“The Teen Photovoice Project: A Pilot Study to Promote Health through Advocacy” was published in the Fall 2007 issue of Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action. The study’s first author was Jonathan Necheles, MD, Center on Obesity Management and Prevention of the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. This study demonstrates that youth can engage in a process of identifying community-level health influences that ultimately result in health promotion through advocacy. The paper also demonstrates how existing methods (i.e., photovoice) can be extended to accommodate the youth’s needs and existing technology. Finally, the results suggest that youth can identify community influences of obesity, and are concerned about them.

 

 

Commenting on Mattel’s massive recall of toys with lead paint, Helen Binns, MD, MPH, said “While exposure to lead-containing toys presents a real and unnecessary additional hazard to children, we should not forget the danger of other exposures in the home. Lead was a permissible addition to paint until 1978; currently 25% of homes with children younger than 6 years have lead contamination. Steps to eliminate new types of exposures and address past hazards are needed.”

 

Binns chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on environmental health, is director of the Pediatric Practice Research Group of the Smith Child Health Research Program at Children’s Memorial Research Center, and is Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

 

 

The American Heart Association has issued new recommendations to help reduce congenital heart defects in babies. Those tips, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, come from experts who reviewed research on uninherited risk factors for congenital heart defects. They included Catherine Webb, MD, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School.

 

In a news release, Webb stresses “the need to think about prevention of heart defects in babies before conception and very early in pregnancy. Paying attention to parental lifestyle issues and the association with congenital heart disease is a good start,” says Webb. “However, congenital heart disease may still occur in children despite excellent prenatal care and the very best efforts on the parents’ part.” Doctors often don’t know exactly why congenital heart defects occur, and genes can play a role. “It is very important to continue to learn much more about prevention through ongoing research,” says Webb. (from WebMD Medical News)

 

 

Early career women faculty in the fields of science, technology and medicine at Northwestern University are learning the language of success. An important institutional step forward and a first for the university, the “Navigating the Professoriate Program” is addressing the concern that women faculty remain significantly underrepresented, especially in the higher ranks. Response to the new program, held during the 2007 academic year and supported by the Provost’s Office, the Vice President for Research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Holly Falk-Krzesinski, PhD, one of the program directors and director of Northwestern’s Office for Research Development.

 

Falk-Krzesinski recently received the annual Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Women in Science, Chicago Area Chapter, for her efforts with the program. She is a member of the Molecular and Cellular Pathobiology Program at the research center. (from NewsCenter, Northwestern University News and Information)

 

 

A group of researchers have determined that folic acid supplements appear to reduce the risk of stroke, particularly in people who do not get enough of this B vitamin. By combining the findings from eight previously reported studies, the group found the benefits were greatest among people who took folic acid supplements the longest. But it is not clear if supplements are indeed associated with a lower risk of heart attack and stroke or if they are safe for everyone. “We only looked at stroke as an outcome, and we saw a clear benefit for supplementation in people who had not had previous strokes,” researcher Xiaobin Wang, MD, MPH, ScD, tells WebMD.

 

With the exception of women who are pregnant or nursing, Wang says people in the U.S. who eat healthy diets probably get enough folic acid in the foods they eat. More research is needed to determine if folic acid supplements are beneficial for lowering stroke risk in these people. Wang is the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Research Professor and director of the Smith Child Health Research Program at the research center and Professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. (from WebMD Medical News)