Boston Children's Hospital’s Post

At a time when mental health problems are skyrocketing, a new study in JAMA Pediatrics provides one of the most comprehensive state-by-state accountings to date of firearm suicides in children and youth. The findings are eye-opening — but could also help in crafting interventions. 👇

As the lab of Beth Stevens has shown, microglial cells help prune synapses in the developing brain by tagging those to be eliminated with the immune protein C1q. Surprising new work in Cell, led by Nicole Scott-Hewitt, shows that C1q can also be taken in by neurons, where it appears to influence neuronal protein translation by interacting with ribosomal proteins, RNA-binding proteins, & RNA in the cell cytoplasm. Moreover, C1q builds up in neurons over time, suggesting it has a role in age-related neurodegenerative conditions. Lots more to explore 👇

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the profile of children hospitalized with RSV, finds a study of nearly 300,000 children at 48 U.S. hospitals. Post-COVID, there was a surge of RSV-infected children who needed advanced respiratory support and were older than usual, perhaps because they had dodged RSV during the COVID era. This suggests a potential benefit of expanding the age group for new RSV vaccines. 👇

4-year-old Jack was born with a congenital heart defect, and by the time he was 10 months old had undergone five cardiac operations — including two while in his mother's womb — but still faced serious potential heart problems. A revolutionary procedure, the first to be done in New England, has forged a new path for him. Read more from Boston Globe Media below 👇

This week, the United States Surgeon General declared gun violence a public health crisis. Our Dr. Lois Lee and pediatricians from across the U.S. met with the Surgeon General last year to raise awareness on firearm violence research and public health interventions. Learn more about this advisory and insights from Dr. Lee in Science News Magazine. http://ms.spr.ly/6045YhTuc

Only a third of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder do well with current medications. Neurologists, psychiatrists, and neuroscientists at Boston Children’s are teaming up to explore a new approach — one that focuses on the intestinal microbiome and potential dietary interventions that would bring the intestine’s microbes into a healthful balance. 👇

Congratulations to Molly Wilson-Murphy, MD, in Boston Children’s Neuroimmunology Center! Her poster, “Neurologic and psychiatric symptoms of long COVID in a pediatric neurology clinic,” recently won first prize in the neuro-infectious disease category at this year’s International Child Neurology Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. 👏 http://ms.spr.ly/6043YAX8x

Scientists have been trying to create platelets artificially for a long time. In 1999, Joseph Italiano's lab discovered that megakaryocytes make platelets by extending proplatelets. A recent study led by Isabelle Becker and Adrian Wilkie, Ph.D. found that after cell division, megakaryocytes form clusters like cancer cells, which helps in making platelets. They also found that a protein called KIFC1 controls this process and could be a target for treatment. 👇

The rise in childhood obesity requires new solutions. Join us on Boston Children’s Answers Parentcast as Dr. Jennifer Arnold and Dr. Margaret Stefater Richards discuss the role of weight loss medication in treating childhood obesity. 🎙️👉 http://ms.spr.ly/6043Y2FlU

Check out this fascinating article from Harvard Medical School about the sense of touch —understudied compared to our other senses. At Boston Children’s, child neurologist April Levin is studying touch as it relates to neurodevelopmental conditions like autism. While many children with autism are hypersensitive to touch, others have touch hyposensitivity, she says. 👇