Alex's Lemonade Kickoff, Baby Sleep Study, Military Families, Driving with ADHD, Reducing ED Pain

Rounding out a week of soaring temperatures and some exciting research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, we bring you this week’s headline highlights, including last Friday’s fun-filled Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation kickoff event, a series of CHOP experts featured in mainstream media articles, breakthroughs in helping to reduce children’s pain in the emergency department, and more.

CHOP Hosts Yearly Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Kickoff Event

It’s not quite summer until lemonade stands crop up around your local corner – and that includes right here at CHOP. On Friday, June 9, CHOP hosted 28 Alex’s Lemonade Stands at Care Network locations throughout the city as part of an annual CHOP tradition. Every year, our institution dedicates a special day to raising awareness for the ALSF mission of discovering childhood cancer cures and to honoring Alex Scott, the nonprofit organization’s brave founder. At 4 years old, Alex raised more than $2,000 for cancer research in her front yard while battling neuroblastoma. Since then, the foundation has blossomed, and ALSF has funded the work of numerous CHOP oncology researchers who are investigating novel approaches to neuroblastoma, leukemia, and more.

On this year’s ALSF day, CHOP also awarded its annual Alex Scott Pitcher of Hope honor to Ellen Tracy, RN, senior director of Oncology and Medical Nursing and Clinical Operations at CHOP. This award recognizes an individual who has had a special influence in the oncology department. Check out local media coverage of ALSF day here and learn more about CHOP’s relationship with ALSF on Cornerstone.

Dr. Jodi Mindell Weighs in on New Infant Sleep Study

Our experts are always willing to jump in and offer their insight regarding the work of fellow researchers outside of CHOP. In a recently published NPR article, Jodi A. Mindell, PhD, associate director of the Sleep Center at CHOP, weighed in on a new paper published in Pediatrics that addresses the age-old question of when babies should begin to sleep alone. The study concluded that infants may actually sleep for a longer stretch of time when placed in their own room as early as 4 months old. The findings challenge recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that propose infants sleep in their parent’s room for at least six months to a year for safety’s sake.

According to Dr. Mindell, most experts in developmental infant sleep would generally agree that, rather than immediately following the AAP recommendation, families should factor in many different variables of child and parental health. Dr. Mindell is quoted in the NPR piece as saying: "We want babies and parents to get a good night's sleep because we know that will affect infant safety, infant development, and family well-being. It's a balance of trying to make sure babies are safe, everyone's getting enough sleep, and everyone's developing appropriately."

You can see the full article and read more of Dr. Mindell’s insight on NPR.

Huffington Post Features CHOP Research Into Military Family Child Abuse

A Huffington Post feature about child abuse in military families includes the research findings of David Rubin, MD, director of PolicyLab at CHOP and his team. The article, titled “Why Child Abuse in Military Families May be Going Unreported,” delves into whether a government law should require social service agencies to report suspected abuse in military families to military officials, who are in a unique position to give their employees critical help through the Family Advocacy Program. Despite this resource, military families and child protective workers worry that if suspected abuse is reported to their officials, they could lose their career. The article cites research from Dr. Rubin and PolicyLab that found only one in five children of U.S. Army soldiers with a medical diagnosis of neglect or child abuse from a doctor also had a Family Advocacy Program report, most probably because military officials were never told about the doctor’s findings. “When I think about this late at night,” Dr. Rubin is quoted as saying in the article, “I think there are kids out there that aren’t getting reported. And what’s the magnitude of that?”

You can read the article online on Huffington Post.

Nurse-Led Study Finds That Vibrating Device Can Reduce Pain in the Emergency Department

Inserting an intravenous (IV) catheter in the emergency department can cause extreme pain and distress for children. Currently, caregivers administer anesthetic to address that pain. A new study led by a CHOP nurse, however, has found that a unique vibrating device, used with a cold pack, may relieve a child’s pain just as effectively as anesthetic. The device can be used quickly while anesthetic, typically topical lidocaine, often takes 30 minutes to kick in. The researchers compared both anesthetic and the device in 251 children treated at the Emergency Medicine Department at CHOP and published their findings in the journal Pediatric Emergency Care. “This is the first study to compare a vibrating cold device to topical lidocaine in reducing the pain and distress experienced by children during IV insertion,” stated Debra Potts, RN, MSN, CPEN, nurse manager in the Emergency Medicine Department at CHOP and the study’s first author.

“This is important because hospitalized children experience IV insertion as a very painful and stressful event, and they can have post-traumatic stress symptoms if their pain is not adequately controlled.”

You can read more about the device in the press release and find the journal abstract online.

Study Finds Teens with ADHD Have Lower Crash Risk Than Previously Reported

Parents whose teenagers have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the desire to start driving may have a little less to worry about, according to new research from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) at CHOP. In a large-scale study published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers found that while adolescent drivers with ADHD have a 36 percent higher crash risk than other newly licensed teens, the risk is actually four times lower than the risk suggested by previous reports. Principal investigator Allison Curry, PhD, senior scientist at CIRP, and her team had matched over 18,500 electronic health records of children (2,500 of which had ADHD) with New Jersey driver licensing and crash data. While the risk is still higher than teens without ADHD, it is a “manageable” risk, Dr. Curry stated in a press release. “Our findings point to the need to develop evidence-based training and education for adolescents with ADHD who want to drive,” she added.

You can read the full press release here and find the study online at JAMA Pediatrics.

ICYMI

Recently on Cornerstone, we met the CHOP research mentors who received the Award for Excellence in Mentoring Research Trainees this year, tuned into the Violence Prevention Initiative with Bryan Wolf, MD, chief scientific officer at CHOP, learned how a single brain scan may help clinicians predict autism, and took a research snapshot of new Violence Intervention Program work investigating whether assault-injured youth want mental health care.

Catch up on our headlines from our June 2 edition of In the News:

• ‘Good Morning America’ Goes Live with Madeline Bell and Violence Prevention Initiative
• Roberts Center for Pediatric Research Gets Its Grand Opening
• Families and Physicians Gather at Center for Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome Reunion
• Dr. Bimal Desai Honored With Healthcare Innovator Award
• New Clinical Trial Places Multi-Center Patient Data in the Cloud

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