H a n ds on
A Lov i ng
Meet a C RI
H ope
Leg acy
Res ea rc her
Page
2
Page
6
Page
De ce m b er
F R O M C H I L D R E N’S M E D I C A L C E N T E R F O U N DAT I O N
8 2014
news
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
C a n c e r
Hyundai Hope On Wheels Scholar to study more effective way to treat childhood sarcomas
W
ITH THE HELP
of a $250,000
on cancerous tumors in children.
Children’s Medical Center Foundation is
Dr. Laetsch was named a Hyundai
one of 36 recipients in the U.S. to receive
Hyundai Hope
Scholar in September at an event at
one of the Hyundai Scholar grants, a total of
On Wheels
Children’s. Several children, all of whom
$9 million, which was awarded in honor of
grant, Dr. Ted
have been treated or are currently being
National Childhood Cancer Awareness
Laetsch, a pediatrician at Children’s Medical
treated in the Pauline Allen Gill Center for
month. Over the past 16 years, the
Center and an assistant professor of
Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s,
nonprofit organization of Hyundai Motor
pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical
participated in a handprint ceremony, in
America has distributed more than
Center, wants to harness the power of
which they decorated a white 2014 Hyundai
$87 million for pediatric cancer research.
ultrasound technology and use it to zero in
Sonata with their colorfully painted hands.
Continued on page 12
“This is promising research for
children with cancer.”
2 I PROMISING
news
I December 2014
– Dr. Ted Laetsch
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
C a n c e r
At Children’s, ‘ You’re in the best hands’ Julia Brown
I
N D E C E M B E R 201 3 , Julia Brown was under a towering
stack of blankets with only her face visible. Insertion of her port for chemotherapy had caused septic shock. Eight months later, the 9-year-old is joking and telling
stories about the care she received in the Pauline Allen
Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Medical Center. “It’s a very supportive place. You shouldn’t be afraid because there are a lot of kids that go there. The doctors are super smart, and the nurses are super sweet,” said Julia, of Frisco, Texas. “You feel awesome there. You feel like a hero.” Julia, in fact, was recently named as an Honored Hero by the
“reputation, Children’s has a great and I’ve always
heard that. We were totally impressed; the doctors, the staff, and all the nurses are top-notch.” – Jennifer Brown
Gill Center for the Children Helping Children Junior Singles Tennis Tournament, presented by Geico, which took place in September at the High Point Tennis Center in Plano, Texas. Julia is currently in the maintenance stage of her treatment for leukemia. Chemotherapy treatments have dropped to only once a month and spinal taps every three months. Eventually she will only need one pill a day.
“We’ve gone through the hardest part,” her mother, Jennifer Brown, said. “The doctors did a great job explaining it and taking their time. They sat with us for a long time.” In addition to septic shock, Julia sustained several fevers and had to be hospitalized for nearly 70 days. She had eight days of cranial radiation and many days of chemotherapy. Things were made easier with clowns, crafts, and visits from the Dallas Stars and Dallas Cowboys. The excellent level of care Children’s offers was constantly brought to bear in her fight against leukemia – and it pulled her through. “Children’s has a great reputation, and I’ve always heard that. We were totally impressed; the doctors, the staff, and all the nurses are top-notch. All the programs have been amazing,” Mrs. Brown said. “If you have your child treated for anything, no matter what it is, from a broken arm to leukemia, I would highly recom-
Julia Brown leaves her mark at Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
mend it. You’re in the best hands.” i
December 2014
I PROMISING newsI 3
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
O n
T r a c k
Giving back starts early for 4-year-old Westyn Bates
W
E S T Y N B AT E S
“ He
was only 4 years old when he had
realizes that
two surgeries
he’s donated, and kids get to see it.”
and went
through 16 rounds of chemotherapy. It took 21 blood transfusions and 76 trips to
the Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and
– Mark Bates
Blood Disorders at Children’s Medical Center Dallas before he would beat the Ewing sarcoma that had affected his bones.
Mark, Westyn , and Patrice Bates
“I’m trying to say this without start-
scape, and he immediately knew the little boy’s donation was something meaningful.
It’s one of the kinds of cancers for
ing to cry, but it really means a lot,” said
which Dr. Ted Laetsch, who recently was
Westyn’s father, Mark Bates. “He realizes
awarded a $250,000 grant from Hyundai
that he’s donated, and kids get to see it.
because I know he’ll be down here looking
Hope on Wheels, hopes to find better treat-
We want him to understand that so as he
for them,’ ” Felder recalled.
ments. (See related story on page 2.)
grows up he’ll continue doing charitable
Despite all the hardship, the Midlothian boy has taken the time to think of others
things like that but on a larger scale.” Westyn’s mother, Patrice Bates, said
“I said, ‘I’ll put them up right away
Mr. Bates said the train conductor’s effort to be creative and string the action figures up on a zip line instead of just
and to give back to the hospital that saved
when her son was hospitalized, she often
standing them up somewhere among the
his life. He donated his favorite action
brought him down to see the elaborate
trains is emblematic of how Children’s staff
figures to the famous hospital train set so
train set, sometimes pulling his IV along
always went the extra mile for his son – and
they would become part of the landscape
with him, as a way to have a break from
saved his life.
and bring enjoyment to other children in
treatments and a distraction from the stress
the hospital.
of hospitalization.
Now 5 years old and in full remission,
“We’re completely into giving back,”
“The hospital was excellent. It looked to me as if they were doing everything they could do,” Mr. Bates said. “We thought it
Westyn’s hair is growing back, and he
she said. “We know what it took to get him
was the most wonderful place in the world.
returns to Children’s every few months for
through this, so for him to have an oppor-
If you have a child that is sick that is the
follow-up exams. He always revisits the
tunity to give back is very special to us.”
place to go.”
train set to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Felder Fitzgerald, the Children’s train
Westyn’s donation serves as an inspira-
Turtle figures he donated. The figures look
conductor who built the popular train set
tion for others to give to Children’s this
like they are zip-lining down from one of
25 years ago and maintains it to this day,
holiday season. Supporters can donate by
the buildings. On the bottom of the figures’
said Westyn gave him the four Ninja Turtle
going to give.childrens.com. i
feet is Westyn’s name.
figures to become part of the train set land-
4 I PROMISING
news
I December 2014
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
O n
T r a c k
Riding the rails 25 years later
Enduring gift delights children, young and old
T
WENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
Two of the original group who built
Maidie Bradford Goddard
the set are still here, maintaining the trains
could not have imagined
and changing the set’s decorations
the endless hours of joy her
to reflect the seasons and holidays.
bequest to Children’s Medi-
The train landscape is
cal Center Foundation would have on the
divided into three sections.
millions of children and families who have
One is based on the Garden
enjoyed Children’s elaborate trainscape in
of the Gods, a Colorado park
the hospital through the years.
known for its towering rock
The two-story train exhibit – the largest
formations. The middle land-
indoor model train set in the nation –
scape is based on Pikes Peak,
contains such detail, it stops people in their
and the other is based on
tracks, and it helps kids pick up steam when
Dallas with the Dallas skyline
they need a break from their treatments.
and familiar street exits on
The set was built, and continues to be sustained, with a $250,000 endowment
the highway signs. The Dallas portion is also
Westyn Bates (top) points out the action figures he donated, while
from Mrs. Goddard, a granddaughter of Tom
full of action figures, figurines Connie Baldwin-Martinez decorates the tracks for the holidays.
L. Bradford Sr., one of Children’s founders.
and similar toys that children
Mrs. Goddard’s family liked the train project
love spotting and pointing out. Some are
so much that they matched the original gift,
donated by former patients. (See related
and the Oklahoma-based Noble Foundation
story on Westyn Bates on page 4.)
also made a trainscape contribution in her
“I love it when the kids enjoy the trains.
the landscape’s design,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. The detailed rocks are based on a mold Felder made from a creek near his house. “It’s just walls and walls of limestone, and
honor. These enduring gifts are examples
I pay attention to what they look at, and it
of how donations can live on through the
means a lot to me,” said Felder Fitzgerald,
years for the benefit of special projects.
who built the set 25 years ago with Connie
ous trees, drilling holes and inserting each
Baldwin-Martinez and several others.
branch by hand. In the scene of Indians gath-
At any given time, eight G-scale model
it’s got all kinds of detail in it,” he said. Ms. Baldwin-Martinez made the numer-
trains, hand-assembled in Germany by the
The attention to detail they put into
L.G.B. Co., circle on more than 2,000 feet of
making the set is astounding. Mr. Fitzger-
track. Trains are on the go on several levels
ald handmade every miniature brick on the
and through different landscapes – and
detailed retaining walls that hold up parts
a real joy to see how many children have
children can often be seen rapt with atten-
of the track.
enjoyed it over the years,” she said. “It means
tion watching the busy trains and taking in all the landscape’s detail.
“We’d go down to the library and thumb
ered on a mesa, they are wearing clothes made from scraps or real deerskin. “It was a lot of work to build it but also
a lot to them, so it means a lot to us.” i
through old Western books to get ideas for December 2014
I PROMISING news I 5
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
P a s t o r a l
C a r e
Former Children’s chaplain honored with endowed chair in pastoral education
R
EV. PRISCILLA WOOD NEAVES performed many
emotionally, but she never hesitated to respond compassionate-
dozens of weddings, baptisms and funerals and de-
ly. Overnight duty shifts in the Children’s emergency room during
livered hundreds of sermons as a United Methodist
the 1990s gave her a perspective on life and death that she
minister, but it was her time spent as a chaplain, in
recalled more than a decade later when confronted with her own
particular at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, that
fatal diagnosis.
meant the most to her. Her husband, Dr. Bill Neaves chose to honor that commitment
“Priscilla responded by saying, ‘I know firsthand that much worse things happen to people than what’s happening to me.’
by establishing the Chaplain Priscilla Wood Neaves Chair in Clinical
Her high regard for the institutional mission and the dedication
Pastoral Education with a $500,857 gift to Children’s Medical Cen-
of the staff at Children’s awakened in Priscilla the ambition to
ter Foundation. A few years ago, Rev. Neaves was diagnosed with
bequeath an endowment for the Clinical Pastoral Education Pro-
cortical neurodegenerative disease; she is now in hospice care.
gram. I am delighted that my former colleagues at UT Southwest-
Dr. Neaves, who is president emeritus of the Stowers Institute
ern who are now at Children’s – Kern Wildenthal and Cyndi Bassel
for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo., served as president and
– helped me fulfill Priscilla’s wish. Nothing could be so gratifying
CEO of the Institute from 2000 to 2009 and as CEO until 2010.
to Priscilla as being perpetually associated with Clinical Pastoral
Prior to that he spent more than 20 years at UT Southwestern
Education at Children’s.”
Medical Center in leadership roles, including dean of the gradu-
Priscilla Wood was born in 1945 in Rotan, Texas, and attended
ate school and medical school, and as the first executive vice
school in the nearby town of Spur, where she and her future
president for academic affairs. He plans to grow the endowment
husband first noticed each other at an Easter egg hunt. She was
in pastoral education to $1 million.
in the first grade; he was in the second. Dr. Neaves said they rec-
“Priscilla’s call to ministry compelled her to help people, and she believed victims of trauma and their distraught families expe-
ognized that they had important things in common. “We were notorious bookworms,” he explained. “Our first date
rienced the most intense need for pastoral care,” Dr. Neaves said.
occurred when our parents agreed to take us to the bookmobile’s
“Helping severely injured children and their loved ones during
monthly visit to Spur.”
crises in the emergency room exhausted Priscilla physically and
“I can’t
imagine a better name to go with the chair of the director.” – Chaplain Doug Watts 6 I PROMISING
news
I December 2014
Dr. Neaves said young Priscilla received the call to ministry around this same time, at age 11. “Her kindly pastor told her that he was so sorry, but only men could be pastors.” That was the same year – 1956 – that the United Methodist Church (UMC) authorized the ordination of women. Continued on page 11
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
P a s t o r a l
C a r e
Children’s ‘hearer of stories’ creates sanctuary for patients
C
H A P L A I N Doug Watts,
Priscilla Wood Neaves Chair in Clinical
Children’s director of
Pastoral Education will preserve by making
pastoral care, has had
the director of pastoral care’s post an
an impact on patients
endowed position.
at Children’s that
stretches back decades. Amber Adair first arrived at Children’s
A $500,000 gift from Dr. William B. Neaves, was made to Children’s Medical Center Foundation to honor his wife’s many
Medical Center at age 4 for a surgery of a
years of service as a chaplain in several
tumor on her optic nerve. Because she has
hospitals, including the emergency room
a form of neurofibromatosis that requires
at Children’s, the cancer ward at Parkland
staff chaplains and seven residents in the
numerous surgeries to remove tumors that
Memorial Hospital and the clinics at Texas
Clinical Pastoral Education program. He esti-
form on various organs, she returned to
Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
mates that his office has between 90,000 and
Chaplain Doug Watts
Chaplain Watts said the gift has real
100,000 pastoral encounters with patients,
whom she formed a deep bond with is
meaning because it honors a life of pasto-
family and staff a year. Encounters include
Chaplain Watts.
ral service.
everything from simply listening to parents
Children’s on many occasions. One person
Ms. Adair, now 24, said Chaplain Watts
“I often say the chaplain’s job is to be a
and children, praying with them, reading
met with her many times for friendly talks or
hearer of a person’s story. That’s what we do,
Scripture the family finds relevant or engag-
simple prayers and made the trying times
and that’s often how I introduce myself to
ing the children in “Godly Play,” an innovative
much easier.
people,” Chaplain Watts said. “Chaplains ba-
program that allows children to play out a
sically come by to hear your story – and care
story from sacred texts in a way that they can
and that everything was going to be OK. He
about hearing your story – and, once you
put it in the context of their own experience
just made you feel at ease with everything,”
hear the story, all kinds of avenues open up.”
and find their own meaning in it.
“He was friendly. He made you feel safe
she said. “When you go in for surgery, and
Chaplain Watts earned his Master of
“It’s not about whether they attend a
you’re hearing all this stuff that worries you,
Divinity from Southern Baptist Theologi-
church or a mosque or a synagogue. It’s more
it helps if you have that one person that can
cal Seminary in Louisville, Ken., in 1985. He
about their development as a human being,”
help you out and just relax you, and they’re
worked as a chaplain at Children’s from
Chaplain Watts said. “We all have a spiritual-
right down the hall if you need them.”
1992 to 1996 and then served as pastoral
ity. It just gets expressed in different ways. We
care director at a Louisiana hospital for
believe that we’re responsible to help nurture
three years.
that in a child. I think children in the hospital
Chaplain Watts later attended Amber’s junior high school graduation, high school graduation and junior college graduation. This is Chaplain Watts’ life work, and it is the type of service that the new Chaplain
He returned to Children’s in 2000 as
need the same thing every child needs. They
associate director of pastoral care and
need to be seen as valued, and they need to
became director in 2009. He oversees three
be honored.” i
December 2014
I PROMISING news I 7
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S
R E S E A R C H
New CRI scientist leads fifth laboratory
I N S T I T U T E
R E S E A R C H H I G H L I G H T S
New technique identifies mesenchymal stem cells
Jian Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the CRI and of Pediatrics CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
M
E S E N C H Y M A L stem cells (MSCs)
are the primary cells involved in
bone formation and repair after injury, but
T
identifying and characterizing MSCs in the H E R E ’ S E V E R Y R E A S O N to
body has been difficult.
believe that Dr. Jian Xu’s work
Now, however, CRI scientists under
is going to produce significant
the direction of Dr. Sean Morrison have
results for the Children’s Medical Center
developed new techniques that attach a
Research Institute at UT Southwestern
“biomarker” to MSCs, enabling them to be
(CRI). He’s already contributed to signifi-
localized and characterized. This finding sig-
cant scientific discoveries, and his research
nificantly advances the field of MSC biology
is a perfect match for CRI’s mission.
and opens up new possibilities for treating
Dr. Jian Xu became the CRI’s fifth faculty member in September. His recruitment was generously supported by the
“C RI
s e e k s to under-
stand the biological basis of
bone fractures and cartilage injuries. “We found that a protein known as a
disease, and I have dedicated
leptin receptor can serve as a biomarker
Moody Foundation. His laboratory will
all my work to this.”
to accurately identify MSCs in adult
focus on childhood leukemia with the
— Dr. Jian Xu
long-term goal of understanding stem cell
bone marrow,” said Dr. Morrison, director of the CRI and principal investigator
development and how misregulation can
has little chance if scientists don’t first
of the Hamon Laboratory for Stem Cell
cause cancer.
have a full understanding of disease. CRI
and Cancer Biology. Dr. Morrison is also a
is a leader in research because the people
professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern,
of leading research institutions, and we
here know that the basic science must be
holder of the Mary McDermott Cook Chair
were fortunate to succeed in recruiting him
understood first.”
in Pediatric Genetics, a Howard Hughes
“Dr. Xu was highly sought by a number
to Dallas,” said Dr. Sean Morrison, director
Dr. Xu earned a Ph.D. at the University
Medical Institute investigator, and a Cancer
of the CRI and principal investigator of
of California, Los Angeles, and was a Helen
Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
the Hamon Laboratory for Stem Cell and
Hay Whitney Fellow at Boston Children’s
Scholar in Cancer Research. i
Cancer Biology.
Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Dr. Xu said: “CRI seeks to understand
before moving to Dallas. His work on stem
the biological basis of disease, and I have
cells has resulted in articles in the Proceed-
dedicated all my work to this. Develop-
ings of the National Academy of Sciences
ment of new drugs and new treatments
and Genes & Development. i
8 I PROMISING
news
I December 2014
Mechanism found in metabolic pathway that fuels cancers
A
R E S E A R C H T E A M led by Dr. Ralph
DeBerardinis has taken a significant
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S
R E S E A R C H
the code of an atypical metabol-
R
ic pathway that
E S E A R C H E R S at the CRI have identi-
fied a gene that contributes to the
allows certain
development of several childhood cancers.
cancerous tumors
The study was conducted in mice, but if the Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis
They have identified the triggering mechanism that plays a key role in causing a series of energy-generating chemical reactions, known as the Krebs cycle, to run in reverse. “With this finding, we have learned there are particular enzymes that work together to enable the reverse pathway to function, much like the tiny gears that turn in opposite directions to power a mechanical clock,” said Dr. DeBerardinis, director of CRI Genetic and Metabolic Disease Program and associate professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, and of pediatrics at UT Southwestern. He also holds the Joel B. Steinberg, M.D., Chair in Pediatrics and is a Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research.
findings prove to be applicable to humans, the research could lead to new strategies for treating childhood cancers. “We have shown that Lin28b – a gene that is normally turned on in fetal but not adult tissues – is active in several childhood cancers, including neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumor and hepatoblastoma, the most common liver cancer in pediatric patients,” said Dr. Hao Zhu, a principal investigator at the CRI, assistant professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at UT Southwestern, and a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research. “We found that overproduction of Lin28b specifically causes hepatoblastoma, while blocking Lin28b impairs the cancer’s growth.” Further research in Dr. Zhu’s lab will seek to determine if the blocking that works in mice tumors is also effective in humans. i
The identification of the mechanism could provide a future target for drugs that would attack tumors that rely upon the reverse pathway to provide energy for growth. Tumors of this type tend to be difficult for oncologists to treat because
I N S T I T U T E
H I G H L I G H T S
CRI scientists pinpoint gene that promotes childhood cancers
step in cracking
to thrive.
R E S E A R C H
“As we continue to recruit the best scientists, take risks to solve important problems and integrate science with medicine, we are creating a culture of innovation at CRI that is yielding exciting discoveries and profound opportunities,” said Dr. Sean Morrison, director of the CRI. Currently employing 70 biomedical researchers and staff, CRI has succeeded in recruiting top-tier faculty in each of its first three years of operation. A number of high-impact discoveries have already been made at CRI. So far in 2014, CRI researchers have published 18 papers in scientific journals, of which five were published in the highest-impact journals. In 2013, CRI researchers published 24 papers in scientific journals, of which 10 were published in the highest-impact journals. CRI’s published discoveries are already leading to clinical trials to test new therapies for incurable diseases, including a Phase 1B clinical trial that is now underway to assess a novel drug combination in stage IV melanoma patients based on discoveries made in Dr. Morrison’s laboratory. CRI researchers also have been exceptionally successful at
CRI named Innovation Catalyst by Dallas Regional Chamber
T
leveraging philanthropic investments with extramural grant funding from the Cancer
HE CHILDREN’S MEDICAL CENTER
Prevention and Research Institute of Texas,
Research Institute at UT Southwestern
the National Institutes of Health, the Howard
has been named by the Dallas Regional
Hughes Medical Institute, and other medi-
cells using the atypical pathway seem to
Chamber as a 2014 Innovation Catalyst
cal research organizations. Overall since its
resist chemotherapy. This new discovery
award recipient. It is an award given annual-
inception, CRI has attracted $37 million in
may provide a way to starve and kill
ly to a company or institution that strength-
extramural grant funding, an exceptional
the tumors. i
ens the region’s capacity for innovation.
figure for a new institute. i
December 2014
I PROMISING news I 9
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S
R E S E A R C H
I N S T I T U T E
Regents name UT Southwestern biomedical building in honor of Dr. Kern Wildenthal
T
H E B U I L D I N G that houses the Children’s Medical
Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern has been named for the president of Children’s Medical Center Foundation, Dr. Kern Wildenthal. In recognition of his visionary leadership as
president of UT Southwestern Medical Center for 22 years, the University of Texas System Board of Regents named the newest biomedical research tower on the UT Southwestern North Campus in his honor. Begun in 2007 and completed in 2011, the newly named C. Kern Wildenthal Research Building encompasses 355,469 square feet. It is the sixth major tower to be built on the 90-acre North Campus tract that was acquired by the medical center during Dr. Wildenthal’s presidency from 1986 to 2008. “To have my name on a building in the midst of facilities and
Dr. Kern Wildenthal, president of Children’s Medical Center Foundation and president emeritus of UT Southwestern Medical Center
ments of Neurology, Microbiology, Dermatology and Cell Biology, and the graduate school’s Rolf and Ute Haberecht Administration
programs named for some of our community’s most respected
and Academic Center. The entry lobby features a valuable folk art
citizens is a great honor, and I am grateful to the UT Regents for
collection donated by Roger Horchow and his late wife, Carolyn.
this recognition,” said Dr. Kern Wildenthal, who was named
Dr. Wildenthal’s career in medicine began when he gradu-
president emeritus of UT Southwestern in 2013. Others honored
ated from Southwestern Medical School in 1964 at age 22. After
on the campus include Harold and Annette Simmons, Peter and
graduating, he trained at Bellevue Hospital in New York, Parkland
Edith O’Donnell, Nancy and Jake Hamon, T. Boone Pickens, Bill and
Memorial Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, and the Uni-
Rita Clements, Sadie and Charlie Seay, Monty and Tex Moncrief,
versity of Cambridge in England, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1970.
Caren and Vin Prothro, Paul Bass, Mary Nell and Ralph Rogers, Mar-
He returned to Dallas to join the UT Southwestern faculty, where
got and Ross Perot, Cecil and Ida Green, Margaret and Eugene Mc-
he earned tenure in one year, then was awarded a Guggenheim
Dermott, Erik Jonsson, Donald Zale, and Charles Sprague, among
Fellowship to conduct further research at Cambridge.
many others. “It feels overwhelming to be listed among leaders
Upon his return to UT Southwestern in 1976, he was selected
such as these, who have been staunch supporters of UT South-
dean of the graduate school. Four years later, at the age of 38, he
western for decades and who also have been personal friends
was named dean of the medical school – the youngest dean of
whom I greatly admire,” Dr. Wildenthal said. The 12-story, $216
any American medical school. In 1986, he became only the second
million Wildenthal tower also houses the medical school’s depart-
president of UT Southwestern. i
10 I P R O M I S I N G
news
I December 2014
I N S I D E
FORMER CHILDREN’S CHAPLAIN Continued from page 6
P
riscilla married her childhood sweetheart in 1965 and
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
P a s t o r a l
C a r e
2010, she served pro bono publico as a
preserved through the years and collected
full-time chaplain of Carroll County
a sampling in a newly published book titled
Memorial Hospital.
Sermons and Meditations.
“This tribute to Priscilla is something
“Priscilla preached beautifully,
graduated a year later from
that will benefit others in perpetuity in a
eloquently and spiritually,” Dr. Neaves
Boston University with a degree
manner that is uniquely appropriate for all
wrote in the Afterward of the collection.
in sociology. Their first child was born in
she did and stood for,” said Dr. Kern
He said the 15 to 20 hours of preparation
1968, and their second in 1972. After a
Wildenthal, president of Children’s Medical
that went into each 15-minute sermon
decade of childrearing, she enrolled in
Center Foundation and president emeritus
made choosing the best very difficult.
Perkins School of Theology and became an
of UT Southwestern. “My most fulfilling
Included in the text is the credo she wrote
ordained Deacon in the Central Texas
moments since moving to Children’s
in 1987 for her ordination as Elder. The ISBN
Conference of the UMC. She earned a
occurred when I first learned from Bill
number of the book is 1-934424-02-1. Dr.
Master of Theology cum laude from
Neaves about this touching gift, and then
Neaves will place copies in the Bridwell
Southern Methodist University in 1985 and
when I called Doug Watts, our director of
Library at Perkins School of Theology and
received Elder ordination in 1987.
pastoral care, to inform him of the endow-
will transfer the copyright to Abingdon
ment and what it symbolizes.”
Press as a royalty-free gift to the United
She was associate pastor at Martin United Methodist Church in Bedford, Texas,
Chaplain Watts, whose time in the
and at First United Methodist Church in
chaplaincy program at Children’s in the
Arlington, Texas. After several years, she
mid-1990s intersected with Chaplain
accepted an appointment as director of
Neaves’ tenure, noted that this is the first
development at Perkins, where she suc-
major gift ever given in honor of a former
cessfully led fundraising efforts. She missed
chaplain. He will be the inaugural holder of
ministry, however, and decided to enroll
the Chaplain Priscilla Wood Neaves Chair in
in the Clinical Pastoral Education Program
Clinical Pastoral Education.
at Children’s. For a decade, she served
“It seems very significant to me that
as a chaplain in the emergency room at
someone who came here to minister to
Children’s, in the cancer ward at Parkland
the children and families and staff in this
Memorial Hospital and in clinics at Texas
hospital has given a gift. She discovered,
Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
firsthand, what it was like to be here. I can’t
After she and Dr. Neaves relocated to Missouri in 2000, she served on the board of directors of the Midwest Bioethics
Methodist Publishing House. i
imagine a better name to go with the chair of the director,” Chaplain Watts said. As a final tribute to his wife of nearly 50
Center and the Institutional Review Board
years, Dr. Neaves combed through her
of Children’s Mercy Hospital. From 2006 to
hundreds of sermons that she had
Rev. Priscil l a Wo o d Ne a ves
December 2014
I P R O M I S I N G n e w s I 11
I N S I D E
C H I L D R E N ’ S :
C a n c e r
HOPE ON WHEELS Continued from page 2
been developed that melt when they encounter a heated region. One of these drugs called Thermodox, which is in clinical trials for adults, delivers the chemotherapy agent doxorubicin to tumors. Doxorubicin
news
is known to be effective against most solid
FROM CHILDREN’S MEDICAL C E N T E R F O U N DAT I O N
tumors, but without the ability to target it precisely to the tumor, it can damage
Children’s Medical Center Foundation serves as the fundraising arm for Children’s Health System of Texas.
the heart. Dr. Laetsch’s trial will be a first for
CHRISTOPHER J. DUROVICH President and CEO Children’s Health System of Texas K E R N W I L D E N T H A L , M . D., P H . D. President Children’s Medical Center Foundation
EDITOR: Heidi Harris Cannella WRITERS: Heidi Harris Cannella Patrick McGee DESIGNER: Jan Pults
pediatric patients, and he hopes to begin Westyn Bates participates in Hope on Wheels event.
D
actually shake the tumor on a very, very small scale
more effective way to treat sarcoma
so much that it heats it up. It heats the tumor, and
in children. Sarcomas of soft tissue
none of the surrounding tissue,” said Dr. Laetsch.
and bone comprise 15 percent of all
His innovative idea is a hallmark of Children’s and
childhood cancers and can be treated effectively
UT Southwestern’s tireless approach to finding new
with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, but
treatments for pediatric cancer.
His focus is on using a revolutionary technology
in the Southwestern Medical District 2777 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 700 Dallas, Texas 75207
“If you turn up the ultrasound, it can
r. Laetsch is working to develop a
relapses often result in poor outcomes, he said.
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Juan Pulido Cynthia Rivera
treatments within the year.
“The ability to target chemotherapeutics to a patient’s tumor while sparing normal tissue would
called magnetic resonance high-intensity focused
be a major clinical advance,” Dr. Laetsch said. “This is
ultrasound (MR-HIFU) to heat and deliver chemo-
promising research for children with cancer. It is
therapy to tumors while sparing normal tissue in the
central to our mission, and it would not be possible
body. Heating dilates blood vessels in the tumors,
without the grant from Hyundai Hope On Wheels.”
which allows more medicine to get into the bloodstream, he said. Using MR-HIFU, tumors can be heated to about
Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded Children’s pediatricians working in the Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders a total of $640,000 since 2011. i
107 degrees. Temperature-sensitive liposomes have
give.childrens.com
“It is central to our mission, and
it would not be possible without the grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels.” – Dr. Ted Laetsch
12 I P R O M I S I N G
news
I December 2014