Canadian researchers find simple reason why some children die despite aggressive modern therapy for brain cancer

By Daniel Puiatti

Maureen Dennis has been given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Neuropsychological Society. She will receive the award Feb. 15 during the annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) in Montreal.

Two Toronto paediatric hospitals recently made it easier for clinicians to treat patients.

Diagnostic images and reports can now be shared between The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital through a shared diagnostic imaging system based on the SickKids PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) platform.

Approximately 20 per cent of Canadians will experience mental illness over the course of their lives. When a family member is diagnosed with mental illness, it can be difficult to explain what’s happening to a child. Dr. Sandra Mendlowitz, Psychologist in the Anxiety Program and Project Investigator at SickKids, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Child Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, has some advice for parents.

Dr. Sylvain Baruchel was recently named a Chevalier  de l ‘Ordre National de la legion  D‘ honneur, the highest designation given by his native country, France and equivalent to the Order of Canada. The French Ambassador in Canada, Philippe Zeller presented Baruchel with this award. It was Zeller’s first official visit to Toronto. Baruchel, a physician, researcher and professor was given this award for his research and education in the fields of AIDS and cancer over the last 30 years and his work to improve the self esteem of teens living with cancer. 

Founder of the innovative Tip of the Toes Foundation, Baruchel started an initiative to take teens with cancer on expeditions in the wilderness. Baruchel has also done work in France and in Canada to raise awareness and combat the stigmatization of patients with AIDS or cancer.

The weather outside was not at all frightful – six degrees with 11 km/h winds and perfect for Santa’s elves to land their Griffon helicopters on the SickKids rooftop, pouring rain notwithstanding.

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is thrilled to announce it has been named one of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2011.

We are proud to announce that SickKids has been named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers for 2012 by Mediacorp Canada, as well as being one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2012.

SickKids scientists were the headliners at the Hard Rock Café Toronto on Tuesday, November 7, where community members gathered to take part in Café Scientifique: Tipping the Scales – Weighing the Health Impacts of Obesity on Canadian kids.

The community based discussion focused on the causes, prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. Dr. Catherine Birken  kicked off the conversation with revealing statistics that obesity rates among Canadian children have almost tripled in the last 25 years, meaning approximately 26 per cent of kids aged 2-17 are overweight or obese, according to The Childhood Obesity Foundation. Through the TARGet Kids! program, her research group aims to identify prevalence, predictors, outcomes, and effective strategies for prevention of overweight and obesity in children under five.

Dr. Jill Hamilton added to the tune with her research on the health risks associated with obesity. She works to understand the physiology of children with obesity and the trajectory of weight gain. Hamilton also discussed a group of children who have suffered from a specific type of brain tumour called craniopharyngioma. About half of these kids develop very serious weight gain because the tumours are often located right near the appetite centre of the brain and the site that regulates body weight.    

As soon as the speakers concluded, the moderator, Mohamed Awad, Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs managed the questions that flooded in until the end of the evening. This Café attracted a broad group of people who were engaged in the discussion and offered their varied perspectives on childhood obesity.  

This Café Scienitifique reflects SickKids dedication to tackling childhood obesity and our ongoing commitment to Healthier Children. A Better World. By facilitating community based discussions, through Café Scientifique, SickKids engages in knowledge translation of child health issues.

Planning is underway for the next Café Scientifique to be held in the summer. Be sure to sign up for to receive notifications of our upcoming Café Scientifique’s by sending an email to: cafe.scientifique@sickkids.ca

By Daniel Puatti

Dr. Johanne Roberge, Director of the Psychiatry Emergency and Crisis Service at SickKids, has been recognized for her exceptional commitment to protecting vulnerable children from abuse and neglect.

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) visited SickKids on Oct. 27 to bring its Get Animated! workshop to kids spending time at the hospital. The already whimsical Bear Theatre was transformed into the hub of all things animation, with a clay animation station and a flipbook table. Two other tables had all the gear needed to create the animation magic.

Both at home and at school, kids learn that C-A-T will always spell cat and 1+1 will always equal two. What often isn’t taught, though, is that when it comes to learning how to get along with others, the answer isn’t always the same. Building relationships is one of the most complex things a person can learn to do and yet we receive very little formal training for this task.

Bullying often occurs because of relationship problems. When we learn to read, write and calculate there are multiple opportunities for practice. Mistakes are made and we learn from them, but when social mistakes are made, instead of providing a learning opportunity, the response is often punitive. Just as kids need practice with their ABCs and 1-2-3s, they also need practice solving social problems, connecting with others and becoming positive leaders.  

Dr. Debra Pepler, Psychologist in the Community Health Systems Resource Group at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), is an expert in the field of bullying.

Pepler is also Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University and co-leads PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network; www.prevnet.ca ) which has produced many tools for parents, teachers, and youth.

Below you’ll find a Q & A with Pepler about what to do if your child is being bullied, how to handle the situation if your child is doing the bullying, and much more.

By Daniel Puiatti

The rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are rising among children and adolescents, particularly in Ontario, and thanks to a $2 million donation from Northbridge Financial Corporation, SickKids now has a new chair to help tackle this relatively misunderstood and unknown spectrum of diseases, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

By Daniel Puiatti 

The Research & Learning Tower is undergoing another transformation this week. The outer glass ‘curtain walls’ are being installed on the second and third floors of the Tower on the corner of Bay and Elm Streets.

Can pregnant women drink alcohol? Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) experts don’t know if there is a safe amount at any point in the pregnancy. The safest choice is to not drink while pregnant.

It’s September. Kids are heading back to school and families are gearing up for their hectic morning and evening routines. It can be easy to grab a can of pop or juice box for a thirsty kid when you’re on the run. But is it the best choice?

“Water,” says Daina Kalnins, Manager of Clinical Dietetics and an Academic and Clinical Specialist Dietitian in Respiratory Medicine at SickKids. “Water is the best thirst quencher around.”

Kalnins recommends water and milk be the beverage of choice for children up to the age of ten.  Young kids don’t need juice,  she says. “It’s just empty calories from sugar. It fills their stomachs up, displacing their hunger for the healthy foods they need to grow.” Milk, on the other hand, gives kids the fat and calories they need. Fruit will provide kids with fibre missing from juice.

If parents offer juice, Kalnins stresses that moderation and education is key.  “Parents shouldn’t focus on totally eliminating beverages such as juice and pop, but educating kids on how those types of drinks will make them feel,” says Kalnins. “Kids are surrounded by them. They’re going to be in situations, such as a parties, where there will be all sorts of goodies on offer. You want your child to make the choice to have just a little, and that’s it.”

It’s not an impossible task, she assures doubtful parents.  Kalnins notes that a body gets used to what it is given. A child who is raised drinking primarily water and milk will tend to feel slightly ill if he or she overloads on sugary treats. “It may be uncomfortable for them, but it can be a real learning experience,” she says. “It helps kids learn to listen to their bodies.”

As for caffeine, Kalnins notes that Health Canada has recommendations for the amount that can be consumed daily. “It’s a stimulant. I think all parents should read about what caffeine is and what it does before they give it to a child. They might reach for the water instead.”

Sugar-free pop not recommended as substitute for water, Kalnins adds, and aspartame recommendations can also be found on the Health Canada website.

Healthy doesn’t have to be boring! Kalnins recommends some delicious alternatives to water:

Not too long ago, early literacy indicated academic achievement. Today, it’s early numeracy that is considered a stronger predictor of success in school. The increase of technology and science-based professions has created a greater demand for math skills than there once was.

Researchers at the University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), St. Paul’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia have identified a new treatment target for a virus that causes severe lung infections and an estimated 10% of common colds.

The virus, called human respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, is the most common reason for hospitalization of infants and children under two years of age; currently there is no effective therapy or vaccine for it.

“This discovery provides an understanding of the mechanism through which RSV causes infection and offers a target molecule for development of new cell-based therapies,” said the study’s principal investigator Prof. Richard Hegele, Chair and Professor in U of T’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology who is also Chief of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine at SickKids.

The research is published in the current edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

The researchers found that RSV interacts with healthy cells by binding with a molecule located on the surface of those cells called nucleolin. By manipulating the function of nucleolin in cell culture, they were able to decrease RSV infection or increase susceptibility to it.

In mice, the researchers showed that disruption of lung nucleolin was associated with significantly reduced RSV infection, confirming that the molecule is a viable therapeutic target.

“While other factors may influence the frequency and severity of RSV infections, our results indicate that the presence of nucleolin on the cell surface is sufficient for RSV to successfully infect cells,” said Hegele. “We can now pursue strategies designed to block the interaction of RSV with cell surface nucleolin, the idea being to find approaches that will safely and effectively halt infection by preventing RSV from entering the cell in the first place.”

Researchers have been searching for a receptor for RSV for over five decades.

“This is a long-awaited and much-needed discovery that will help researchers develop new therapies for this disease, which has a large global burden, primarily affecting young children and other vulnerable populations,” said Dr. David Marchant, a research associate at UBC’s James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital, and co-lead on the study. “What is especially encouraging is that there is already a lot of ground work done in terms of understanding the biology of nucleolin to treat other ailments like cancer. The discovery of the RSV receptor combined with this knowledge could help deliver a potential therapeutic much faster.”

Increasingly, RSV is being recognized as a serious pathogen of the elderly for causing lung infections such as pneumonia. It is also a common cause of middle ear infections and can infect other organ systems, and has been implicated in the onset of asthma and allergy in children. Organ transplant recipients or other individuals whose immune systems are compromised are also at increased risk for serious RSV lung infections.

According to the World Health Organization, the global RSV disease burden is estimated at 64 million cases and 160,000 deaths each year. It is considered the single most important cause of severe respiratory illness in infants and young children.¹

The study was conducted by the following researchers: Richard G. Hegele (University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)); Farnoosh Tayyari and David Marchant (James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine); Theo J. Moraes (U of T and SickKids); Wenming Duan (SickKids); Peter Mastrangelo (U of T).

Funding for the study was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of British Columbia.

¹ World Health Organization 2009 

The Government of Ontario today announced that it is investing $75 million towards The Research & Learning Tower at SickKids.

A team of researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has been successful in a global competition geared to finding the most innovative approaches for improving maternal and neonatal survival in rural regions of low-income countries.

The international grant competition, Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, The World Bank, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Grand Challenges Canada. There were more than 600 original applicants. The finalists attended an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., which was opened by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. SickKids was one of 19 winners to receive a Grand Challenge award. These awards are geared to identifying roadblocks to solving critical global health issues.

The SickKids project, Prenatal calcium to prevent preeclampsia and pre-term birth in resource-poor rural settings, is a proposal to develop “Prenatal Sprinkles.” The original Sprinkles, a micronutrient powder developed to address vitamin and mineral deficiencies in infants and young children, was created at SickKids by Dr. Stanley Zlotkin. This new version is designed for use by pregnant women in low-income countries as a means of delivering microencapsulated calcium, iron and folic acid to address the long-standing critical health problems associated with two conditions: anemia in pregnancy, associated with premature birth, and preeclampsia associated with hypertension, a major cause of maternal and fetal death. Anemia is prevented by the use of iron and preeclampsia is prevented by the use of calcium. However, to date, combining iron and calcium has not been possible as the calcium interferes with iron absorption. The new product will contain pH-sensitive time-release microencapsulated iron and calcium to overcome this problem, thus enabling both nutrients to be safely delivered together. The grant will be used to develop and test “Prenatal Sprinkles.”

The SickKids team is comprised of Dr. Daniel Roth, Dr. Stan Zlotkin, Ashley Aimone (PhD student) and Dr. Diego Bassani, as well as collaborators from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baylor College of Medicine and ICDDR,B (Bangladesh).

“Innovation at SickKids is a major priority and this project is an example of innovation in action,” said Zlotkin, Vice-President, Medical and Academic Affairs at SickKids and Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health Sciences and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.

“This award strengthens SickKids’ engagement in global health research,” said Roth, Staff Physician, Division of Paediatric Medicine at SickKids and Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. “This grant will help solidify a research team at SickKids as well as nurture collaborations with other international institutions. Our hope is that our project will eventually contribute to lowering maternal and neonatal illness and mortality in low-resource regions of the world.”

Initial product testing is expected to begin in 12 to 18 months in Bangladesh.

A team of researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have been successful in a global competition geared to finding the most innovative approaches for improving maternal and neonatal survival in rural regions of low-income countries.

The international grant competition, Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, The World Bank, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Grand Challenges Canada. There were more than 600 original applicants. The finalists attended an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., which was opened by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. SickKids was one of 19 winners to receive a Grand Challenge award. These awards are geared to identifying roadblocks to solving critical global health issues.

The SickKids project, Prenatal calcium to prevent preeclampsia and pre-term birth in resource-poor rural settings, is a proposal to develop “Prenatal Sprinkles.” The original Sprinkles, a micronutrient powder developed to address vitamin and mineral deficiencies in infants and young children, was created at SickKids by Dr. Stanley Zlotkin. This new version is designed for use by pregnant women in low-income countries as a means of delivering microencapsulated calcium, iron and folic acid to address the long-standing critical health problems associated with two conditions: anemia in pregnancy, associated with premature birth, and preeclampsia associated with hypertension, a major cause of maternal and fetal death. Anemia is prevented by the use of iron and preeclampsia is prevented by the use of calcium. However, to date, combining iron and calcium has not been possible as the calcium interferes with iron absorption. The new product will contain pH-sensitive time-release microencapsulated iron and calcium to overcome this problem, thus enabling both nutrients to be safely delivered together. The grant will be used to develop and test “Prenatal Sprinkles.”

The SickKids team is comprised of Dr. Daniel Roth, Dr. Stan Zlotkin, Ashley Aimone (PhD student) and Dr. Diego Bassani, as well as collaborators from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baylor College of Medicine and ICDDR,B (Bangladesh).

“Innovation at SickKids is a major priority and this project is an example of innovation in action,” said Zlotkin, Vice-President, Medical and Academic Affairs at SickKids and Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health Sciences and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.

“This award strengthens SickKids’ engagement in global health research,” said Roth, Staff Physician, Division of Paediatric Medicine at SickKids and Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. “This grant will help solidify a research team at SickKids as well as nurture collaborations with other international institutions. Our hope is that our project will eventually contribute to lowering maternal and neonatal illness and mortality in low-resource regions of the world.”

Initial product testing is expected to begin in 12 to 18 months in Bangladesh.

Glitz, glamour, red carpets and “paparazzi” created the scene at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Thursday evening and transformed an otherwise-routine evening into the world of Old Hollywood.
We experienced the After Hours Exclusive Teen Event through the eyes of two SickKids patients, Mary Feeney, 17, and Alex Salmon, 14.

On Saturday morning, builders on the SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction site raised one of the large Tower cranes on the site located at Bay and Elm streets. This is another phase in the building process to support The Research & Leaning Tower’s continued rise into the Toronto skyline.

The raising of the crane, also referred to as a crane jump, took eight workers roughly five hours to complete. The height of the crane from the underside of its counter jib, or counter weight, was approximately 29 metres above street level and following the jump, it now stands at 43 metres above street level. The crane will be raised a total of eight times during the construction of The Research & Learning Tower and, with its final elevation, is expected to reach 120 metres.

When the tower is complete, the crane will be dismantled by a derrick crane – a crane used for hoisting and swinging loads horizontally. Sitting on the roof of the tower, the crane will lower pieces down to street level.
For more information on the Tower check out our construction updates or visit our webcam.

For more information on the SickKids Research & Learning Tower or to donate, visit our Tower website.

For people of all ages, mealtime is an important part of every day. It is not only a basic nutritional need, but also represents a social need, with food customs varying across religions, cultures, ethnicities and classes. While eating can be viewed as an enjoyable and social activity, for children with complex chronic conditions eating can be a daily struggle. To ensure proper nourishment, gastrostomy tube insertion - also known as feeding tubes - is common and often recommended for these children.

In a review led by Dr. Sanjay Mahant, lead author of this study and Staff Paediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), researchers acknowledge that the decision to replace feeding by mouth with feeding tubes can be a very difficult decision for parents and caregivers. They found that the primary conflict was based on the family’s values and their interpretation of feeding. Recognizing this decisional conflict, Mahant and his team developed a framework that aims to support and improve parental decision-making around gastrostomy-feeding tube insertion. The review was published in the June edition of Pediatrics.

“While gastrostomy-feeding has been shown to be effective in improving nutrition, administering medication and making feeding easier for parents of children with neurologic disabilities,” says Mahant, “for some caregivers it represents disability, loss of normality and a disruption of maternal nurturing.”

The goal of the review was to understand the decision-making experiences and perspective of the parents around gastrostomy-feeding tubes. The investigators hope to improve parents’ experience through information-sharing and education, more opportunities to gain knowledge from other families in similar situations, and support from health-care professionals.

The review showed that the decision-making process was one of stress, uncertainty and conflict for the parents. “We found that the significance of feeding was much more complicated than simply a means to provide nutrition and maintain an adequate weight,” says Mahant. “Understanding this internal conflict is important in improving the decision-making process for both parents and health-care providers.”

This research provides recommendations for clinicians when communicating about feeding tubes with families.  It highlights the importance of explaining health benefits and potential complications, clarifying parental expectations and fears, and providing the appropriate time to discuss the situation.

SickKids International spoke with Patricia Malloy (Clinical Nurse Specialist/Nurse Practitioner, Infectious Diseases) and Karen Breen-Reid (Advanced Nursing Practice Educator, Paediatric Medicine, Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases) days before they travelled 9,000 kilometres to help train paediatric nurses in Ghana. The SickKids Global Child Health Program - Paediatric Nursing Training Programme is a three-year joint initiative between SickKids International, the University of Ghana, Ghana Ministry of Health, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

On May 30, 2011, SickKids’ own Pat Malloy (Advanced Practice Nurse), Karen Breen-Reid (Advanced Nursing Practice Educator) and Dr. Isaac Odame (Staff Haematologist) celebrated the launch of the Ghana-SickKids Paediatric Nursing Training Programme with aspiring paediatric nurses, and healthcare and academic leaders in Ghana. “The first cohort of [nursing] students radiated pride as each speaker approached the podium challenging the nurses to increase the health of children in Ghana”, said Co-Lead Educator Pat Malloy (pictured below) as she experienced her first day in the classroom.

Mary Jo Haddad, President and CEO of SickKids, was formally welcomed as a Member of the Order of Canada on May 27. The investiture ceremony took place at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, the residence of the Governor General of Canada. 

“I wish you peace, happiness, prosperity and a rewarding life in Canada.”

Buds are starting to pop up on trees, flowers are beginning to peek out from the ground and this spring something else will be growing on the corner of Bay and Elm Streets. In anticipation of spring’s arrival, the SickKids Research & Learning Tower reached ground level this week. Tower construction will now begin movin’ on up for everyone to see.

In 2011, it’s the norm to book a vacation, take a course and even order groceries online. The move to a digital “self-serve” model is transforming most industries, including health care, in an effort to be quicker and improve ease of use and accuracy.

Dr. James Wright, Chief of Perioperative Services and Surgeon-in-Chief, was recently named head of Pediatric Surgical Chiefs of Canada. 

TORONTO – Blocking an enzyme that is involved in the regeneration of cancer stem cells may be the key to treating tumours in the brain and other parts of the nervous system, according to a study from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).  Paediatric neural tumours – such as brain tumours and neuroblastoma (one of the common cancers of infants and children) – are the leading cause of death in childhood cancer, accounting for up to 40 per cent of deaths.  This is invariably due to the tumour’s ability to recur even after aggressive treatment when no visible trace of the tumour remains.

The crowd in Marnie's Lounge fell silent as the puck dropped. On one side of the table was Kaitlyn O'Brien, age 14. On the other – Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

A new Canadian study reveals that financial barriers – in the form of sharing asthma medication costs between insurers and families, are contributing to poor asthma control in children.

Dr. Maru Barrera, Psychologist, Haematology/Oncology Division, Senior Associate Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, was recently awarded the 2010 Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) Companion Award. Barrera was presented with the honour at the annual Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario Symposium dinner on Nov. 19, 2010.

For many years, SickKids has made high performance a priority in the areas of clinical care, research, education and administration. “We pride ourselves in being recognized as one of the top children’s hospitals in the world, and we are pleased to be part of a broader health-care system in Ontario that is focused on performance and accountability,” says Mary Jo Haddad, President and CEO of SickKids.

Canadian icons, artists, philanthropists and children have come together to support a new brand campaign for The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). “Together We Will”, the campaign’s theme and tagline, aims to inspire the community to come together with SickKids doctors and researchers to help advance child health care through donations.

Dr. Denis Daneman, Paediatrician-in-Chief, has received a prestigious international award from the  International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes – the ISPAD Prize for Achievement which recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of science, education or advocacy which have had a major impact on childhood and adolescent diabetes.

A transformational gift of $30 million, believed to be the single largest private gift to paediatric cancer in North America, was announced this morning by Mary Jo Haddad, President and CEO of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). The gift will establish the Garron Family Cancer Centre and allow SickKids to help more children survive their cancer diagnosis.

TORONTO – At only three and a half years old, Jake Da Luz couldn’t walk, because he suffered from pain and limited joint movement. He was diagnosed with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The existing treatments weren’t working, so Jake was invited to participate in a drug trial at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Nearly two years later, Jake, who is now six, is not only walking, but playing hockey.  

Scientists at the University of Toronto (U of T) and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have made a major scientific advancement in (insert area of study here).

If there’s a research breakthrough at SickKids those are likely the first words you’ll see or hear in media reports. When great minds get together, good things happen!

Last August, cancer patients at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) had the opportunity to meet NBA superstar Steve Nash, who visited SickKids while filming a documentary on the Canadian hero, Terry Fox.  Patients and their families got to know Nash and his film crew as they read the Terry Fox story together, signed autographs and smiled for the camera.  On September 12, 2010, just over a year later, the Terry Fox film Into the Wind premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Some of these SickKids moments were captured in the documentary. 

TORONTO – A landmark international study led by scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), has added a new dimension to the understanding of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant type of childhood brain tumour.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) has long been thought of by most people as a disease affecting only Caucasians. While some experts asserted this was not the case, they did not have the data to correct this misconception. Now they do.

SickKids' Centre for Brain & Behaviour has developed one of the world’s leading paediatric epilepsy surgery programs and set a gold standard for centres of excellence.

TORONTO - Family doctors and paediatricians can influence when parents wean their children from the bottle, thereby helping to reduce tooth decay, obesity and iron deficiency, according to a new study by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

TORONTO – Canadian and international scientists have uncovered key changes in DNA in individuals with autism. The Phase 2 results of the multinational Autism Genome Project Consortium published in the June 9 advance online edition of Nature, substantiate the importance of genes as susceptibility factors in autism spectrum disorders.

Dr. Robert Bruce Salter, world-renowned orthopaedic surgeon, researcher, professor, humanitarian and “medical giant” whose pioneering work has impacted millions of people around the world, died May 10 at the age of 85. Dr. Salter was born in Stratford, Ontario on December 15, 1924.

Toronto – The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) today announced the details of the $400 million, 21-storey, 750,000 square foot Research & Learning Tower to be built at the corner of Bay and Elm Streets;  bringing together the 2,000 scientists and staff of SickKids Research Institute.  The Tower is slated to be completed by 2013.  Designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects Inc. with HDR Inc., the world-class facility will achieve LEED® Gold Certification – setting the standard for energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure in Toronto’s Discovery District.  The construction contract to build the Tower was awarded to Ellis Don Corporation.

The SickKids Global Child Health Program will work with the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Nurses and Midwives Council of Ghana (NMCG), the University of Ghana, and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to develop a Paediatric Nursing Training Program. The MoH has identified a dire need for 1500 Paediatric Nurses over the next 10-15 years, where none exist to date. The complete absence of nurses trained in Paediatrics has hindered Ghana’s ability to improve child survival in addressing the Millennium Development Goal to reduce child mortality. Development of a Paediatric Nurse workforce is crucial to improving child survival in Ghana, where children continue to die from mainly avoidable causes such as malaria, respiratory infection, diarrheal disease and neonatal causes of death in institutional and community settings.

Dr. Mark Henkelman, a Senior Scientist in Physiology & Experimental Medicine and the Director of the Mouse Imaging Centre (MICe) at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), is the recipient of the 2010 Killam Prize in health sciences. The announcement was made at a news conference earlier this morning at the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences.

TORONTO – For many patients, one of the most difficult aspects of cancer treatment is undergoing radiation therapy. New research led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and funded in part by the Canadian Cancer Society, indicates that patients suffering from a rare form of paediatric brain cancer may now be spared from the debilitating effects of radiation.

With the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games one week away, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) had the privilege of hosting a pit stop of the Paralympic torch earlier this morning. The torch is in the city as part of the cross-country torch relay.

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have made a surprising discovery about how cells respond to radiation. New research on the kri-1 gene in worms indicates that radiation-induced cell death is not solely controlled within the affected cell, as previously thought. It appears that signals sent from neighbouring cells are required to instruct damaged cells to destroy themselves. The discovery is published in a recent issue of Current Biology.

TORONTO – Dr. Michael Salter, a researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), has been awarded a Research Excellence Grant from the Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Ontario Research Fund (ORF) to study chronic pain. The grant, totalling $3.5 million over five years, will support lead investigator Salter and his team to study pain pathways and potentially develop innovative new drugs to prevent and treat chronic pain.

Looking for something to do on Saturday, Feb. 27? Check out the men’s parallel giant slalom as Richard Evanoff, son of Kimberley Evanoff, Staff Nurse in Emergency Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), carves his way down Cypress Mountain with the Olympic forerunning team.

A new discovery is providing important insight into how genes may influence a patient’s ability to regulate blood glucose. Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have identified four regions in the human genome that correlate with glucose control in patients with Type 1 diabetes. This discovery is published in the February 2010 issue of Diabetes.

Gas fireplaces are perfect for keeping you and your family warm throughout the winter, but can pose a risk for severe burns to young children and infants.

TORONTO – Today, Stephanie Atwood, 18, is like most teens. She goes to school, holds down a part-time job, and enjoys aerobic dancing, going to the mall and spending time outdoors. But this wasn’t always the case.
                                                                                                                                                       
For most of Stephanie’s life, she has struggled with obesity. Following surgery to remove a craniopharyngioma (a type of brain tumour) at age seven, Stephanie began to feel hungry all the time. Doctors had to remove a part of the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls appetite. Stephanie gained weight to the point that she had difficulty moving and walking. She felt isolated from her teenage peers.

A familiar face to some in the The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) community will soon be familiar to millions of viewers tuning in to the Winter Olympics beginning Feb. 12.

TORONTO – Children dealing with cancer and serious blood diseases spend a great deal of their young lives visiting the hospital. Ten-year-old Tobin Haas knows this all too well. When he was only two years old he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. It was treated but then grew back; last summer a routine MRI revealed Tobin had relapsed again and the cancer had spread to Tobin’s spine. Tobin has endured surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and countless hospital visits.

Toronto, ON – Some kids in hospital can’t go home for the holidays, but they now have a new way to stay connected to family and friends.

On November 27, 865 SickKids Research Institute staff and trainees gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the Annual Research Institute Scientific Retreat. This year’s retreat featured 194 scientific posters by trainees and platform presentations by researchers that focused on three themes: personalized medicine, stem cells and regenerative medicine and development of new technologies to improve clinical care.

“These important areas are likely to have major impact on the health care system in the next few years and we are lucky to have scientists from SickKids who are at the forefront of advances and who can address the likely future impact,” said SickKids Chief of Research Dr. Janet Rossant.

The Aser Rothstein keynote speaker Dr. Michael Hayden, Killam Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia, Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine and Director of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics in Vancouver, followed the flow of the day focusing on genetic research and personalized medicine.

In his presentation entitled Global Adventures in Genetics: from Genes to Therapy, Hayden discussed his work with patients suffering from rare disorders. In studying the genetics behind these disorders, he works to find therapies that could be of use to the greater population. He argued that while we have a long way to go before many applications of personalized therapeutics become an everyday reality, predictive testing is one example which is helping today in early detection and treatment.

Hayden applauded SickKids for its leadership in pharmacogenomics and distinguished the culture of collaboration between researchers and clinicians at SickKids and with their external colleagues as crucial to advancements in health outcomes.

Hayden concluded by speaking directly to research trainees and fellows, “Have the courage and self-confidence to immerse yourselves in questions that matter. Although many of you are separated by language and culture you are united in changing the lives of children and changing medicine for the population.”

The retreat is also a time to honour those who have excelled in the past year. The Citizenship Award recognizes an individual Research Institute staff member who consistently goes "above and beyond" expectations in carrying out their work in the Institute. This year’s honoree, Paul Taylor, is “one of those people who has quietly had a big impact on the Research Institute,” said Dr. John Rubinstein who presented the award. Taylor is a Senior Proteomics Specialist in Molecular Structure & Function and Manager of the Advanced Protein Technology Centre who has conducted seminars, started clubs and written journals to ensure the understanding of mass spectrometry across the board.

The Exceptional Trainee Awards were also presented. Each program acknowledges one trainee for extra efforts to improve research and/or the lives of their colleagues.

Cell Biology – Ian Watson
Child Health & Evaluative Sciences – Dr. Ivan Diamond
Development & Stem Cell Biology – Dr. Akitsu Hotta
Genetics & Genome Biology – Adam Durbin
Molecular Structure & Function – Dr. James Wasmuth
Neurosciences & Mental Health – Dr. Yin Chan
Physiology & Experimental Medicine – David Douda

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has announced funding of up to $2.4 million for a three-year, SickKids-led program to help train paediatric nurses in Ghana. The training will lead to an improved quality of healthcare for children in the African country. The three-year program, involving SickKids and SickKids Foundation, will also include specialized paediatric training for health care workers in two other African countries.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has announced funding of up to $2.4 million for a three-year, SickKids-led program to help train paediatric nurses in Ghana. The training will lead to an improved quality of healthcare for children in the African country. The three-year program, involving SickKids and SickKids Foundation, will also include specialized paediatric training for health care workers in two other African countries.

On Nov. 16, Dr. Lillian Sung, Scientist in Child Health Evaluative Sciences and Dr. Michael D. Taylor, Scientist in the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, will both be awarded the Canadian Cancer Society Awards of Excellence in Cancer Research.

“My research is focused on supportive cancer treatment for children with cancer,” says Sung. “I am working on trying to better understand, prevent and treat invasive infections that children undergoing chemotherapy treatment often experience.”

TORONTO – Most people associate childhood vaccinations with pain, but new Canadian research shows this doesn’t have to be the case.

(Toronto) – Taking an antidepressant during pregnancy has become a difficult and complicated process, mostly because of the conflicting information regarding safety. Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children’s (SickKids) Motherisk Program studied the link between antidepressants and birth defects. The research will be published in the April edition of The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

TORONTO – For many years, we have heard about the harmful effects of oxidants (compounds that are highly reactive). They have been labelled as “bad” molecules because they are often associated with radiation exposure and the damage of cellular parts such as DNA and proteins. But not all oxidants are “bad”.

TORONTO – Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have discovered a family of eight genes that are mutated in patients with medulloblastoma – the most common childhood brain cancer. The research is published in the March 8 online edition of Nature Genetics.

Mothers who drink heavily during pregnancy put their children at risk of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), a cognitive and developmental disorder with long-term effects. New research started at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) documents the lifetime costs to Canada of the estimated 4,000 children born with FASD every year. The study is the first to estimate the cost of FASD to the Canadian economy.

Toronto – In a world first, doctors at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) performed an innovative operation using an external artificial lung to keep a paediatric patient alive until new donor lungs were available.

Toronto - The spleen is a little talked about organ that has a big job. It helps clear away bacteria and other infections that get into the blood. All the blood is filtered through the spleen, where there are special immune cells called Marginal Zone (MZ) B cells. These MZ B cells help get rid of bacteria. Dr. Cynthia Guidos, SickKids Senior Scientist and Professor in Immunology at the University of Toronto and Dr. Sean Egan, Senior Scientist and Associate Professor in Medical Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Toronto, found an important molecular interaction that controls the development of the MZ B cells. Their findings are published today in the on-line edition of Immunity and will be published in the Feb 20 print issue.

 A team of researchers led by scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has discovered that the mammalian gene, p73 is essential for protecting the brain through the normal aging process. The findings suggest that reduced levels of p73 may increase a person's likelihood of developing Alzheimer's or another neurodegenerative disorder. Their findings are published in the September 2008 issue of Neuron .

Dr. Janet Rossant, Chief of Research at The Hospital for Sick Children was presented with 2007 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology along with Dr. Anne McLaren of Cambridge University on Monday, May 7, 2007. This award was given to them by the US-based March of Dimes Foundation during the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, which was held in Toronto for the first time. This was also the first time the March of Dimes Prize was shared by two women, and brings to the total number of women who have received this honour to four.

SickKids scientists Dr. Freda Miller and Dr. Michael Salter have been named international research scholars by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and will receive five-year awards totaling nearly $500,000.