George K. Gittes, MD, Benjamin R. Fisher Chair of Pediatric Surgery, chief of pediatric general and thoracic surgery, scientific co-director of research at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, discusses the Institute’s role in supporting research and academic work across Children’s Hospital.

Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, MCCM, distinguished professor of Critical Care Medicine, the Ake N. Grenvik professor and vice chair of Critical Care Medicine; director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research; and professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, discusses the future for studying and treating pediatric head trauma at the Safar Center.

Adelaide L. Eichman, MD, associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the Division of Child Advocacy and assistant medical director of the Allegheny County Child Healthy Evaluation and Coordination Services (CHECS) Program, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses how Child Advocacy Centers work and the future goals for broadening the scope of care within this critical specialty.

Megan Culler Freeman, MD, PhD, pediatric infectious disease physician at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, discusses her recent studies on acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) and enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), performed at The Freeman Laboratory, which she heads.

Matthew Ford, MS, CCC-SLP, clinical coordinator, Cleft-Craniofacial Center, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses the journey of new parents learning their child will have a cleft or birth anomaly. He describes the breadth of treatment options available for kids with craniofacial differences who remain patients of the center until adulthood.

Dr. Hoda Abdel-Hamid, director of the Pediatric Neuromuscular Program, Pediatric EMG Lab, and Pediatric MDA Clinic at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses the care of children with chronic neuromuscular diseases and the coordination of subspecialists needed to treat them and their families.

Dr. Christopher Horvat, director of Health Informatics for Clinical Effectiveness at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and our hosts discuss the emergence of electronic health records (EHRs) and their potential to deliver efficiencies and equities in care. Dr. Horvat describes how evidence-based medicine has informed the training of new physicians and how clinical trials help evolve and create new standards of care.

Stephanie Colaberardino, director of Child Life Volunteer Services and Family Resource Center, and Alanna Kanawalsky, Child Life lead adaptive care team specialist, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, discuss the important role of child life specialists in the lives of hospitalized children. They describe the many unique offerings of UPMC Children’s Child Life, including the Dream Big TV Studio, Matt’s Maker Space, and STEAM programming.

Tim Shope, MD, professor of Pediatrics at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, has lived in many places, but common pediatric infections, including urinary tract infections (UTIs) are everywhere. His team created the UTICalc, available at uticalc.ptt.edu. This user-friendly tool prompts the clinician with five questions, providing an estimated risk of UTI to help reduce unnecessary catheterization and improve outcomes. Also, learn about Dr. Shope’s time with the U.S. Navy, and his famous family member in the world of infectious disease research.

When an infant is born, their first introduction is to a new immune system and new bacteria. Tim Hand, PhD, assistant professor with the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, takes samples from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, to look at how antibodies in a mother’s breast milk may shape the relationship between an infant and their microbiome. Listen in as Dr. Hand discusses the unique microbiome of premature infants, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and how maternal IgA, an active component in a mother’s breast milk, can shape a child’s immune system.