Children's National Research Institute

A majority of parents of children diagnosed with Lyme disease reported that their kids recovered within six months of completing antibiotic treatment, according to a new study. The findings, based on Lyme disease treatment outcome data from 102 children in the United States, also revealed that a notably small percentage of children took longer than six months to recover and experienced a significant impact on their daily functioning. A majority of parents of children diagnosed with Lyme disease reported that their kids recovered within six months of completing antibiotic treatment, according to a new joint study from Children's National Research Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, published in Pediatric Research. The findings, based on Lyme disease treatment outcome data from 102 children in the United States, also revealed that a notably small percentage of children took longer than six months to recover and experienced a significant impact on their daily functioning. Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, with most cases caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi transmitted through the bites of infected blacklegged or deer ticks. Children between the ages 5 and 9 years account for a large proportion of the approximately 476,000 Lyme disease cases diagnosed and treated annually in the United States. Common symptoms of Lyme disease include: fever; headache; fatigue; and a distinct skin rash called erythema migrans. Without treatment, the infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system. Antibiotic treatment resulting in full recovery is successful in most Lyme cases. For some, however, symptoms of pain, fatigue, or difficulty thinking persist or return after antibiotic treatment. Symptoms that substantially reduce levels of activity and impact quality of life for more than six months after treatment are classified as post-treatment Lyme disease (PTLD) syndrome. This research studied the long-term outcomes of children with Lyme disease through a cross-sectional evaluation using validated surveys. The study collected survey responses from the parents of 102 children ages 5 to 18 years who had been diagnosed with Lyme disease between six months and 10 years before enrollment. Adolescents ages 10 to 18 years old were also invited to complete adolescent-specific questionnaires. According to these parent survey responses, 75% of children fully recovered within six months of completing treatment: 31% of all children recovered within one month; 30% recovered in one-to-three months; and 14% recovered in four-to-six months. Approximately 22% of children in the study experienced at least one symptom that persisted six or more months after completing treatment; of those, 9% had symptoms classified as PTLD syndrome. Six percent of the children were not fully recovered at the time of the survey, with 1% experiencing symptoms significant enough to impair daily functioning, the authors noted. According to the authors, this study supports previous data showing an excellent overall prognosis for children with Lyme disease, which should help alleviate understandable parental stress associated with lingering non-specific symptoms among infected children. They note that the findings of this study can help clinicians manage families' expectations about the varying post-treatment recovery times of pediatric Lyme disease patients. The researchers suggest this new data could help reduce the potential for families seeking dangerous alternative therapies for children who experience prolonged recovery times. PTLD syndrome remains poorly understood in children and adults, and more research is needed to better understand these prolonged symptoms and identify treatment targets, according to the authors. This study was supported through a partnership between NIAID and the Children's National Research Institute (CNRI). Researchers at the Center for Translational Research at CNRI and the NIAID Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology conducted the study.

None Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week. Allegheny Health Network James Benedict was named president of Allegheny Health Network, the provider body of Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health. Benedict joined up with Allegheny in 2017 as an executive vice president and chief operating officer. The system credits him as “one of the chief architects” of an operational turnaround and accompanying $2 billion capital investment and market expansion push launched during his tenure. He jumped over to Highmark in 2020 to serve as executive vice president of living health partnerships and operations, during which he played a key role in shaping the company’s COVID-19 response, before returning to the chief operating officer role at Allegheny in late 2022. Benedict’s 30-year healthcare career prior to Highmark and Allegheny was spread across hospital operations, physician practice management and ambulatory operations. He’d most recently come from an executive vice president role at TeamHealth as well as other positions at the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland. The new president will report to Bruce Meyer, M.D., Highmark’s executive vice president and Western Pennsylvania market president. Children's National Hospital Michelle Riley-Brown will be the next president and CEO of Children’s National Hospital beginning July 1. She takes over for 11-year leader Kurt Newman, M.D., who will retire after 40 years with the organization. The upcoming executive boasts more than 20 years of leading and supporting children’s healthcare, currently serving as executive vice president of the Texas Children’s Hospital at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. That role has her serving as president of two hospitals, heading staffing and construction of a third and holding the reins for several system-level responsibilities. Riley-Brown’s new role will place her in charge of 8,500 Washington, D.C., employees at a top-ranked children’s hospital and the well-funded Children’s National Research Institute. Hinge Health James Budge was tapped as the new chief financial officer of digital musculoskeletal health offering Hinge Health. Budge has 25 years of experience in the top financial role under his belt, most recently as the chief financial officer of software company Automation Anywhere. He’s helped raised billions in capital, taken multiple companies public and overseen ”dozens” of acquisitions during the course of his career, Hinge said. He joins the digital health company about a year and a half after it raised hundreds of millions in a series E round with a mandate to drive stronger quarterly performance and oversee its sustainable growth.  Hinge, which offers a sensor-supported digital musculoskeletal health program to employers and health plans, is coming off a 1,000 enterprise customer milestone in 2022. Beth Israel Lahey Health Robert Fields, M.D., stepped into an executive vice president and chief clinical officer position at Beth Israel Lahey Health. The clinician executive comes by way of Mount Sinai Health System, which he joined in 2018 as senior vice president and chief medical officer of population health before being promoted to executive vice president and chief population health officer. Prior to that, he helped create North Carolina-based accountable care organization Mission Health Partners and co-founded an independent primary care practice focused on Latino health. At Beth Israel, Fields will be overseeing primary care, behavioral services and continuing care organizations alongside a slew of systemwide clinical departments. Henry Ford Health Adnan Munkarah, M.D., currently the executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Henry Ford Health, picked up a title bump to president of care delivery system and chief clinical officer at the $7 billion integrated system. Munkarah’s new role will give him oversight of both the clinical and operational sides of Henry Ford Health. He will be responsible for driving growth, clinical excellence, care quality, innovation and physician group partnerships, among other goals. The system noted in the announcement that Munkarah’s appointment “marks the first time in recent history that a physician has served at this level for Henry Ford Health.” Alongside Munkarah’s promotion, Henry Ford Health announced expanded roles for three other executives. These comprised Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Robin Damschroder's added role as business development officer; Henry Ford Medical Group CEO Steven Kalkanis, M.D., taking on executive vice president and CEO of Henry Ford Hospital responsibilities; and Senior Vice President and CEO of Market Operations Denise Brooks-Williams' promotion to executive vice president and CEO of care delivery system operations. > Alignment Health, a tech-enabled Medicare Advantage company, appointed Tim Moorhead as senior vice president and regional president of North Carolina, Arizona and Texas, as well as Lisa Ferrari as senior vice president and regional president of Nevada and Northern California. > UCHealth named Lonnie Cramer as president and CEO of its Pikes Peak Regional Hospital, Grandview Hospital and several regional clinics. > The Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, announced that David Jones Jr. was elected to serve as chairman of its board effective April 1. He takes over for Bruce Broussard, currently Humana’s president and CEO, who will remain on the board. > Trusted Health, a healthcare staffing marketplace, tapped Sue Nallapeta as chief technology officer. > Graphite Health, a health data exchange platform, announced Thomas Beale as vice president of informatics and Swami Sundaramurthy as vice president of engineering. > Patient Discovery Solutions, a real-world data intelligence and insights platform, brought on Julie Stern as chief technology officer. > Spatially Health, a population health decision support platform, announced Michael Ward as vice president of sales. > Morehouse School of Medicine tapped Dorian Harriston as chief marketing and communications officer. > Logansport Memorial Hospital, in Indiana, saw the resignation of president and CEO Perry Gay. > The National Committee for Quality Assurance named Vik Wadhwani as chief transformation officer to support its newly launched Transformation Office. > WellSpark Health, a disease prevention and management program for employer customers, tapped Chief Operations and Growth Officer Andi Campbell as its next president. > Operation Smile, a nonprofit specializing in cleft surgery and care, named Susan Can as senior vice president of global marketing. > Methodist Hospital Texsan announced Esther Kwon as CEO, effective May 1. > Reveleer, an analytics platform for plans and risk-bearing providers, appointed Sunil Chandran as chief technology officer, David Meyer as chief AI and data officer and Barbara Allen as executive vice president of operations. > Solve.Care, a blockchain-based care coordination and access platform, named Randall Lee, M.D., to its advisory board.

A type of brain cell that can renew itself is regulated by circadian rhythms, providing significant insights into how the body's internal clock may promote healing after traumatic brain injuries (TBI), according to new research. A type of brain cell that can renew itself is regulated by circadian rhythms, providing significant insights into how the body's internal clock may promote healing after traumatic brain injuries (TBI), according to new research from Children's National Hospital. Released in the latest issue of eNeuro, the findings open new avenues of investigation for future TBI therapies. These injuries are currently managed only with supportive care and rehabilitation, rather than targeted drug treatment options. The findings also underscore the importance of addressing circadian disturbances to help injured brains heal. Many of the body's cells follow a 24-hour rhythm driven by their genes known as the circadian clock. The Children's National research team found that a relatively newly discovered type of brain cell - known as NG2-glia, or oligodendrocyte precursor cells - also follow a circadian rhythm. This cell type is one of the few that continually self-renews throughout adulthood and is notably proliferative in the first week after brain injuries. "We have found evidence for the role of this well-known molecular pathway -- the molecular circadian clock -- in regulating the ability for these NG2-glia to proliferate, both at rest and after injury," said Terry Dean, M.D., Ph.D., critical care specialist at Children's National and the lead author of the paper. "This will serve as a starting point to further investigate the pathways to controlling cellular regeneration and optimize recovery after injury." Sometimes called "the silent epidemic," TBI afflicts an estimated 69 million people worldwide each year, with injuries ranging from mild concussions to severe injuries that cause mortality or lifelong disability. In the United States alone, approximately 2.8 million people sustain TBI annually, including 630,000 children. TBI is the leading cause of death in people under age 45, and those who survive are often left with persistent physical, cognitive and psychological disabilities. Yet no targeted therapies exist for TBI, creating a critical need to uncover the mechanisms that could unlock the regeneration of these NG2-glia cells, which are the most common type of brain cell known to proliferate and self-renew in adult brains. "It is essential for researchers to know that cell renewal is coordinated with the time of day," said Vittorio Gallo, Ph.D., interim chief academic officer and interim director of the Children's National Research Institute. "With this knowledge, we can dig deeper into the body's genetic healing process to understand how cells regulate and regenerate themselves."