Well Beyond Medicine: The Nemours Children's Health Podcast

In a wide-ranging interview conducted at the 2023 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting, we talk with Dr. Juan Salazar, Chief Medical Officer at Connecticut Children's, about the growing need for collaborative pediatric research, tackling health disparities in a multicultural capital city, and what it was like to be an infectious disease specialist leading a pediatric health care system through a pandemic. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Beena Kamath-Rayne, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a board-certified pediatrician and neonatologist with 20 years of clinical experience and expertise in clinical research, quality improvement, and medical education. Since 2019, she has served as vice president for Global Newborn and Child Health for the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

While she was in Washington, DC, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting, we had the opportunity to sit down with her to discuss the state of global pediatric health and some of the AAP initiatives designed to improve pediatric health no matter where a child lives. 

Carol Vassar, producer/host

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

When it comes to preterm births, the World Health Organization estimates that 15 million babies are born before the completion of 37 weeks gestation. Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under five years of age, with approximately 1 million deaths in 2015. Strikingly, three-quarters of these deaths could be prevented with current, cost-effective interventions. 

In an interview recorded at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting in Washington, DC, in May 2023, we spoke with Dr. Brett Manley on the research he is doing to add to those interventions. Dr. Manley is a Consultant Neonatologist at The Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Melbourne. The research he’s doing right now as the co-investigator of the PLUSS trial seeks to determine whether a particular two-drug protocol can lessen the effects or even prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a common and serious complication in extremely preterm babies.

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Genomics and precision medicine are becoming pillars of health care, but how do they apply to pediatrics — and how can we ensure equitable access? Dr. Pankaj B. Agrawal,  principal investigator (PI) of the NIH-funded Virtual Genome Center for Infant Health (VIGOR), joined us in our mobile podcast studio at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2023 meeting to discuss that and much more! VIGOR is an NIH-funded study that has created partnerships to develop and implement a novel virtual model for genomic care with the hopes of proving that tele-genomic care is feasible and reproducible to any Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) — increasing accessibility and equity for all families.

Plus, hear the voices of PAS participants with their definitions of the phrase "well beyond medicine."

Carol Vassar, host/producer

Guest:
Pankaj Agrawal, MD, MMSc, Chief, Division of Neonatology, University of Miami Jackson Health; Chair, Project Newborn; and Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
LinkedIn

Learn more about the Virtual Genome Center for Infant Health (VIGOR) Study

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

According to the Pew Research Center, up to 95% of youth ages 13-17 report using a social media platform, with more than one-third (35%) indicating they use social media “almost constantly.”

U. S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy — who has already raised the alarm on the youth mental health crisis in the U.S. — released an evidence-based advisory in May 2023. In it, he cited the dangers of social media and how content on these platforms, as well as the algorithms they use, target children and youth likely serving to exacerbate our nation’s youth mental health crisis. 

Monica Barreto, PhD, is here to help us better understand this advisory and how social media affects the children she sees in her practice. Dr. Barreto is the Clinical Director of Behavioral Health for Nemours Children’s Health, Florida.

Carol Vassar, producer/host

Read the Surgeon General's advisory

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Kids worry, but should parents worry about it?

A national survey released in April 2023 by Nemours® KidsHealth® and conducted by the Harris Poll indicates that more than one-third of children worry at least once a week, and it only gets worse as they get older. 

As Mental Health Awareness Month draws to a close, we discuss the results of this survey with Meghan Walls, PsyD, pediatric psychologist and Director of External Affairs for Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley, and Rick Raber, Editor-in-Chief for Nemours Children’s Health. 

Carol Vassar, podcast host/producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has stated that burnout among healthcare workers has been at crisis levels since before the pandemic. Burnout is not limited to doctors or clinical providers - it can and does affect health care workers in non-clinical roles. 

Nemours Children's started planting the seeds of burnout prevention and well-being promotion in the pre-pandemic period. They redoubled its efforts beginning in 2020 with the appointment of Dr. Maureen Leffler as its Chief Well-being Officer. Under her leadership, Nemours has become a national model in pediatric health care for implementing strategies to ensure the well-being of health care workers. She joins us today to talk about burnout, well-being, and wellness. 

Carol Vassar, producer/host

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

On this week's episode, we examine an angle on the concept of well beyond medicine: cultural understanding. In this case, how it begins within the walls of Nemours Children's Health from our associates and emanates out others — patients, families, and, ultimately, into the community through our Associate Resource Groups (ARGS).

Representatives from two Nemours Children's ARGS, DESian (South Asia) and the Health Care Alliance of Asian and Pacific Islanders (HAAPI), join us as we honor Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander month.

Here's a link to Right to Be, as mentioned by Laura Kam. 

Guests:

Rituparna Deb, MD
Sheeja K. Abraham, MD
Benjamin Duong, PharmD
Laura Kam

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re highlighting The Roadmap Project, presented at 2023 Pediatric Academic Societes (PAS)  meeting in Washington, D.C. by pediatric psychologist Dr. Erica Sood from Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware, pediatric psychologist Dr. Jill Plevinsky from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and pediatrician Carole Lannon from Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center, who also serves as a senior quality advisor for the American Board of Pediatrics.

Looking for more about The Roadmap Project? Check out their website. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

The Nemours Well Beyond Medicine podcast team had the privilege of asking attendees of the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting their definition of "health equity." Here are some of their answers! 

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

The Champions for Children podcast is now the Well Beyond Medicine podcast. Learn the whys, hows, and wherefores in this episode, featuring Nemours Children's associates Drew Landmeier, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer; Che Parker, Communications Program Manager; and Cheryl Munn, Enterprise Communications Director.

Visit NemoursWellBeyond.org to access current episodes of Well Beyond Medicine and previous episodes of Champions for Children, subscribe to and review the podcast, and share your feedback and ideas. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

 Teenagers across the nation are learning to navigate the often complex healthcare system thanks to a Nemours Children's-developed, no-cost, evidence-based health education curriculum called "Navigating the Health Care System." Today, we are joined by the Nemours associates who created and have made available this curriculum along with teachers from Delaware, Illinois, and Alabama to talk about how they have used or are using it in their classrooms. 

Kate Blackburn and Denise Hughes from Nemours Children's Health, along with Ayanna Sterling, Program Manager, Health Literacy Program, Southeast Alabama Area Health Education Center; Christine De Guzman, Health Education teacher, Brookside campus, Waukegan High School, Waukegan, Illinois and Katie Maranello, Delaware teacher, and original curriculum pilot researcher. 

Download the "Navigating the Health Care System" curriculum here. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Our topic is predictive analytics for research. Collecting it, preparing it, analyzing it, and protecting it are the Nemours Biomedical Research Informatics Center (BRIC) realm. BRIC provides consultation, training, and computational resources to biomedical research investigators across the enterprise and beyond. Our guests are BRIC Director Dr. Timothy Bunnell and Daniel Eckrich, BRIC’s Supervisor for Research Applications.

Carol Vassar, producer

Listen to other episodes in the Precision Medicine series:

Episode 153: What is Precision Medicine (July 25, 2022)

Episode 160: Changing Medicine through Pharmacogenomics Research (Sept. 12, 2022)

Episode 161: Pharmacogenomics in Practice (Sept. 19, 2022)

Episode 168: Biobanking at Nemours (Nov. 7, 2022)

Episode 171: Genetic Medicine and Genetic Counseling for Kids (Nov. 28, 2022)

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Karen Wilding, Nemours' new Chief Value Officer, explains her role with the enterprise. She’ll also share her experience on 9/11, when she was a student in Washington, DC, where she watched the tragedy unfold. It was an event that shaped her life and put her on the path to becoming a Nemours associate. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Dr. Roger Harrison joins us on this episode of the podcast. Together we delve into his work as a pediatric psychologist in the greater Wilmington, Delaware area, a role he's held at Nemours Children's Health for 20 years, and his longstanding passion for health equity and inclusion. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Guest: 
Roger Harrison, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Biobanking is the process by which bodily fluid or tissue samples are collected for research to improve our understanding of health and disease. In this episode, we explore the past, present, and future of biobanking at Nemours Children's Health. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Guests:
Diana Corao-Uribe, MD, Director, Biobank and Molecular Analysis Program (BMAP) at Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Deepti Anand, PhD, MS, Research Scientist, Biobank and Molecular Analysis Program (BMAP) at Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Jennifer Holbrook, BS, Program Manager, Biobank and Molecular Analysis Program (BMAP) at Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

According to the American Society of Human Genetics, medical genetics is any application of genetic principles to medical practice. This includes studies of inheritance, mapping disease genes, diagnosis and treatment, and genetic counseling, all offered by Nemours Children's Health.

Carol Vassar, producer

Guests:
Karen Gripp, MD, Pediatrician, and Genetic Researcher, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Laura Baker, Genetic Counselor, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware
Louise Amlie-Wolf, Genetic Counselor, Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Project HOPE stands for Harnessing Opportunity for Positive, Equitable Early Childhood Development. Nemours Children's Health is part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded consortium promoting both equity and child well-being on a national level. How? By building the capacity of local communities, state leaders, cross-sector state teams, and local coalitions to prevent social adversities in early childhood. Part of it is making sure that stakeholder voices are heard loud and clear whenever and wherever new health strategies, policies or programs are created. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Guests:
Georgia Thompson, Senior Program & Policy Analyst, National Office of Policy & Prevention, Nemours Children's Health
Trevor Lee, Program & Policy Analyst, National Office of Policy & Prevention, Nemours Children's Health

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Precision medicine, personalized medicine, genetic medicine - these are all terms bandied about in the press, but what exactly do they mean? Who better to ask than two Nemours Children's Health geneticists with 73 years of combined experience in genetics: Dr. Pamela Arn, Division Chief for Genetics, Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville, and Dr. Vicky Funanage, Operational Vice President for Research, Nemours Children's Health.

Carol Vassar, producer

Guests: 
Pamela Arn, MD, Director of Education, Nemours Children's Health and Division Chief of Genetics, Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville
Vicky Funanage, PhD, Operational Vice President of Research, Nemours Children's Health

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.

Nemours Children's Health Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Enterprise Chief Communications Officer Gina Altieri shares her insights regarding the philosophy behind the enterprise tagline, Well Beyond Medicine, and how these three words represent Nemours Children's vision and strategy ingeniously. 

Carol Vassar, producer

Guest: Gina Altieri, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Enterprise Chief Communications Officer, Nemours Children's Health

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or management. 

Subscribe, review or let your voice be heard at NemoursWellBeyond.org.