Well Beyond Medicine: The Nemours Children's Health Podcast

SEGMENT 1: THE PLAYERS Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Nemours Children’s Health includes the only pediatric sickle cell program in Jacksonville and one of the largest in the state of Florida. And it’s sickle cell disease we’re talking about today with Nemours hematologist/oncologist Dr. Julian Zorrilla and self-professed sickle cell advocate, warrior, and patient Fredrianna Copeland-Webs...

The word of the day was “awareness” at Citizens Bank Park this September as the Philadelphia Phillies hosted their 7th annual Childhood Cancer Awareness Night. As we learned, awareness brings funding to support improved pediatric cancer treatments and research that ultimately save lives. While at the game that night, we sat down with William Martin, president of the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation, t...

Nemours Children’s Health is the official Children’s Hospital of the Phillies, and the team graciously opened its doors to our podcast team during their Pediatric Cancer Awareness Night so that we could bring you the inspiring patient story of 13-year-old Madison Handley. Diagnosed with cancer twice in her lifetime, Madison and her parents, Erin and Rob, share how cancer has affected their lives a...

Pediatric psychologist Dr. Erica Sood joins us again in this episode to talk about her work improving the emotional health of children with chronic health conditions and her research into the care of moms, dads, and other family members following a prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease.  We also talk with Dr. Zachary Boynton, Co-Chief Resident at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, on h...

The recent "Well Beyond Medicine Day" in Orlando, Florida saw the Nemours Children's Podcast truck on site and ready with microphones open to hear from Nemours associates at all levels, including six members of the Nemours Children's Health, Florida Leadership Team: Martha McGill, President, Nemours Central Florida Dr. Daniel Podberesky, Chief Medical Officer Vonda Sexton, Vice...

Dr. Carissa Baker Smith is a preventive and transplant cardiologist whose research includes a high concentration of work looking at the social determinants of health and working to mitigate health disparities for patients with congenital heart disease. She sat down with us when we took the podcast on the road to the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery , a biennial gather...

As harvest season approaches, we're checking in on the Can Grow Garden, part of the Nemours Estate in Wilmington, Delaware. This encore episode was originally recorded for the  Champions for Children series. The Can Grow Garden is a collaboration between the Nemours Estate and Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, to grow plants and provide a place for patient, family, and associate educatio...

At Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, associates (staff) and patients celebrated “Well Beyond Medicine Day" with some very honored guests. These VIPs stopped by the podcast to talk about osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetic disease in which bones fracture (break) easily, often with no obvious cause or minimal injury.  Detroit resident Stephen Sheehy is a remarkable man who answered the...

Pediatric Cardiologist Mary Mehta, MD , is the Chief Medical Officer at Nemours Children’s Health, Pensacola. For more than 20 years she has served the communities of the Florida panhandle and southern Alabama. It's a vast swath of land that draws visitors from around the world to its beautiful white sand beaches. It's also a hurricane-prone area dotted with rural communities and militar...

Navigating Misinformation and Becoming An Academic Sleuth in the Social Media Age was the topic presented as a panel discussion at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Washington, DC. Panel member Dr. Atul Malhotra advises healthcare professionals on how best to present evidence-based medical information on social media to avoid misinterpretation and he shares advice for parents and...

Dr.  Brian Alverson is a healthcare clinician, educator, innovator, and patent-holder who currently serves as the Nemours Pediatric Residency Program director. We met up with Brian at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting to talk about his vision for the Residency program, his recently granted patent for children undergoing spinal taps, and his leadership in working with the American Academy of...

Hear about the development of Nemours Children's Health's newest brand campaign, Reflections , which depicts the future of children whose lives are positively impacted when social, cultural and healthcare delivery barriers cease to exist. The campaign also serves as an invitation to every person and organization already on this journey to address the social impacts of health to come toge...

Anaphylaxis is a word that sends shivers down the spines of parents, grandparents, and caregivers everywhere, and with good reason - it can be life-threatening. Joining us to define anaphylaxis and give us an update on what’s happening in the research world to prevent and treat it is Dr. Timothy Dribin , Associate Professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Me...

Dr. Thomas Babcock is a pediatric otolaryngologist — an ear, nose, and throat specialist, commonly referred to by the acronym ENT. He joined Nemours Children's Health, Pensacola in December 2022 with a specific task: rebuild a much-needed pediatric cochlear implant program for Northwest Florida and Southern Alabama.  Dr. Babcock was born and raised in the Gulf Coast Region. Serving his commun...

There is no single solution to the racial and ethnic disparities that exist in health care today. But myriad efforts are being made. In this episode of the podcast, we’re focusing our conversation on one such effort: The New Century Scholars Resident Mentoring Program from the Academic  Pediatric Association . The New Century Scholars program aims to decrease racial/ethnic disparities by increasin...

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 throu...

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 (PA...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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, DESia...

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, w...

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 .