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Gene editing used to treat rare genetic disorder
Oct. 18, 2021— A 9-year-old patient of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is the first in the world to receive an investigational gene editing therapy for Methylmalonic Acidemia (MMA), a rare genetic disorder diagnosed at birth. On May 29, Eddie Axelson, of Clarksville, Tennessee, received LogicBio Therapeutics’ investigational single-administration targeted gene editing therapy, hLB-001, which...
ROSA technology helps ease patient’s violent seizures
Mar. 12, 2020—Daniel Lookabaugh, a 20-year-old electrical engineering student who has epilepsy, has never driven a car because of violent seizures and had to put his schooling on hold last year. His seizures began about age 3. They became more frequent as he got older, then became so intense two years ago that he would dislocate his...
New technology helps pediatric patients who require frequent X-rays
Sep. 9, 2019—Chloie Jacobs, 9, prepares for a follow-up scan of her congenital scoliosis and climbs into a new X-ray imaging device at the pediatric orthopaedic clinic at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. But this isn’t just any X-ray machine. For Chloie, the cutting-edge technology, known as EOS, feels more like a teletransporter, because of its...
Happy, Healthy, Whole
Sep. 13, 2018— At a 20-week ultrasound Lindsey and Jeremy Walley were excited to learn the gender of their first-born child. Their elation that it was a girl was met by a sudden quiet and serious look from the ultrasound technician, who then whisked them to another room for a meeting with their obstetrician-gynecologist. The couple knew...
What is omphalocele?
Sep. 13, 2018—Omphalocele, also known as exomphalos, is a birth defect of the abdominal (belly) wall. The infant’s intestines, liver or other organs stick outside of the belly through the belly button. The organs are covered in a thin, nearly transparent sac that rarely is open or broken. As the baby develops during weeks six through 10...
Patient’s freak pancreas injury spurs rapid response
Feb. 28, 2018—Macie Glover sprinted across the gym floor at school, tripped and crashed into a wall. In a bizarre sequence of events, she hit her head and arm and scraped her knees as the force of the crash propelled her whole body arching backward into a crescent shape. “I hit the ground. I couldn’t breathe. Whenever...
Clinicians, researchers identify gene mutation as cause of boy’s rare disorder
Aug. 18, 2016—Test after test failed to reveal why Denny Majano wasn’t gaining weight or why he suffered from severe, chronic diarrhea. At 5 weeks old Denny had lost a pound since birth. He was admitted to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in 2011, where he would spend almost two and a half years in the...
Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together
Feb. 22, 2016—Although not part of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, Jill Simmons, M.D., encounters medical mysteries that have the makings of a science fiction film or novel. As a pediatric endocrinologist with a special interest in metabolic bone disorders, she sees patients with rare, severe medical conditions. Included among those are a child who, as an infant, had...
Growing to New Heights Expansion
Feb. 22, 2016—In the 1990s, when pediatric health care services were scattered in buildings across Nashville and strained by the demands of a growing population, health care leaders knew a dedicated children’s hospital was needed. But the vision required a champion, someone willing to lead the effort in the community as well as the large-scale philanthropic endeavor that...
Earthquake victim’s journey leads to Children’s Hospital
Feb. 22, 2016—Eleuseo Morales-Garcia awoke suddenly to his San Marcos, Guatemala, home shaking violently on July 7, 2014. It was 5 a.m. and the walls were crumbling around him, his wife, Audelia Marta-Ortiz, and their five children. The earthquake that hit their city that morning—and changed the family’s life forever—reportedly was a 6.9 magnitude. Because Guatemala lies...
Alumni Profile: Jeff Sperring, M.D., ‘95
Aug. 21, 2015—VUSM prepared alum for leadership roles Jeff Sperring M.D., ‘95, took on the role of chief executive officer of Seattle Children’s Hospital in May, arriving armed with great memories and lessons learned from his days at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Vanderbilt was the perfect balance of high educational expectations but also the sense...
Alumni Profile: Sandra Hassink, M.D., FAAP, ‘78
Aug. 21, 2015—AAP President Dedicates Career to Childhood Obesity Sandra Hassink, M.D., FAAP, ‘78, was a trailblazer in treating childhood/teenage obesity, starting a weight management clinic in 1988 at Alfred I. duPont Children’s Hospital, well before most pediatricians even realized there was an issue to address. Today, childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels plaguing the youngest...
Children’s Hospital gets to heart of boy’s rare disorder
Aug. 21, 2014—Two-year-old Luke Reaves was diagnosed a year ago with cardiomyopathy (a weakened heart muscle) caused by a rare hereditary metabolic disorder, Barth syndrome. With only about 200 reported cases of Barth worldwide, finding a hospital that understood a metabolic heart condition like Luke’s was important for Emily and Jason Reaves, even if it meant traveling outside...