In recent years, remarkable progress has been made advancing child health, especially in areas such as genomics and congenital heart disease.
While these and other opportunities are promising, there are also serious challenges that place our children’s future at risk, including the closure of inpatient pediatric beds, shortages of pediatric subspecialists, and the economics of adult care overwhelming pediatric care. Dr. Churchwell states, “We must do everything we can to maximize the opportunities and minimize the challenges. Doing so will help ensure our children’s future is the healthiest it can be.”
Addressing these issues is critical - not just for children’s health but for the future of healthcare as a whole. Progress has been made possible thanks to a series of breakthrough research discoveries that not only improve and save children’s lives, but also serve as the foundation to transform the future of pediatric care. “I believe the next 20 years will be a transformational time in diagnosis, treatment and cures for pediatric diseases that have frustrated our patients, families and clinicians for decades," says Dr. Churchwell.
One of the most exciting frontiers is genomics. The study of the human genome has fundamentally altered how we diagnose, and is transforming how we can treat pediatric diseases and conditions that have had no treatment and no cures. Discoveries at Boston Children’s and other institutions laid the groundwork for the first approvals last year, in the US and internationally, for a gene therapy to treat sickle cell disease, which affects millions of people worldwide. The future holds driving advances in early genetic diagnosis in both the prenatal and newborn periods, and more effective treatments, using gene therapy, gene editing, and cell Therapy. Going forward, the work is to make the treatments and cures of tomorrow available to everyone who could benefit.
Want to learn more about the future of pediatric healthcare? Join us on December 12th, 2024, from 11am-1pm ET at The CEO Forum Group’s Healthcare CEO Summit (Virtual), where thought leaders will discuss how transformative innovations in health, including genomics, are shaping the future. Don’t miss this vital conversation. As a Becker's relationship, the $49 attendance fee is waived by using the following registration page.