August 2, 2019
In This Issue

Research Spotlight: Alex Fiks Named New Director of CPCE

CPCE In the News:
Current antibiotic stewardship program practices characterized

CPCE In the News:
Indoor smoking ban tied to heart attack decline in older adults

Upcoming Events

Recent Publications
Alex Fiks Named New Director of CPCE
We are excited to share the news that Alex Fiks, MD, MSCE is the new Director of the CPCE. It was announced earlier this week to the CHOP research community by Bryan Wolf, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Richard Aplenc, MD, PhD, MSCE, Chief Clinical Research Officer.

Dr. Fiks has been a member of CPCE since its inception in 2007, and most recently held the role of Associate Director for Outpatient Research Activities. He has been a leader in using health information technology to improve healthcare outcomes for children and to foster shared decision-making between clinicians and families.

As the new Director, Dr. Fiks will help lead a strategic planning process for CPCE that will address a number of areas critical to CPCE’s continued evolution and success, and explore the Center’s alignment with various programs of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Informatics at CHOP.

Dr. Fiks takes over his new role from Theo Zaoutis, MD, MSCE, who had been Director since 2014 and stepped down recently in order to focus on other projects. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Fiks to the Director role. We look forward to providing updates on the strategic planning process over coming months. 
Current antibiotic stewardship program practices characterized

CPCE Core Faculty member Katie Chiotos, MD, MSCE is the lead author on a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology in which she and colleagues conducted a survey to characterize infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship programs at health care facilities, and compared the results to findings from 2013. Dr. Chiotos and colleagues invited 132 facilities from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Network to participate in the survey, and 64 responded, including 47 U.S. hospitals and 17 international facilities representing 11 countries. Among their findings: surveillance for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), while still common, decreased from 90 percent to 69 percent of facilities from 2013 to 2018; surveillance for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriacea, while not included in the 2013 survey, is now reported in 50 percent of participating hospitals; and presence of antibiotic stewardship programs increased from 85 percent of facilities in 2013 to 95 percent in 2018.

Indoor smoking ban tied to heart attack decline in older adults

A study in the U.K. found a decline in the rate of heart attack among older adults in the 10 year period after Scotland banned smoking in public spaces. CPCE Core Faculty member Stephanie Mayne, PhD, who was not involved in the study, commented. “In younger people overall, there appeared to be less of an impact across the 10-year period,” she said. “This might be due to changes in other heart disease risk factors, like obesity and diabetes, during the same time period.” Nevertheless, these results support smoking cessation and avoidance of second-hand smoke for cardiovascular health.

Upcoming Events

Treatment of patients with an investigational drug or device
Date: August 13, 2019
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Location: Roberts 1-120B
Hosted by theCHOP Clinical Trials Research Affinity Group (RAG), this seminar will be presented by Barbara Engel, MD, PhD, Chair of the Committees for the Protection of Human Subjects, and Greg Podsakoff, MD, Director of Clinical Trials Research, Clinical Research Support Office. For more information or to register, e-mail clinicaltrialsrag@email.chop.edu.

Neuropsychology in Botswana: Challenges & Novel Perspectives
Date: August 15, 2019
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Location: Roberts Center for Pediatric Research, 2716 South Street, Room 2-160
The CHOP Global Health Research Affinity Group (RAG) hosts Lingani Mbakile-Mahlanza, MsC, DPsych, Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Botswana. She conducts research in the areas of dementia, traumatic brain injury and neuropsychology in under-resourced settings. View the event flyer for more details, and please RSVP to GlobalHealthRAG@email.chop.edu.

Youth Mental and Behavioral Summit
Date: September 24, 2019
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Community Behavioral Health, 801 Market Street, 11th Floor
The summit is intended to to help equip providers and caretakers of youth to engage in a trauma-informed, community-based system of care by identifying and addressing youth mental and behavioral health needs. All physical and behavioral providers and caretakers of youth across multiple sectors are welcome to attend. This event is supported by a CHOP Cares Community Fund grant, the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, and Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University. Register here.

Third Annual Integrative Health Symposium-From Pathogenesis to Salutogenesis: A Wellness Perspective for Patients and Their Healthcare Team
Date: September 27, 2019
Time: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Colket Translational Research Building
Salutogenesis is an approach that seeks to build on strengths and to support health in all the domains of a person’s life. In this one-day symposium, attendees will learn about salutogenesis and the relationship between stress, coping and health. Lectures will focus on how to manage provider stress and burnout and how to support a patient’s well-being through nutrition, mind-body techniques, positive psychology, trauma-informed care and other integrative modalities. Learn more and register here.

Global Health in Our Own Backyard: Controversies, Initiatives, and Innovations for Our Local Underserved Populations
Date: October 4-5, 2019.
Location: Colket Translational Research Building
Registration is now open for the 11th Annual CHOP Global Health Conference "Global Health in Our Own Backyard." This Philadelphia-based Conference will explore the intersections between domestic, local and international global pediatric health to better reach the underserved here in the United States. We will take inspiration from innovative programs in the U.S. and from around the world, and think critically about how to apply both South-North and national lessons to provide better, more equitable care in the United States. For more information, click here.
Recent Publications

Health care quality can be assessed through the structure, process, or outcomes of care, although care processes do not signify quality until their relationship to desirable outcomes is established. Most pediatric practice guidelines include recommendations that are based on expert consensus opinion rather than strong scientific evidence. The Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES) was developed as a quality of care assessment. The objective of this study was to further assess the validity of PRIMES by prospectively evaluating the relationship between PRIMES score and outcomes. Along with his colleagues, Chén Kenyon, MD, MSHP found that better performance on some PRIMES condition-specific measures is associated with decreased length of stay, with scores on overuse quality indicators being a primary driver of this relationship. 

About CPCE

We are a pediatric research center dedicated to discovering and sharing knowledge about best practices in pediatric care by facilitating, organizing and centralizing the performance of clinical effectiveness research -- research aimed at understanding the best ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases in children. CPCE’s multidisciplinary team conducts research on a diverse range of clinical effectiveness topics.

CPCE E-News is edited by Holly Burnside. Please feel free to contact us with questions or feedback.