Pediatric Surgery

Unique somatic gene mutations may contribute to racial disparities in the incidence of Wilms tumor — the most common childhood kidney cancer. Read More

Physician-scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are investigating whether SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be spread through aerosolized emissions (microscopic droplets and particles) during minimally invasive surgery in children. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that a sirtuin protein has oncogenic properties in neuroblastoma cells — and that blocking it reduces their growth and tumor-like characteristics. Read More

A compound identified at Vanderbilt represents a new lead for treating rare, aggressive childhood cancers called Ewing sarcomas. Read More

An inhibitor of cell metabolism may be a good therapeutic target for neuroblastoma, which accounts for about 15 percent of pediatric cancer-related deaths. Read More

The sphere-forming frequency of neuroblastoma cells is a measure of their proliferative capacity and could help guide treatment strategies for neuroblastoma. Read More

Many patients having surgeries at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt are experiencing better recoveries, with less opioids for pain, fewer post-surgery complications and shorter hospital stays due to the work of a medical team that has transformed the way surgeries are handled. Read More

When Kendra Kaufman walked into to a recent follow-up appointment with surgeon Dai Chung, M.D., the only help she needed to steady her steps came from ankle-foot-orthotics. Read More

Martin Blakely, M.D., M.S., has been awarded a $3 million federal grant for a multi-center, multi-disciplinary study to examine the safety outcomes of early versus later inguinal hernia repair for premature infants. Read More

Unique molecular "fingerprints" could explain the disparity in Wilms tumor incidence and point to novel, race-specific therapeutic targets. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers report that they have found a factor involved in the persistence of embryonic cells implicated in childhood liver cancer. Read More

Using a SmartPhone platform and a $100,000 grant from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Vanderbilt Pediatric Surgeon John Pietsch, M.D., and fourth-year medical student Katherine Allen may revolutionize the way infants and children all over the world are assessed and treated for proper nutrition. Read More

In addition to limited health care resources, biological factors may play a role in the poor survival of children with a common kidney cancer in developing nations. Read More