Under the broad umbrella of precision medicine falls pharmacogenomics, and within the field of pharamocogenomics, Nemours is involved with both researching and clinically applying pharacogenomics. In the second of two episodes on pharmacogenomics, we'll check in with pharmacists Dr. Benjamin Duong and Dr. Kelsey Cook about what's current in clinical pharmacogenomics, and what's on the horizon, too. Carol Vassar, producer
Pharmacogenomics is a field of research that studies how a person's genes affect how an individual responds to medications. Its long-term goal is to help doctors select the drugs and doses best suited for each person. It's research that is happening within the walls of Nemours. We'll hear more about it from researcher Dr. Kathryn Blake, Director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics and Translational Research, and research scientist Dr. Ed Mougey. Carol Vassar, producer...
It's Labor Day, and we're talking labor and delivery within the Advanced Delivery Program (ADP) at the Nemours Children's Hospital (NCH) in Delaware. It's a two-and-a-half-year-old program that started as a partnership between ChristianaCare and Nemours Children's Health aimed at having mom's deliver at NCH Delaware if their child had been diagnosed with a fetal anomaly requiring treatment immediately following birth. Nemours is taking on this program solo starting ...
Breastfeeding is not easy. It's a learning experience for moms and babies, especially the first time around. Nemours associate Lindsey Killian faced more barriers than most when it came to her first-time breastfeeding experience: her son was diagnosed with the metabolic disorder PKU when he was just four days old. This required the introduction of specially blended PKU formula to his breastfeeding routine - a staple of his diet (and that of his father, Tom, who also has PKU) to this day. Th...
It is breastfeeding awareness month. And in previous podcast episodes this month, we've talked to the clinical experts on the benefits of breastfeeding to moms and their babies and breastfeeding across cultures. In part three of our Breastfeeding Awareness Month podcast, we'll talk with a breastfeeding mom and a lactation consultant - both Nemours associates- about family and community support and the key role it plays in a mother's breastfeeding journey. Fathers, grandparents, si...
August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, and in this episode, we'll explore some of the cultural aspects of breastfeeding with Dr. Tara Williams, Nemours General Academic Pediatrician and Breastfeeding Medicine Specialist based in Orlando, and Karina Charra, site coordinator in the Emergency Department of the Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware, and co-lead of the Adelante Associate Resource Group. Carol Vassar, producer
August is National Breastfeeding Month. According to the March of Dimes, though natural in many ways, breastfeeding is also a skill learned through practice. The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous and long-lasting. Nemours associates and breastfeeding counselors Ainger Walker and Shamiya Gould are here to talk about the benefits, the struggles, the stigmas, and ultimately the triumphs of breastfeeding. Carol Vassar, producer
Since 2021, retired healthcare executive Elliot Joseph has been a member of the Nemours Foundation Board of Directors. Prior to his retirement in 2019, he was the CEO of Hartford HealthCare, a fully integrated, multi-specialty healthcare network serving the state of Connecticut. Mr. Joseph brings that expertise, experience, and leadership to Nemours. We'll talk about his Nemours journey, the path that led him to the business side of healthcare, the function of a board of directors within a ...
Today we begin an occasional series within the podcast to highlight precision medicine and the associates here at Nemours who are researching and implementing these innovative approaches to medicine, specifically pediatric medicine. Answering the basic question of "What is precision medicine" are two Nemours geneticists with 73 years of combined experience in genetics and at Nemours: Dr. Pamela Arn, Nemours Division Chief for Genetics, and Dr. Vicky Funanage, Nemours' Operational ...
Dr. Wade Shrader has seen Cerebral Palsy (CP) from two important perspectives: that of a physician, a surgeon, and the Chief of the Division of Cerebral Palsy inside the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware, and as the father of four children, two of whom are young adults living with CP. His perspective as both family member and provider has proved influential in his decision to specialize in CP. Carol Vassar, producer
We catch up with performer, singer, Nemours respiratory therapist, and optimist Mary Ann Douglas, who we first met on Episode 4 of the podcast from 2019. In a new interview recorded in July 2022, she provides an update on enduring the COVID-19 pandemic with her PICU team at NCH Orlando, providing stories of lessons learned and stresses born, along with patient stories from that time, which includes singing! Carol Vassar, producer
We're taking a deeper dive into Project HOPE by examining a partnership between Nemours and the State of Oklahoma that brings capacity-building skills and technical assistance to that state to help them in the work of preventing social adversities in early childhood. Featuring Nemours Associate Trevor Lee, Program and Policy Analyst in the Nemours Office of Policy and Prevention in Washington, DC., and Carrie Williams, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness....
Nemours' Director of Talent Services Dr. Allison Craft is an ardent advocate for associate engagement across the enterprise. In this podcast, she'll share high-level results of the most recent employee engagement survey. She'll also reveal the very personal reason why she's so passionate about employee engagement, which has its origins in an experience so profound that it led her to leave her dream job with NASA to join Nemours and further the engagement mission. Carol Vassar...
Joining us in conversation on this episode of the podcast is Dr. Rachel Thornton, who arrived at Nemours on March 1, 2022, as the inaugural holder of a new leadership position within the enterprise: Enterprise Chief Health Equity Officer. Together, let's get to know Dr. Thornton, her path to becoming a doctor, and her vision for further advancing the health equity work that has been underway here at Nemours for a decade.
Have you been hearing about the new federal holiday? In some parts of the nation, June 19th has long been a celebrated as Solidarity Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, or, most commonly, Juneteenth, which is the name of the new federal holiday. The co-leads of the Nemours African Heritage Associate Resource Group - Danielle David Evans and Kia Gaines - are here to talk about the origin and history of Juneteenth in the U.S., and how it is being celebrated at Nemours this year. Carol Vassar, producer...
Nemours Pediatric Psychologist Dr. Danika Perry reveals that her Nemours experience began when she was a high school volunteer - a volun-teen - at what is now the Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware. For Dr. Perry, this and other volunteer opportunities would point her to her life's passion: a career as a pediatric psychologist. Carol Vassar, producer
According to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, there is a serious mental health crisis happening among our children and youth in the U.S. It affects children, youth, families and communities across the communities Nemours serves. During May is Mental Health Awareness Month, we talk with Nemours associate Dr. Danika Perry about her perspective on the issue. Dr. Perry is the Behavioral Health Program Director of School-Based Wellness Centers in the elementary schools of the Colonial School Distri...
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and what better way to honor that than by letting you know about the newest Nemours Associate Resource Group (ARG), which encompasses those from this rich cultural background, and their allies. It's called the HealthCare alliance of Asian and Pacific Islanders (HAAPI). To talk about their work on this podcast are its executive sponsor Jane Mericle, Chief Nursing Executive and Patient Operations Officer in the Delaware Valley; Dr. Ma...
In the hustle and bustle of 21st-century life in the U.S., pausing for a moment feels like a luxurious indulgence. However, pausing to reflect on the life of a child who has recently died is proving to be an effective coping moment for direct care staff involved. That's what PAUSE - sometimes referred to as "The Pause"- is all about. PAUSE is currently being piloted in the Delaware Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and we talk about its fundamentals with Pastor Patricia Weicha...
Burnout..stress...anxiety...callouts...staffing shortages. The pandemic has taken an immense toll on frontline health care workers and laid bare issues that existed even before COVID-19 gained worldwide infamy. Concern for the mental well-being of frontline staff seemingly dominates news reports and peer-reviewed journals, revealing a depth of distress throughout the health care system like none before it. What's being done? Nemours has piloted two programs designed to immediately identify ...
It goes almost without saying that a hospital can be a scary place for our young patients and their families and a high-stress work environment for our associates. It's the role of chaplains like Tracie Herman and Ben White to help others navigate that fear and stress by providing emotional and spiritual care. That is the heart of what they do every day.
Pastoral care is a model of emotional, social, and spiritual health. The term is considered inclusive of both non-religious forms of support and spirituality as well as support for people who are part of a particular religious community. What is pastoral care at Nemours? Chaplains Tracie Herman and Ben White discuss the importance of the spiritual in the healthcare setting. (part 1 of 2) Carol Vassar, producer
That's "Happy Passover" in Hebrew. As the Jewish community worldwide celebrates Passover now through sunset on April 23, it's the perfect time to introduce the launch of an enterprise-wide Associate Resource Group (ARG) specifically for those who identify as Jewish and their allies. Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Peter Adebi serves as the ARG's executive sponsor, and Director of Talent Development, Dr. Allison Craft, is the ARG's initial ...
Karen Wilding, Nemours' new Chief Value Officer, explains her role with the enterprise. Shell 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
The passage of a massive economic recovery act in 2009 marked a watershed year for the evolution of health information technology in the U.S. Paper medical records were on the way out, securely exchanged electronic medical records available to patients, and authorized providers were on the way in. Yet Nemours had been preparing for this since at least 1996 when Dr. David West became Nemours' first Chief Medical Informatics Officer. He stopped by recently to talk about the evolution of healt...
When Dr. Bachrach joined Nemours in 1987, he became a witness to - and a driver of - the changes that would occur here that helped set the stage for "Well Beyond Medicine," including the transition from an orthopedic-only institution to a full-service pediatric hospital, the establishment of a world-renowned cerebral palsy center, the building of a new hospital in Orlando, and the evolution of Nemours Children's Health into a full-fledged pediatric healthcare system. In this episo...
As the executive sponsors of the Nemours Women at Work ( W@W ) Associate Resource Group (ARG), Dr. Mary Lee, Cindy Bo, Carrie Grant, and Christina Fleck came together recently to talk about why is it important to have a space specifically for women in the workplace, mentorship of women, by both women and men, and their very first (and vastly different) concert experiences. Carol Vassar, Producer
As we celebrate March as Women's HERStory Month in partnership with the Women@Work ( W@W ) Associate Resources Group (ARG), we brought together a panel of associates from across the enterprise to discuss women in the workplace at Nemours. Individually, these panelists have been with Nemours for between 8 months to 40 years, and bring forward experiences that are vastly different in some aspects, but remarkably similar in others. Featuring Nemours associates Debbie Marchese, Martha Santoni, ...
Dr. Maureen Leffler is Nemours' Chief Wellness Officer. She joins the conversation in this episode to talk about the overall well-being of Nemours associates, but individually and as a whole. She'll also share some of her personal struggles with change both in her career and in her personal life, and let us know how Nemours associates from across the enterprise have an opportunity to provide input on the Nemours well-being strategy moving forward. Carol Vassar, producer...
In partnership with the African Heritage Associate Resource Group (ARG), we celebrate Black History Month by interviewing Nemours associates regarding their personal experiences with being Black in America, and at Nemours. Featuring Nemours associates Dr. Claude Beaty and Sarah Renaud.
