Children's Hospital Boston
Encyclopedia
Children's Hospital Boston is a 396-licensed bed children's hospital
in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area
of Boston
, Massachusetts
.
At 300 Longwood Avenue, Children's is adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical School
, and to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
. (Dana-Farber and Children's jointly operate Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care, a 60-year-old partnership established to deliver comprehensive care to children with and survivors of all types of childhood cancers.)
rated Children's Hospital Boston one of the nation's top hospitals specializing in pediatric care. (Children's ranked in the top three of all pediatric specialty categories, and number one in heart & heart surgery, neurology & neurosurgery, urology, nephrology and orthopedics Children's was the first stand-alone pediatric hospital in New England to be awarded Magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
.
One of the largest pediatric medical centers in the United States, Children's offers a complete range of health care services for children from birth through 21 years of age. Its Advanced Fetal Care Center can begin interventions at 15 weeks gestation, and in some situations (e.g., congenital heart disease and strabismus
) Children's treats adults. The institution is home 40 clinical departments and 225 specialized clinical programs.
From October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008 (Children's fiscal year 2008), the hospital recorded:
The hospital's clinical staff includes approximately 1,026 active medical and dental
staff, 384 associated scientific staff, 922 residents, fellows
and interns, 1,596 full-time nurses, and close to 9,000 other full and part-time employees. A trained team of more than 800 volunteers devote thousands of hours each year to support the hospital staff and patients. Dr. James Mandell, is the current CEO. Sandra Fenwick is the current President and COO.
The International Center at Children's Hospital Boston serves patients from more than 100 countries including coordination of visits, medical records, travel, accommodation, and immigration.
Children's operated its own Critical Care Transport Team, staffed by a team of two critical care transport registered nurses and a Critical Care Paramedic. They use Boston MedFlight
as a flight resource for transports needing a helicopter or jet.
Children's is part of the consortium of hospitals that operates Boston MedFlight
.
1891: Children's establishes the nation's first laboratory for the modification and production of bacteria-free milk.
1920: Dr. William Ladd devises procedures for correcting various congenital defects such as intestinal malformations, launching the specialty of pediatric surgery
.
1938: Dr. Robert E. Gross
performs the world's first successful surgical procedure to correct a congenital cardiovascular defect, ushering in the era of modern pediatric cardiac surgery
.
1947: Dr. Sidney Farber, pediatric pathologist, requested Dr. Yellapragada Subbarow (of Lederle lab and his friend and colleague at Harvard Medical School) to supply Aminopterin and later Amithopterin (Methotrexate) to conduct trials on acute leukemic children. He achieves the world's first partial remission of acute leukemia. He went on to co-found the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1950.
1954: Dr. John Enders and his colleagues win the Nobel Prize
for successfully culturing the polio virus in 1949, making possible the development of the Salk and Sabin vaccines. Enders and his team went on to culture the measles virus.
1971: Dr. Judah Folkman
publishes "Tumor
angiogenesis
: therapeutic implications" in the New England Journal of Medicine
. It is the first paper to describe Folkman's theory that tumors recruit new blood vessels to grow.
1983: Children's physicians report the first surgical correction of hypoplastic left heart syndrome
, a defect in which an infant is born without a left ventricle
. The procedure is the first to correct what had been a fatal condition.
1986: Children's surgeons perform the hospital's first heart transplant. Later in the year, a 15-month-old patient becomes the youngest person in New England to receive a heart transplant.
1989: Researchers in neurology
and genetics
discover that beta amyloid, a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease
, is toxic to neurons, indicating the possible cause of the degenerative disease.
, one of the most potent inhibitors of angiogenesis, is discovered by Drs. Michael O'Reilly and Judah Folkman
. In mice, endostatin has shown promise in slowing some cancers to a dormant state. Phase I clinical trials began at three centers in 1999.
1998: Dr. Evan Snyder clones the first neural stem cells from the human central nervous system, offering the possibility of cell replacement and gene therapies for patients with neurodegenerative disease, neural injury or paralysis
.
1999: Children's establishes its Advanced Fetal Care Center to provide diagnostic services, genetic and obstetrical counseling, and prenatal or immediate postpartum intervention for fetuses with complex birth defects.
1999: Larry Benowitz, PhD grows nerve cells in the damaged spinal cords of rats, a significant step in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. The next year, Benowitz discovers inosine
, an important molecule in controlling axon regeneration in nerve cells.
2001: Children's performs the world's first successful fetal repair of hypoplastic left heart syndrome in a 19-week-old fetus.
2002: Dr. Scott Pomeroy and Dr. Todd Golub use microarray gene expression profiling to identify different types of brain tumors and predict clinical outcome. This allows radiation
and chemotherapy
to be tailored to kill cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue alone.
2003: Dr. Heung Bae Kim and Dr. Tom Jaksic develop, test and successfully perform the world's first-ever serial transverse enteroplasty procedure, a potential lifesaver for patients with short bowel syndrome
.
2004: Children's surgeons perform New England's first multivisceral organ transplant when 11-month-old Abdullah Alazemi receives a stomach
, pancreas
, liver
, and small intestine
from a single donor.
2005: In the best-documented effort to date, Felix Engel, Ph.D., and Dr. Mark Keating successfully get adult heart-muscle cells to divide and multiply in mammals, the first step in regenerating heart tissue. They are now investigating whether their technique can improve heart function in animal models of cardiac injury.
2006: Dr. Dale Umetsu, Dr. Omid Akbari and colleagues report that a newly recognized type of immune cell, NKT, may play an important role in causing asthma
, even in the absence of conventional T-helper cells. Moreover, NKT cells respond to a different class of antigens than are currently recognized to trigger asthma.
2006: Dr. Larry Benowitz and colleagues discover a naturally occurring growth factor called oncomodulin that stimulates regeneration in injured optic nerves, raising the possibility of treating blindness due to optic-nerve damage and the hope of achieving similar regeneration in the spinal cord and brain.
, 13 members of the Institute of Medicine
and 15 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
, comprise Children's research community. Children's current initiatives are supported by a record US $225 million in funding, which includes more federal funding than is awarded to any other pediatric facility.
In the John F. Enders Pediatric Research laboratories, named for the Children's researcher and Nobel Prize
recipient who cultured the polio and measles viruses, hundreds of laboratory researchers and physician investigators search for answers to some of the most perplexing diseases.
In 2003, Children's dramatically increased its research capacity with the opening of the 295000 square feet (27,406.4 m²) Karp Family Research Laboratories. The Karp family gift is one of many important gifts that support Children's vital research enterprise.
In an effort to support the research community, Children's Stem Cell Program investigator George Q. Daley
, M.D., Ph.D., has made dozens of iPS lines developed at Children's Hospital Boston available for use by other scientists through the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. To date, cell lines have been distributed to over 65 laboratories worldwide.
In 2010, a drug that boosts numbers of blood stem cells, originally discovered in zebrafish in the Children's Hospital Boston laboratory of Leonard I. Zon
, M.D., went to clinical trial in patients with leukemia and lymphoma.
Through the years, scientists at Children's have set the pace in pediatric research, identifying treatments and therapies for many debilitating diseases, including those of adulthood.
in 1954.
Dr. Joseph Murray
, chief plastic surgeon at Children's Hospital Boston from 1972-1985 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 1990 for his research on immunosuppression
.
in 1951 for his work researching epilepsy. Dr. Lennox organized the American Epilepsy League and the Committee for Public Understanding of Epilepsy.
Dr. Robert Gross received the Lasker Award in 1954 for performing the first operation for patent ductus arteriosus
, a congenital heart defect, in 1938. He received an additional Lasker in 1959 for being the first surgeon to graft artery tissue from one person to another in 1958.
Dr. John Enders was awarded the Lasker in 1954, the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize, for "achievement in the cultivation of the viruses poliomyelitis, mumps, and measles."
Dr. Sidney Farber
received the Lasker in 1966 for his 1947 discovery that a combination of aminopterin and methotrexate, both folic acid antagonists, could produce remission in patients with acute leukemia, and for "his constant leadership in the search for chemical agents against cancer."
Dr. Porter W. Anderson, Jr. received the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award with Dr. David H. Smith in 1996 for groundbreaking work in the development and commercialization of the Hemophilus influenza type B vaccine.
Children's hospital
A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children . The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties...
in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area
Longwood Medical and Academic Area
The Longwood Medical and Academic Area is a medical campus in Boston....
of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
At 300 Longwood Avenue, Children's is adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, and to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is part of a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute. It is a major affiliate of Harvard Medical School and is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts.-Overview:...
. (Dana-Farber and Children's jointly operate Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care, a 60-year-old partnership established to deliver comprehensive care to children with and survivors of all types of childhood cancers.)
Overview
In 2010, for the 21st year in a row, U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
rated Children's Hospital Boston one of the nation's top hospitals specializing in pediatric care. (Children's ranked in the top three of all pediatric specialty categories, and number one in heart & heart surgery, neurology & neurosurgery, urology, nephrology and orthopedics Children's was the first stand-alone pediatric hospital in New England to be awarded Magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
American Nurses Credentialing Center
The American Nurses Credentialing Center , a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association , is a certification body for nursing board certification and the largest certification body for advanced practice registered nurses in the United States , currently certifying over 75,000 APRNs...
.
One of the largest pediatric medical centers in the United States, Children's offers a complete range of health care services for children from birth through 21 years of age. Its Advanced Fetal Care Center can begin interventions at 15 weeks gestation, and in some situations (e.g., congenital heart disease and strabismus
Strabismus
Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely...
) Children's treats adults. The institution is home 40 clinical departments and 225 specialized clinical programs.
From October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008 (Children's fiscal year 2008), the hospital recorded:
- 492,698 outpatient visits
- 58,329 emergency department visits
- 24,460 inpatient and day surgical cases
- 5.81 day average length of stay
- a 1.97 average case mix
The hospital's clinical staff includes approximately 1,026 active medical and dental
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
staff, 384 associated scientific staff, 922 residents, fellows
Fellowship (medicine)
A fellowship is the period of medical training in the United States and Canada that a physician may undertake after completing a specialty training program . During this time , the physician is known as a fellow...
and interns, 1,596 full-time nurses, and close to 9,000 other full and part-time employees. A trained team of more than 800 volunteers devote thousands of hours each year to support the hospital staff and patients. Dr. James Mandell, is the current CEO. Sandra Fenwick is the current President and COO.
The International Center at Children's Hospital Boston serves patients from more than 100 countries including coordination of visits, medical records, travel, accommodation, and immigration.
Children's operated its own Critical Care Transport Team, staffed by a team of two critical care transport registered nurses and a Critical Care Paramedic. They use Boston MedFlight
Boston MedFlight
Boston MedFlight is a non-profit organization that provides emergency scene response and emergent interfacility transfer in Eastern Massachusetts...
as a flight resource for transports needing a helicopter or jet.
Children's is part of the consortium of hospitals that operates Boston MedFlight
Boston MedFlight
Boston MedFlight is a non-profit organization that provides emergency scene response and emergent interfacility transfer in Eastern Massachusetts...
.
History
Children's was founded in 1869 as a 20-bed facility at 9 Rutland Street in Boston's South End and became affiliated with Harvard Medical School in 1903. Below is a partial list* of historic milestones:1891: Children's establishes the nation's first laboratory for the modification and production of bacteria-free milk.
1920: Dr. William Ladd devises procedures for correcting various congenital defects such as intestinal malformations, launching the specialty of pediatric surgery
Pediatric surgery
Pediatric surgery or paediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults...
.
1938: Dr. Robert E. Gross
Robert E. Gross (surgeon)
Robert E. Gross was a surgeon famous for being the first to cure patent ductus arteriosus by ligating it.-Sources:...
performs the world's first successful surgical procedure to correct a congenital cardiovascular defect, ushering in the era of modern pediatric cardiac surgery
Cardiac surgery
Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...
.
1947: Dr. Sidney Farber, pediatric pathologist, requested Dr. Yellapragada Subbarow (of Lederle lab and his friend and colleague at Harvard Medical School) to supply Aminopterin and later Amithopterin (Methotrexate) to conduct trials on acute leukemic children. He achieves the world's first partial remission of acute leukemia. He went on to co-found the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1950.
1954: Dr. John Enders and his colleagues win the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
for successfully culturing the polio virus in 1949, making possible the development of the Salk and Sabin vaccines. Enders and his team went on to culture the measles virus.
1971: Dr. Judah Folkman
Judah Folkman
Moses Judah Folkman was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence...
publishes "Tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
angiogenesis
Angiogenesis
Angiogenesis is the physiological process involving the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels. Though there has been some debate over terminology, vasculogenesis is the term used for spontaneous blood-vessel formation, and intussusception is the term for the formation of new blood...
: therapeutic implications" in the New England Journal of Medicine
New England Journal of Medicine
The New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It describes itself as the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.-History:...
. It is the first paper to describe Folkman's theory that tumors recruit new blood vessels to grow.
1983: Children's physicians report the first surgical correction of hypoplastic left heart syndrome
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome , is a rare congenital heart defect in which the left ventricle of the heart is severely underdeveloped.-Causes:...
, a defect in which an infant is born without a left ventricle
Ventricle (heart)
In the heart, a ventricle is one of two large chambers that collect and expel blood received from an atrium towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The Atria primes the Pump...
. The procedure is the first to correct what had been a fatal condition.
1986: Children's surgeons perform the hospital's first heart transplant. Later in the year, a 15-month-old patient becomes the youngest person in New England to receive a heart transplant.
1989: Researchers in neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
and genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
discover that beta amyloid, a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, is toxic to neurons, indicating the possible cause of the degenerative disease.
In the last 20 years
1997: EndostatinEndostatin
]Endostatin is a naturally-occurring 20-kDa C-terminal fragment derived from type XVIII collagen. It is reported to serve as an anti-angiogenic agent, similar to angiostatin and thrombospondin....
, one of the most potent inhibitors of angiogenesis, is discovered by Drs. Michael O'Reilly and Judah Folkman
Judah Folkman
Moses Judah Folkman was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence...
. In mice, endostatin has shown promise in slowing some cancers to a dormant state. Phase I clinical trials began at three centers in 1999.
1998: Dr. Evan Snyder clones the first neural stem cells from the human central nervous system, offering the possibility of cell replacement and gene therapies for patients with neurodegenerative disease, neural injury or paralysis
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
.
1999: Children's establishes its Advanced Fetal Care Center to provide diagnostic services, genetic and obstetrical counseling, and prenatal or immediate postpartum intervention for fetuses with complex birth defects.
1999: Larry Benowitz, PhD grows nerve cells in the damaged spinal cords of rats, a significant step in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. The next year, Benowitz discovers inosine
Inosine
Inosine is a nucleoside that is formed when hypoxanthine is attached to a ribose ring via a β-N9-glycosidic bond....
, an important molecule in controlling axon regeneration in nerve cells.
Since 2000
2000: Children's performs its 100th heart transplant.2001: Children's performs the world's first successful fetal repair of hypoplastic left heart syndrome in a 19-week-old fetus.
2002: Dr. Scott Pomeroy and Dr. Todd Golub use microarray gene expression profiling to identify different types of brain tumors and predict clinical outcome. This allows radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
and chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
to be tailored to kill cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue alone.
2003: Dr. Heung Bae Kim and Dr. Tom Jaksic develop, test and successfully perform the world's first-ever serial transverse enteroplasty procedure, a potential lifesaver for patients with short bowel syndrome
Short bowel syndrome
Short bowel syndrome is a malabsorption disorder caused by the surgical removal of the small intestine, or rarely due to the complete dysfunction of a large segment of bowel. Most cases are acquired, although some children are born with a congenital short bowel...
.
2004: Children's surgeons perform New England's first multivisceral organ transplant when 11-month-old Abdullah Alazemi receives a stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
, pancreas
Pancreas
The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...
, liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
, and small intestine
Small intestine
The small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach and followed by the large intestine, and is where much of the digestion and absorption of food takes place. In invertebrates such as worms, the terms "gastrointestinal tract" and "large intestine" are often used to...
from a single donor.
2005: In the best-documented effort to date, Felix Engel, Ph.D., and Dr. Mark Keating successfully get adult heart-muscle cells to divide and multiply in mammals, the first step in regenerating heart tissue. They are now investigating whether their technique can improve heart function in animal models of cardiac injury.
2006: Dr. Dale Umetsu, Dr. Omid Akbari and colleagues report that a newly recognized type of immune cell, NKT, may play an important role in causing asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, even in the absence of conventional T-helper cells. Moreover, NKT cells respond to a different class of antigens than are currently recognized to trigger asthma.
2006: Dr. Larry Benowitz and colleagues discover a naturally occurring growth factor called oncomodulin that stimulates regeneration in injured optic nerves, raising the possibility of treating blindness due to optic-nerve damage and the hope of achieving similar regeneration in the spinal cord and brain.
Research
With more than 680000 square feet (63,174.1 m²) of state-of-the-art laboratory space, Children's is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center. Its discoveries have benefited children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists, including 9 members of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, 13 members of the Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
and 15 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
, comprise Children's research community. Children's current initiatives are supported by a record US $225 million in funding, which includes more federal funding than is awarded to any other pediatric facility.
In the John F. Enders Pediatric Research laboratories, named for the Children's researcher and Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
recipient who cultured the polio and measles viruses, hundreds of laboratory researchers and physician investigators search for answers to some of the most perplexing diseases.
In 2003, Children's dramatically increased its research capacity with the opening of the 295000 square feet (27,406.4 m²) Karp Family Research Laboratories. The Karp family gift is one of many important gifts that support Children's vital research enterprise.
In an effort to support the research community, Children's Stem Cell Program investigator George Q. Daley
George Q. Daley
George Q. Daley, M.D., Ph.D. is the Samuel E. Lux IV Professor of Hematology/Oncology and the Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Children’s Hospital Boston...
, M.D., Ph.D., has made dozens of iPS lines developed at Children's Hospital Boston available for use by other scientists through the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. To date, cell lines have been distributed to over 65 laboratories worldwide.
In 2010, a drug that boosts numbers of blood stem cells, originally discovered in zebrafish in the Children's Hospital Boston laboratory of Leonard I. Zon
Leonard I. Zon
Leonard I. Zon, M.D., is the Grousbeck Professor of Pediatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Director of the Stem Cell Program, Children’s Hospital Boston....
, M.D., went to clinical trial in patients with leukemia and lymphoma.
Through the years, scientists at Children's have set the pace in pediatric research, identifying treatments and therapies for many debilitating diseases, including those of adulthood.
Nobel Prizes
Children's Hospital scientist Dr. John Enders and his team were first to successfully culture the polio virus and were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1954.
Dr. Joseph Murray
Joseph Murray
Joseph Edward Murray is a retired American plastic surgeon. He performed the first successful human kidney transplant on identical twins on December 23, 1954....
, chief plastic surgeon at Children's Hospital Boston from 1972-1985 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1990 for his research on immunosuppression
Immunosuppression
Immunosuppression involves an act that reduces the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immuno-suppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse reaction to treatment of other...
.
Lasker Awards
Dr. William Lennox received the Lasker AwardLasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary...
in 1951 for his work researching epilepsy. Dr. Lennox organized the American Epilepsy League and the Committee for Public Understanding of Epilepsy.
Dr. Robert Gross received the Lasker Award in 1954 for performing the first operation for patent ductus arteriosus
Patent ductus arteriosus
Patent ductus arteriosus is a congenital disorder in the heart wherein a neonate's ductus arteriosus fails to close after birth. Early symptoms are uncommon, but in the first year of life include increased work of breathing and poor weight gain...
, a congenital heart defect, in 1938. He received an additional Lasker in 1959 for being the first surgeon to graft artery tissue from one person to another in 1958.
Dr. John Enders was awarded the Lasker in 1954, the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize, for "achievement in the cultivation of the viruses poliomyelitis, mumps, and measles."
Dr. Sidney Farber
Sidney Farber
Sidney Farber was a pediatric pathologist. He was born in 1903 in Buffalo, New York, the third oldest of a family of 14 children. He was a graduate of the University of Buffalo in 1923. He took his first year of medical school at the Universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg in Germany. He entered...
received the Lasker in 1966 for his 1947 discovery that a combination of aminopterin and methotrexate, both folic acid antagonists, could produce remission in patients with acute leukemia, and for "his constant leadership in the search for chemical agents against cancer."
Dr. Porter W. Anderson, Jr. received the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award with Dr. David H. Smith in 1996 for groundbreaking work in the development and commercialization of the Hemophilus influenza type B vaccine.