• MGH spearheads web resource for mental health disorders in children
  In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the diagnosis of mental health disorders in children. The reasons are many — pediatricians are identifying childhood disorders earlier, parents — with access to the Internet and a wealth of information that didn't exist a generation ago — are cuing into symptoms sooner and studies indicate the rate of incidence is increasing, be it for genetic, environmental or lifestyle-related reasons. Mental health conditions in children and adolescents can be disruptive and troubling to these children and their families as well as the schools they attend.

• Batter up: MGHers take a swing at poverty
  Partners HealthCare staff stepped out of the Red Sox dugout and up to the plate July 5 to support Boston's anti-poverty agency — Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) — in the eighth annual ABCD Field of Dreams softball game at Fenway Park. MGH team members represented a variety of departments including Hematology/Oncology, Internal Medicine; Gillette Centers for Women's Cancers and Surgery.

• North End presents DiMaggio Public Service Award
  The North End Community Health Center (NECHC) hosted a fundraising event May 17 at the Boston Harbor Hotel to benefit the center's existing and future programs and services.

• Project HOPE volunteers honored at the White House
  The team of MGH volunteers who went to Southern Asia in January to aid in the tsunami disaster relief efforts with the Project HOPE mission were honored at the White House July 21.

• Leadership Academy addresses writing skills
  Business writing is an important part of every manager's job and yet courses that teach these skills are typically limited to business management programs. However, participants in the July 13 “Business Writer's Toolkit” — the most recent addition to the MGH Leadership Academy's course offerings — learned proven strategies to avoid some of the common pitfalls that interfere with effective business writing.

• Noninvasive radiotherapy effective for ear tumors
  An MGH research team has shown that stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is a safe and effective treatment for patients with vestibular schwannomas — non-malignant tumors affecting nerves supplying the inner ears. Patients with these tumors, which also are called acoustic neuromas, may develop hearing loss and balance problems. Advanced cases can proceed to facial weakness or paralysis and, if critical brain structures are affected, may be life-threatening.

• MGH care teams topic of seminar
  Each month, the unit service associates (USA) task force sponsors an educational seminar on various topics of interest to USAs, operations associates (OA) and other support staff members. In the June USA seminar, Paul Uhlig, MD, of MGH Cardiac Surgery, presented new research about the benefits of having all role groups involved in a patient's care work together with the goal of improving communication among care team members and with patients and families.

• Grant advances field of cardiothoracic transplantation
  In June, Joren C. Madsen, MD, DPhil, surgical director of MGH Cardiac Transplantation, received a five-year, $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop novel ways to induce immune tolerance to heart or lung transplants in animals. The grant — a program project grant through the NIH's National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases — will enable a team led by Madsen to conduct a range of studies using large animals, the ultimate goal of which is to develop protocols for human patients to receive heart or lung transplants without the need for immunosuppressive drugs.

• MGH physician receives Gold Medal award
  Daniel B. Kopans, MD, director of the MGH Breast Imaging Division in the Department of Radiology, recently received the Gold Medal award from the Society of Breast Imaging in recognition of his contributions to the field of breast imaging at the society's biennial meeting held recently in Vancouver.

• In memoriam

• What's Happening

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