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FNNDSC Newsletter- September 29th

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Happy Fall!

Upcoming Center-Wide events:

October Lecture Series Calendar:

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Speaker: Carol Wilkinson, MD, PhD

Director of Research, Down Syndrome Program; Attending Physician, Division of Developmental Medicine, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School 

Title: Early EEG markers of autism from lab to primary care

Date: Wednesday, October 1st, 10-11 AM

 

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Speaker: Silvina L. Ferradal, PhD

Assistant Professor, Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University

Title: TBD

Date: Wednesday, October 15th, 10-11 AM

 

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Speaker: Cynthia Ortinau, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Newborn Medicine, WashU Medicine

Title: Prenatal Pathways of Brain Dysmaturation in Congenital Heart Disease

Date: Wednesday, October 22nd, 10-11 AM


If you are interested in suggesting a speaker for the FNNDSC Lecture Series, please use the form below to make your recommendation:

 

 

FNNDSC Faculty/Postdoc/Scientist Retreat Day

Date: Friday, October 24th 9-5 PM, 201 Brookline Conference Center

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October Coffee Social & Halloween Party:

Date: Thursday, October 30th, 12-1 PM (LM 6th Floor South Boston Conference Room & Zoom)

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Upcoming Conferences & Workshops:

 

Helpful Links:


Recent Center News:


Publications from our Team:

Hsiao CH, Foster AN, McDonald SA, Vyas R, Ashraf A, Bao R, Tran L, Kesri A, Darzidehkalani E, Soldatelli MD, Auman JO, Soul JS, Chalak LF, Cotten CM, Shankaran S, Laptook AR, Grant PE, Ou Y; Consortium Of MRI Biomarkers In Neonatal Encephalopathy (COMBINE). Data harmonization framework for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy studies. Read their work here

 

Suresh A, Morton SU, Quiat D, DePalma SR, Gorham JM, Brueckner M, Tristani-Firouzi M, Gelb BD, Seidman JG, Seidman CE; Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium. Enrichment of tandem repeat element variants near CHD genes identified by short- and long-read genome sequencing. Read their work here

 

Akçimen F, Alvarez Jerez P, Guliyeva U, Lee J, Malik L, Baker B, Salayev K, Guliyeva S, Billingsley KJ, Houlden H, Singleton AB, Blauwendraat C, Bandres-Ciga S, Kaiyrzhanov R. A CGG Repeat Expansion in CSNK1E Associated with Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy with Incomplete Penetrance. Read their work here

 

Chen Y, Jun Y, Heydari A, Yong X, Kim J, Lee J, Liu H, Ye H, Gagoski B, Fujita S, Bilgic B. MIMOSA: Multi-parametric Imaging using Multiple-echoes with Optimized Simultaneous Acquisition for highly-efficient quantitative MRI. Read their work here

 

Mukherjee S, Templeton K, Tindimwebwa S, Lin I, Sutin J, Yu M, Peterson M, Truwit C, Schiff SJ, Monga V. GLAPAL-H: Global, Local, And Parts Aware Learner for Hydrocephalus Infection Diagnosis in Low-Field MRI. Read their work here

 

Hostalet N, Salgado-Pineda P, Alemán-Gómez Y, Cobos-Aumatell L, Sotero-Moreno A, París-Gómez I, Aquino-Servín A, Canales-Rodríguez EJ, Guerrero-Pedraza A, Sarró S, Ortiz-Gil J, Im K, Martínez-Abadías N, Pomarol-Clotet E, Fatjó-Vilas M. Sulcal pits as potential markers of early sex-related human brain differences in healthy adults. Read their work here

 

You S, Gondova A, Izaguirre CSA, Milo GT, Jeong S, Lee HJ, Tarui T, Rollins CK, Yun HJ, Grant PE, Im K. Conditional deep generative normative modeling for structural and developmental anomaly detection in the fetal brain. Read their work here

 

Khoury JE, Chasson M, Ahtam B, Fleming LL, Ou Y, Bosquet Enlow M, Grant PE, Lyons-Ruth K. Maternal Childhood Neglect is Linked to Greater Infant Cortisol Levels and Larger Infant Limbic Volumes. Read their work here

 

Salayev K, Guliyeva U, Guliyeva S, Kaiyrzhanov R, Aslanova U, Hajiyeva N, Houlden H, Munir K. Attitudes of parents of children with rare neurological disorders towards clinical genetic testing. Read their work here

 

Please read the daily news feature that highlights Dr. Kiho Im, PhD, and others’ work!

 

Presentations from our Team:

Dr. M. Judah Folkman Research Day 

We are proud to have had several FNNDSC members selected from a highly competitive applicant pool to present their impactful and clinically relevant research at Folkman Research Day on September 25, 2025


Dr. Andrea Gondova, PhD, Research Fellow, gave a translational talk on: “Subplate Thickness Development Follows a Hierarchical Primary-to-Association Maturation Gradient in the Human Fetus”

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Gabby Guadalupe, Clinical Research Assistant, gave a poster presentation on: “Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease”
Gabby Guadalupe, Clinical Research Assistant, gave a poster presentation on: “Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease”

Tiantian Lei, Clinical Research Assistant, gave a poster presentation on: “Altered Structural Brain Network in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease”
Tiantian Lei, Clinical Research Assistant, gave a poster presentation on: “Altered Structural Brain Network in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease”

Great job in showcasing your work and achievements!!

 


Dr. Kamran Salayev, MD, Research Fellow, recently attended The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 41st Annual Meeting where he gave an oral presentation, titled, “Family Environment and Internalizing Problems among De-Institutionalized Children in Azerbaijan: Insights from Structural Equation Modeling.”

Authors: Kamran Salayev* (presenting author), Leyla Ismayilova, Linyun Fu, Shu-Hsiang Wang, Emma Heidorn

Kamran at the ISTSS Annual Meeting September 17-20, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland
Kamran at the ISTSS Annual Meeting September 17-20, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland

 


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Dr. Ellen Grant, MD, Dr. Rudolph Pienaar, PhD and Dr. Yangming Ou, PhD, presented at the Computational Health Informatics Program (CHIP) hospital-wide AI Workgroup on:

“From Pixels to Patients: Building Next-Generation Medical AI Infrastructure – Pitfalls and Aspirations.”

 

Funding Opportunities for Faculty and Fellows:


U.S. Immigration Resources:

Please check the Office of Immigration Services (OIS) page for regular updates and communication: Office of Immigration Services - Welcome! 


Attention H-1B Visa holders:

This Proclamation does not:

  • Apply to any previously issued H-1B visas, or any petitions submitted prior to 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on Sept. 21, 2025.

  • Does not change any payments or fees required to be submitted in connection with any H-1B renewals. The fee is a one-time fee on submission of a new H-1B petition.

  • Does not prevent any holder of a current H-1B visa from traveling in and out of the United States.

Please reach out to Gail.Robinson@childrens.harvard.edu for any questions. 


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Studies Recruiting:

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study at Boston Children’s Hospital (https://hbcdstudy.org/) are in need of parents and their infants to volunteer for an MRI scan (details below) as part of training/piloting.

In addition to the compensation described below, transportation costs are provided as needed. This activity would take place at Boston Children's Hospital at 300 Longwood Ave.

  • "Infant MRI Scan (30-minutes- 1 hour)" 

A scan using magnetic resonance imaging to assist in developing a protocol for future infant scans. The scan would occur when the baby is naturally asleep under the supervision of trained scan technicians and researchers. 

-Compensation: $160, a picture of your infant's brain, small gifts for baby + parent



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HBCD is also in need of parents and their infants to volunteer in two play-based neurodevelopmental tasks with their 9- to 15-month-old infants/toddlers (details below) as part of training/piloting.

In addition to the compensation described below, transportation costs and childcare for siblings are provided as needed. These activities take place at 2 Brookline Place.

Please contact the HBCD Study (hbcd@childrens.harvard.edu) with any questions or interest in participating.

  1. Bayley Assessment of Infant and Toddler Development (up to 2 hrs)

  2. A play-based activity that assesses various domains of children's development, including motor, visual, and language abilities

  3. Compensation: $50 + diapers, an Uber meal voucher, and small gifts for parent and infant

  4. NIH Baby Tool Box (45 minutes)

  5. This activity primarily uses an iPad, along with some play-based tasks, to assess cognition, executive functioning, language, numeracy/early mathematics, self-regulation, social functioning, and motor skills.

-Compensation: $20 + diapers, an Uber meal voucher, and small gifts for parent and infant

 

 

Patient/Family Stories and Publications Sharing:

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The Department of Newborn Medicine wants to stay informed about the exciting and impactful research happening in the FNNDSC. As part of this effort, the team is working to feature patient stories and publications that highlight both research and its clinical impact.

If you have a project or publication that you feel would be a good fit for this effort, please fill out the Research Highlight Form or reach out to caroline.schutz@childrens.harvard.edu with the details.

 

BCH Research Newsletter Submissions:

The next Research Newsletter is scheduled for distribution in early November.  Send Submissions for the next Research Newsletter by Monday, October 6th.  Include approved text, links, images, and headshots to resadmin@childrens.harvard.edu.

Take a look at the August 2025 Issue featuring FNNDSC Faculty members that attended ISMRM 🙂

 

FNNDSC Fun!

Thank you to those who joined the FNNDSC Family Park Potluck!! It was a beautiful Saturday filled with yummy foods and good company 🥧🍂🧺🍎

September 6th, 2025
September 6th, 2025

BCH Events & Involvement:


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Harvest Festival, is happening Wednesday from 11 AM to 4 PM on the 401 Park lawn. This event is a great opportunity to explore the incredible Employee Led Groups (ELGs) here at Children’s and connect with our broader community.

Please see below for more details and some fun highlights you won’t want to miss!

Festival Highlights:

  • Massage chairs, therapy dogs, lawn games, DONUTS & cider, and more

  • HR & Benefits available to talk through open enrollment changes and answer questions

  • Seasonal COVID and Flu vaccines available onsite through Occupational Health Services

  • Shuttles will run for convenience from Martha Eliot, 2 Brookline Place, the Main Hospital, and over toward Landmark/401 Park

  • Dozens of ELGs and hospital groups showcasing their work and welcoming new members

 

Register for the Out of the Darkness Walk  (Oct 25th), with BCH’s Workforce Well-bring ELG in joining thousands of teams across the country to help save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.

 

Boston Events in October 🍁🎃🎉🪩:

 

Way to Shine!🌟

Have you seen a teammate or colleague do something exceptional? Have they gone out of their way to exceed someone's expectations? Let them know that you noticed and that you care! To send a Way to Shine, please follow this link: Bravo! Way to Shine - Boston Children's Hospital (harvard.edu)

 

Brain Games 🧠 📝


HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?

If you have something that you would like to see featured in the next newsletter, please contact Caroline Schutz caroline.schutz@childrens.harvard.edu.

 
 
 

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