SickKids Foundation

Toward clinically actionable lupus biomarkers: a roadmap for research, validation, and translation

Abstract Despite advances in lupus biomarker research, clinical translation has remained limited, leading to delayed diagnosis, imprecise disease monitoring, and trial-and-error treatment approaches. This roadmap, developed by the Lupus Research Alliance’s Biomarker Roadmap Commi...

Identifying Cardiac Autoantibody Biomarkers that Predict the Severity of Chagas Cardiomyopathy

Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChCM) affects up to 30% of patients with chronic Chagas disease and lacks reliable biomarkers for severity and conduction abnormalities. We profiled cardiac autoantibodies using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, followed by enzyme-lin...

Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability of Healthcare Facilities in a Rural District of Pakistan: A Mixed‐Methods Assessment Using the WHO Framework

ABSTRACT Climate change increasingly threatens healthcare facilities (HCFs), especially in low‐ and middle‐income countries. This study assessed climate vulnerabilities in 12 HCFs (9 primary and 3 secondary) in a rural district Matiari in Sindh, Pakistan, and proposed sustainable...

Engineering neurovascular thrombosis: Light-based bioprinting for patient-specific modeling and women’s cerebrovascular health

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and carotid web (CW) are distinct cerebrovascular disorders where vascular geometry, disturbed hemodynamics, and endothelial activation interact to drive thrombosis. Both conditions disproportionately affect women, yet remain understudied b...

Co-designing a financial navigator program in the neonatal neurodevelopmental follow-up clinic: a formative mixed-methods study

Families of infants requiring neonatal intensive care often experience substantial financial hardship due to income loss and out-of-pocket costs during hospitalization and after discharge. Hospitals currently lack dedicated, structured support to help families navigate these fina...

Genetic Investigation in Fetal Growth Restriction: An Integrated Approach for Clinical Practice

ABSTRACT International guidelines recommend genetic testing when fetal growth restriction (FGR) accompanies structural anomalies, but recommendations for apparently isolated FGR remain variable, particularly regarding gestational age thresholds and the role of exome sequencing (E...

Clinical Prediction With Time-Varying Predictors in Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Clinical prediction models traditionally rely on measurements obtained at a single time point to estimate risk and guide management. However, the clinical status of hospitalized children often evolves during admission, and time-varying measurements obtained over the course of hos...

Toward AI Virtual Cells for Hepatology: Representation, Generation, Dynamics, and Intervention in Single-Cell Models

``Single-cell and spatial atlases describe the healthy and diseased liver at high resolution, including lobular hepatocyte zonation, fibrotic macrophage-stellate niches, cholangiocyte reactions, immune remodeling, and hepatocellular carcinoma ecosystems. These maps show where cel...

“Updates on diagnostic and prognostic molecular biomarkers of CNS tumors”

The diagnosis and classification of central nervous system (CNS) tumors has undergone a paradigm shift over the past decade, evolving from a purely histology-based approach to an integrated framework that incorporates molecular and epigenetic features. This review summarizes rece...

Respiratory Syncytial Virus–Related Hospitalizations Among Infants Receiving Nirsevimab

Importance Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of hospitalization among infants. Nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody that protects against severe RSV, was publicly funded for all infants in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec starting in the fa...

International consensus guidance for general population screening for islet autoantibodies to diagnose early-stage type 1 diabetes: a nominal group technique process

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that targets and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreatic islets. The incidence of type 1 diabetes is rising globally. At the clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, between 20% and 67% of children and adolescents present wit...

Peripheral nerve injury, regeneration, and recovery: A tribute to David Kline

David Kline’s clinical and surgical skills are legendary. This review compares crush and transection injuries, first, by reviewing the molecular and structural changes in injured neurons, denervated distal nerve stumps and muscles, and second, nerve regeneration. Regenerating axo...

Prevalence of burnout among practising anaesthesia providers: a systematic review

Summary Introduction Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Anaesthesia providers are at particular risk of experiencing burnout, with implications for workforce well‐being and patient safety. We aimed to quantify...

Beyond in silico prediction: multi-omics to identify a pathogenic deep intronic HNRNPK variant in Au-Kline syndrome

Abstract Pathogenic variants in HNRNPK are associated with autosomal dominant Au-Kline syndrome (AKS, Au-Kline-Okamoto syndrome, OMIM #616580). This syndrome is characterized by developmental delay and intellectual disability, hypotonia, and distinctive facial features. Despite t...

Dr. Tsai et al reply

We appreciate the interest of Drs. Wang and Qu¹ in our work,² and their call for more family-friendly metrics to help convey meaningful quality of life improvements in juvenile idiopathic arthritis ( JIA). After considering the different ideas suggested in t...

The dynamic and heterogeneous structure of the non-canonical inflammasome

Inflammasomes are high-molecular-weight complexes that play integral roles in the innate immune system, triggering an inflammatory cascade to protect against cellular stresses such as pathogenic bacteria. Both canonical and non-canonical inflammasomes have been described in the l...

Autoantibodies to the Sodium/Potassium Pump Alpha-1 Subunit AT1A1 Identify At-Risk Pregnancies That Will Develop Fetal/Congenital Heart Block: Evidence and Translational Plan

Objectives Autoimmune congenital heart block (CHB) has been associated with maternal autoimmune disease for a century, particularly in lupus and Sjögren’s disease pregnancies. Although 80+% of affected pregnancies are anti-Ro positive, CHB develops in only 1 in 50 such pregnancie...

A Novel Approach to Monitoring Calcinosis in Juvenile Dermatomyositis: Serial Low-Dose Whole-Body CT

Objectives Evaluating the overall impact of calcinosis and response to therapy in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) remains challenging, primarily relying on physician assessments or plain X-rays.[1] We aimed to explore the use of an ultra-low-dose protocol for whole-body CT imaging...

Exploring Training Needs to Facilitate Shared Decision Making in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Symptom Management and the Use of the JIA Option Map

Objectives Our team developed the JIA Option Map, a web-based patient decision aid (PDA) designed to support shared decision-making (SDM) for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) symptom management. Since training for health care providers (HCP) can enhance SDM and the use of PDAs...

A Qualitative Exploration of Mental Health Needs Among Youth Living with Juvenile Spondyloarthritis: Perspectives of Youth and their Caregivers

Objectives To explore the mental health impact and care needs of youth living with Juvenile Spondyloarthritis (JSpA) from the perspective of patients and caregivers. Methods Participants aged 12-18 years with a JSpA diagnosis and their caregivers were recruited in person through...