Pediatric Health Technologies

Posted on April 24, 2015

Pediatric Health Technologies

This week we had experts on the show talking about developments in Pediatric Health Technologies. We were joined in studio by Leanne West, Principal Research Scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute, and Paul Spearman, Chief Research Officer with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They came by to talk about the innovative collaboration between academic research institutions, Emory and Georgia Institute of Technology, that help accelerate the rate that important technologies can be made available to the pediatric patient population in need. Carly Kiseleczynk, CEO/Founder of BrainChild Technologies also came by to talk about the intriguing technology that allows parents to have more interactive interaction with young infants through their pacifier-controlled device that interfaces and can control applications and toys through non-nutritional sucking patterns.

We discussed the goals of these important Atlanta research institutions of helping pediatric health providers to treat the unique needs of very young patients. They have what they call a “Quick Wins” program where they engage with promising technology companies to help them bring their solutions to market within a very-fast 18 months.

Carly talked about how they were able to advance their work on developing an interactive technology that allows infants to learn how to control toys and tablet-based applications with their sucking patterns. The infants are able to turn on a mobile or night light, or make remote-controlled toys move. And they’re able to advance language skills through interacting with special tablet-based applications that can provide data on certain developmental milestones.

Both of these initiatives can benefit from financial support to allow them to hasten the pace of their research and make these helpful technologies available to pediatric patients in need sooner.

Special Guests:

Leanne West, Principal Research Scientist with Georgia Tech Research Institute

Education, Vanderbilt University
Former High School Physics Teacher
17 years as Research Scientist Georgia Tech Research Institute
Recipient, 2014 Woman of the Year, Georgia Women In Technology

Paul Spearman, Chief Research Officer with Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta

Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Residency, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, The Ohio State University
Residency, Infectious Disease, Washington University in St. Louis
Professor, Emory University School of Medicine

Carly Kiselyczynk, CEO/Founder, of BrainChild Technologies

PhD, Medical Sciences, Neurosciences, Karolinska Institutet
Published research author
Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale Depression Research Group
Recipient 2012 Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award

Eating Disorders

Posted on April 15, 2015

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Eating Disorders

This week we focused on eating disorders. I sat down with experts from Eating Disorders Information Network, a non-profit organization aimed at outreach to increase awareness/prevention among students in grade school to high school, and helping people identify resources for treatment. According to the National Anorexia Nervosa Association, eating disorders are a serious problem, with as many as 24 million Americans suffering with some form of disorder from anorexia, to bulemia, to binge/purge, and more.

The problem affects both men and women, children and adults, across all demographics. And according to Dr. Dina Zeckhausen, founder of EDIN, eating disorders are more deadly than other mental illness. When you consider dysfunctional eating habits such as overly-restrictive dieting, comfort eating, and others, as many as 80-90% of us are impacted at some time by potentially-problematic attitudes about food.

EDIN is working to engage young people beginning in grade school through high school to promote self-acceptance and to share information about the dangers of risky behaviors such as “clubs” that foster unhealthy choices such as eating crackers and water only for lunch with a group of peers. Their website describes their mission in this way, “The Eating Disorders Information Network (EDIN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of eating disorders through education, outreach, and action. EDIN is committed to addressing the problem of eating disorders on a societal level. We are devoted to:

Preventing eating disorders
Increasing public awareness of the personal, familial, and cultural/media influences which contribute to eating disorders
Helping those already suffering to find the therapeutic services they need

The organization strives to serve as a comprehensive resource and educational guide for those wanting to learn more about eating disorders, those seeking help, and those gathering and distributing information about available treatment options both in the Atlanta area and nationwide.”

Special Guests:

Dina Zeckhausen, PhD, Founder of Eating Disorders Information Network

PhD, Clinical-Community Psychology, University of South Carolina
Active private practice psychologist
Well-known public speaker on the topic of eating disorders
Published author and playwrite

Hallie Udelson, Eating Disorders Information Network

BA, Psychology, Emory University
2016 Candidate, Master of Public Health, Emory University
Developing curriculum for school outreach initiatives for EDIN

Sara Pannell, Incoming Director, Eating Disorders Information Network

Licensed Family and Marriage Counselor, Trillium Springs Counseling
MS, Family & Marriage Counseling, Fuller Theological Seminary
Previous Bi-lingual Clinician I, San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Posted on April 9, 2015

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Dr. Helen Gelly of Hyperbaric Physicians of Georgia discusses hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

This week we sat down with internationally-known expert on the subject of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Dr. Helen Gelly. This treatment modality has been available to patients with poorly-healing wounds, thermal injuries, decompression sickness, late effects of radiation, and several other problems for decades. And while there is a quality body of evidence supporting the use of this treatment for clinically-appropriate patients, many of the patients who could benefit from access to it never get to know it’s available.

This is due in large part to the fact that of ~159 US medical colleges, only ~30 offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy and wound resolution as taught specialties. That means that approximately 85% of graduating physicians have had very little (if any) exposure to academic information about the modality. The result is that they often miss opportunities to add the treatment to the patient’s care plan, which in turn delays (or even prevents) these problem wounds from healing.

Dr. Gelly shared information about the history of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and we talked about the physiology of what’s happening during the course of therapy. We discussed a couple of major groups of patients whose clinical outcomes tend to be significantly improved with access to hyperbaric medicine, diabetic ulcer patients and patients experiencing persistent late effects of radiation. The aim is to get credible information to the public so that both physicians and patients in need can educate themselves about it. Atlanta is unique in that both inside the city and in numerous suburbs, patients can receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy in hospital-based or UHMS accredited free-standing programs. It’s also paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies for these evidence-based indications.

Special Guest:

Dr. Helen Gelly, MD of HyperbaRXs

Doctor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: Pediatrics/Emergency Medicine at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine
Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians
Fellow of the American College of Certified Wound Specialists
Subspecialty Certified Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

Intellimedix and Life University

Posted on April 1, 2015April 3, 2015

Podcast: Download

Intellimedix and Life University

This week we sat down with experts from Intellimedix and Life University. Intellimedix is an Atlanta-based company that uses high-powered computing algorithms, coupled with genetic testing to identify existing medications that could potentially be re-purposed to effectively treat illnesses other than the ones they were originally designed to treat. One of the company’s founders has a child who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy. Unfortunately, there are limited treatments known to be available that will provide relief from this debilitating condition. His daughter’s story influenced the decision to focus the company’s initial efforts on uncovering existing medications that could be successfully re-purposed to help folks dealing with this type of epilepsy and other neurologic disorders.

Chief Science Officer, Jeff Skolnick shared the example of how a blood pressure medication (Viagra) was re-purposed to treat erectile dysfunction. He went on the discuss the physiology/chemistry behind why this is possible and why it makes sense to look for existing, approved medications that have the ability to improve quality of life for patients dealing with illnesses different from those the medications are initially intended to treat. This approach saves a great deal of time and money over the years-long, massively-expensive process of developing a medication from ground zero to treat a particular condition; allowing patients in need to receive access to an effective treatment sooner.

Dr. Gilles LeMarche, VP of Professional Relations at Life University came by to talk about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at their Marietta, GA-based campus. They offer a number of health, wellness, and sports-related degrees ranging from chiropractic medicine, to vitalistic nutrition, functional kinesiology, and others. He shared their approach to wellness, applying the philosphy of “vitalism” allows their graduates to help their clients/patients by helping the body to heal itself; as it is ideally capable of doing when interfering factors are removed.

Special Guests:

Steven Hickson, CFO, Intellimedix

MBA, Global Executive MBA Program, IESE Business School, Barcelona Spain
BA Accounting, NC State University
Previous Senior Auditor, Turner Broadcasting System
Former SVP, New Media & Premium Channels, Fox International Channels- Asia

Jeff Skolnick, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Intellimedix

Director, Center for Study of Systems Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology
PhD, Chemistry, Yale University
Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair in Computational Systems Biology
Associate Director, Integrated Biosystems Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology

Gilles Lamarche, DCM, VP, Professional Relations, Life University

Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
Certified Six Advisors Coach, 6 Advisors Coaching Academy
Former Vice President, Parker College of Chiropractic
Fluent in French

Some backing music provided by: www.pacdv.com/sounds/

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Month: April 2015

Pediatric Health Technologies