Integrating these functions will enhance research collaboration, improve patient care and increase treatment capacity by 50%, allowing up to 24 children per day to receive life-changing therapies.

The expansion is also made possible thanks to federal support and philanthropic generosity. Congressman Morgan McGarvey and Honorable former Congressman John Yarmuth championed a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant that provided $2 million toward the project. Their leadership helped secure critical funding to support this vital expansion in pediatric care. In addition, the university recognizes with deep gratitude a bequest realized from the estate of Jane Burian in memory of Dr. Frank J. Burian and Henrietta S. Burian, whose legacy will have a lasting impact on the lives of children and families served by the center.

For over a decade, UofL’s pediatric neurorecovery program, led by Dr. Andrea Behrman, has transformed the lives of children recovering from spinal cord injuries, growing from serving one child per day to 16, with more than 21 daily visits for occupational and physical therapy. However, the program has long outgrown its existing facilities, which are scattered across multiple floors and repurposed spaces within Frazier Rehab Institute.

“Our mission is to not only provide the best care for children affected by spinal cord injuries but to push the boundaries of what is possible for their recovery,” said Behrman, director of the center and professor in the UofL Department of Neurological Surgery. “Thanks to the unwavering support of Kosair for Kids, we will now have a facility designed specifically for this groundbreaking work, enabling us to reach more children and provide even better outcomes.”

Additionally, the center will serve as a hub for training the next generation of therapists, researchers and physicians specializing in restorative pediatric neurorecovery.

“Kosair for Kids has proudly supported this center since its inception,” said Barry Dunn, president and CEO of Kosair for Kids. “We have witnessed Kosair Kids regain movement and hope, ability and joy. This expanded partnership with UofL delivers on the Kosair for Kids promise to help every child live life to the fullest. This is what it means to bring hope and healing to our community.”

The center’s research is part of the work of the , funded by the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust. Jim Shaughnessy, director of the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Board, emphasized the impact of the new space on the center’s broader mission:

“This expansion is a critical step forward in our mission to drive innovative, research-based care for children with spinal cord injuries,” said Shaughnessy. “By bringing research and therapy together under one roof, we are accelerating the path from discovery to recovery and creating a model that can be replicated worldwide.”

Highlights of the center’s new location:

• Integrated therapy and research spaces to ensure seamless collaboration between clinicians and scientists.
• Dedicated teen therapy areas and specialized equipment to accommodate all pediatric age groups.
• Private consultation rooms for families to meet with health care professionals.
• A family-friendly common space for caregivers to rest, network with other families, or work remotely during therapy sessions.
• Advanced rehabilitation technology tailored to pediatric neurorecovery needs.

Gifts to the assist families whose insurance does not fully cover the cost of therapy, allowing more children with spinal cord injuries have full access to activity-based therapies to make their lives better. ��

See .��

, a Duke University psychologist and King’s College, London, social development professor, discovered two types of antisocial behavior in juveniles. One persists from early childhood to adulthood, is relatively rare and seen mostly in males, while the other occurs only in adolescence and is seen in both males and females.

Although both types appear to be the same on psychological tests and in illegal behaviors, Moffitt found they are distinctly different, an insight that has changed the way the courts prosecute juveniles.

Before Moffitt’s initial research paper in 1993, most psychologists thought antisocial behavior in young people was a result of poor parenting or social stressors such as poverty and essentially unchangeable. However, her real-world studies of teenagers showed the behavior is often simply part of normal adolescent development.

Her research has generated hundreds of empirical tests in the social, biological and health sciences over the past 25 years that have borne out her findings.

“She and her colleagues studied the life trajectories of people with both types of antisocial behavior and built models to identify and rehabilitate them,” award judges said. “Her work has become a cornerstone of how courts decide to sentence juvenile offenders.”

In the 2020 book “The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life,” Moffitt and three other psychologists shared their research on 4,000 children through adulthood. The team found that although genetics and environment affect how young people develop, neither factor alone determines their behavior as adults.

Moffitt, a licensed clinical psychologist, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and has received both early career contribution and distinguished career awards from the American Psychological Association.

Recipients of next year’s are being named this week pending formal approval by university trustees. The annual, $100,000 prizes also honor seminal ideas in music, world order, education and religion. Winners will visit Louisville in April to accept their awards and give free talks on their winning ideas.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder often first diagnosed in childhood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, difficulty getting along with others or a tendency to squirm or fidget. Once a child has a diagnosis of ADHD, they can be treated with behavior therapy, now available through UofL, and medication prescribed by a physician.

UofL faculty member and ADHD specialist Paul Rosen, associate professor in the UofL Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and his colleagues are providing behavioral therapy based on an affordable sliding-scale fee thanks to $20,500 in funding received from the .

��“The need for ADHD services usually increases substantially a few months into the school year as teachers get to know the students and recognize when they are having problems,” Rosen said. “The first months often are when they fall behind their classmates and once they fall behind, untreated ADHD makes it much harder for them to catch up. The sooner we can get kids evaluated and treated for ADHD, the sooner we can help them and the better they will do.”

The behavioral treatment will help children and adolescents age 6-17 with ADHD learn to manage frustration and emotions and improve organization skills, as well as provide counseling and therapy.

The UofL ADHD Evaluation Service was launched earlier this year, offering affordable ADHD evaluations that can be started immediately and completed in one to two weeks. Families can access either service via the . Services are available both in-person and fully online, making it possible for the team to work with families anywhere in the Kentuckiana region.

A parenting support group also is planned for launch in the next few weeks.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a common neurodevelopmental disorder often first diagnosed in childhood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, difficulty getting along with others or a tendency to squirm or fidget. Once a child has a diagnosis of ADHD, they can be treated with behavior therapy and medication, but evaluations can be costly and it may take months to get an appointment.

UofL faculty member and ADHD specialist Paul Rosen, associate professor in the UofL Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, has launched the UofL ADHD Evaluation Service which provides children ages 6 through 17 with ADHD evaluations in just a few weeks. The evaluations are conducted by Rosen and his colleagues. With support from the , evaluations are available to any family based on a sliding scale, with fees for most families ranging from $10 to $100.

“There clearly is a demand for this service. Traditional evaluations can take much longer and be cost prohibitive for some parents if they are uninsured or have high-deductible policies,” Rosen said. “If a child needs help, parents can contact us and within two to three weeks have a report in hand to take to their doctor or school and get the intervention process started.”

The evaluations can be conducted entirely online. The family completes an initial questionnaire, then participates in a single two-hour virtual or in-person visit with the psychologists. Using research-based templates, a customized report is provided to the family with recommendations tailored to the child’s individual needs.

“We specialize in ADHD and are aware of certain issues that are associated with ADHD – behavioral issues, trouble dealing with emotions, trouble focusing on schoolwork or other factors,” Rosen said. “We provide detailed recommendations for school accommodations. The parents can take this report to the school to get services for their child. School accommodations can be very effective at helping kids with ADHD succeed.”

Fully virtual evaluations are available for those with transportation concerns or who live outside Louisville, making travel difficult.

This fall, the group also will begin a tailored treatment program for children and adolescents with ADHD offering frustration and emotion management training, organization skills training, counseling and therapy for children and adolescents and a parenting support group.

To learn more about the ADHD Evaluation Service or to request an evaluation, visit the .

“As of now, we do not have a vaccine that is authorized for use in children under age 12,” said Gary S. Marshall,��chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Norton Children’s and the UofL School of Medicine, and principal investigator for the Louisville trial. “Having a safe and effective vaccine for children will not only keep them healthy but also would facilitate a return to normal in terms of school and other activities.”

In the randomized clinical trial, two children will be assigned to receive the vaccine for every one child who receives a placebo. The study is blinded, meaning that no one initially will know which injection they receive. Parents and caregivers will be asked to track changes to the child’s health in an electronic diary, and children will have at least six in-person visits over a two-year period, some to include blood draws.

Children who are randomly assigned to receive the placebo will be given the chance to receive the active vaccine after six months; therefore, all children in the study ultimately will have the opportunity to receive the active vaccine. ��

The vaccine being studied is the same one that has been authorized for people ages 12 and older. In adults, this vaccine demonstrated 95% efficacy against COVID-19, and as of May 2021, nearly 140 million people in the U.S. had received at least one dose. Preliminary data show the vaccine to be safe in children as well as able to generate a strong immune response.

The research team plans to enroll about 100 local volunteers for the trial; the overall enrollment will be about 4,500. Children ages 6 months to 11 years who are generally healthy are eligible to be included.

“The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been shown to be very safe and effective in adults and adolescents,” said Kimberly A. Boland, chief of staff, Norton Children’s Hospital, and department chair, UofL School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. “We have every reason to believe this study will show the vaccine to be safe and effective in children and an important step forward for children’s health and for protecting our communities.”

Marshall is known for his work in vaccine development, advocacy and education. In fact, he has worked on many of the vaccines that children routinely receive today.

The clinical trial team has responded to the pandemic, treating children with COVID-19 and its consequences.

“This is the most exciting vaccine trial I have ever been involved with, and I’ve been doing this for over 30 years,” Marshall said.

Parents and caregivers can sign children up to be considered for the trial by going to .

In a study, researchers Drs. Mohammad Nasser Saadatzi and Karla Conn Welch paired a human student with a humanoid robot —��a little orange-and-white artificially intelligent robot named NAO — in a mock classroom. The two took turns reading words that were presented on a computer screen by a virtual character simulating a human teacher.

The robot seemed to help the five participating students adapt to group learning contexts, which the researchers said��. As a result, the kids learned more words — 100% of the ones taught to them, and 94% of the ones exclusively taught to NAO.

“And that was significant as a part of the research,” said Welch, a professor of engineering. “The children did seem to interact and engage and pay attention to the robot, as well as the computer teacher.”��

Saadatzi said that, especially , actively participating in class can sometimes seem overwhelming and there’s the fear of embarrassment or judgement. But the NAO was friendly — kids would interact with him almost celebrating correct answers and saying “hello” and “goodbye” before and after class.��

“The robot played the role of a peer for the student,” he said. “The student got to learn new academic skills, but also had the opportunity to practice some of the social skills required for multi-student contexts without the negative feedback and teasing of their peers.”

That gave the students a chance to practice their social skills — things like building friendships, paying attention when someone’s speaking, turn taking, tolerating intermittent attention by the teacher, joint attention and so on. Roland Bibb said those interactions have been a big help to his son Jaryn, a seventh grader who participated in the study.

“I noticed improvement towards the end, and it’s all pretty much carried over through school,” he said. “I definitely think it opened him up more; opened him up more to communicate.”

Saadatzi is also working on other tools that could help kids with autism in or outside the classroom. One invention, which he tested in the study, is a set of smart eyeglasses that could track and wirelessly collect physiological data in real time — electrodermal activity, cardiac rhythm, skin temperature and blood volume changes, etc. That information can be used to understand their emotional state. He further developed that idea in for translational research.

For the researchers, part of the goal of this work is to show the value technology — like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and robotics — can have in helping young students with and without disability learn and succeed.��

“We would like to see these more and more in school settings, and more and more in home settings,” Welch said. “The cost is certainly a factor right now, but that’s what we want to show with the research — that this has some, not just value, but an educational piece or an interaction piece so that people can see how useful these are.”��

Watch a video on the on the research below.

The results, published in the journal��, showed a boost in kids’ mental wellbeing��when their parents went through interventional education on positive relationship strategies and applied what they learned at home.

“Parents who are engaging in conflict less, and were withdrawing more from their partners during arguments… their kids were showing a decrease in mental health symptoms,” said Dr. Emma Sterrett-Hong, an associate professor, director of the Couple and Family Therapy Program and lead author on the study.

The researchers recruited 347 parents at high-risk for negative behaviors, like physical violence and abuse. The parents went through a four-week individual training program, called “Within My Reach,” which taught them healthy communication and conflict resolution.

The participants took what they learned in class, and applied it to their parenting.

“And so, they were able to communicate in healthier ways with their children and resolve conflict with their children in healthier and more productive ways,” said Dr. Becky Antle, a professor, university scholar and co-author on the study.

As a result, the children in the study showed improved scores on the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist, a 17-item survey that covers a wide range of mental health symptoms, including anxiety, depression and behavior problems.

Down the road, Antle said, the researchers may also look at how the parental relationship training affects kids in the long-term.

“We know that many people learn their relationship behaviors through the modeling of their parents,” she said. “And our hope is, by teaching these parents healthier couple relationship skills, that they’re able to model those behaviors for their children.”��

Listen to the full radio interview on , with Mark Hebert.��

“Some of these kids are three or four, so if we intervene at this level we will be able to save their vision. Otherwise they would have gotten picked up in their teenage years or adulthood, and at that point we can’t do anything,” said Aparna Ramasubramanian, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology.

Of the children screened, 73 were recommended for more comprehensive eye exams. The physicians are following up with their families to ensure they get the needed exams.

More than 20 medical residents, faculty members and medical students helped with the screenings.

“We have such an enthusiastic group of residents that are dedicated to community service. That’s why we are here to help out the community and help the kids in need,” said Sidharth Puri, MD, an ophthalmology resident at UofL.

The event also served as a learning opportunity for the medical residents.

“It’s trying to pick up when they need to do a full exam and when not, which they can’t learn in a clinic,” said Ramasubramanian. “It’s very important for the residents to learn that.”

See a video from the event below.��

Sharing a ride down a slide with your child may appear to be fun but it could cause serious injury, said medical director of the . Felton cites a USA Today photo showing a playground accident that broke a 1-year-old girl’s leg, leading to national attention to slide safety for little ones.

In a video shared to Facebook on an incident that took place in 2015, Heather Clare of Huntington, New York, shared footage in which she put her 1-year-old daughter on her lap and took her “down a slide during a family outing at a local park.” The child’s “right foot caught the side of the slide, snapping her tibia and fibula.” In her Facebook post, Clare advocated “for warning signs at playgrounds telling parents not to ride down slides” with their kids.

Felton agrees: “From 2002-15, there were 350,000 children under the age of 5 who were injured on slides, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A 2017 study published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that more than 350,000 children younger than 6 years old were injured by going down a slide in the United States between 2002 and 2015,” she said.

“In the majority of cases, children experienced a fracture after their foot caught the edge or bottom of a slide while sitting on a parent’s lap.”

For the safest outcome, Felton said, parents should allow their child to go down slides alone.

“In Bahaaldin Alsoufi, we have an accomplished teacher, researcher and clinician,” said Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Chair Mark Slaughter, MD. “His expertise will be a great asset in contributing to our continued success in providing best-in-class care to our pediatric patients.”

“We’re excited to have Dr. Alsoufi join Dr. Erle H. Austin III and Dr. Deborah J. Kozik in helping us provide the most advanced care for children at the Norton Children’s Heart Institute,” said Steven T. Hester, MD, division president, Provider Operations, and system chief medical officer, Norton Healthcare “Dr. Alsoufi will be part of a team that includes many heart specialists from UofL Physicians. This group collectively performs more than 17,500 procedures annually including heart transplants, open heart surgeries, catheterizations, electrophysiology and noninvasive tests, such as echocardiograms.”

Alsoufi is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery, American Board of Congenital Cardiac Surgery and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He has served as associate professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery’s Section of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory in Atlanta since 2013. Prior to his appointment at Emory, Alsoufi served in a number of positions at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Alsoufi is lead or co-author on 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and has presented at more than 100 international, national, regional and institutional conferences. His clinical interests include neonatal cardiac surgery, single ventricle palliation, valvular heart disease in children and adults with congenital heart disease and pediatric heart transplantation. His research interests include clinical outcomes research, valvular heart disease, heart transplantation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, known as ECMO, which is the process of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life.

Additionally, he serves on the editorial board of multiple international journals including the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and the World Journal of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery. He is interested in quality, teaching and clinical outcome research and has received a number of teaching and academic rewards.����

Alsoufi is a native of Syria where he earned his MD degree from Damascus University. He completed a general surgery internship at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore and a general surgery residency at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. He completed a cardiothoracic surgery residency at Oregon Health Science University, Portland; a fellowship in adult cardiac surgery at Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada; and a fellowship in congenital cardiac surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children also at the University of Toronto.