly stroke victim. Looking at the long-term ramifications, how do our young stroke patients fare as they get older? Dr. Jennifer Shu hosts.