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Department of Pediatrics

UI Health is UIC’s academic health enterprise
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Global Health Projects

Pediatric Global Health has projects based in Vietnam, Nigeria, Kenya and Brazil.

UIC & International Pediatric Specialists Alliance for the Children of Vietnam(IPSAC) Heading link

Our mission is to enhance the care of the children in Vietnam through partnership with Vietnamese health care professionals to enhance the workforce and build the institutional capacity in pediatric.

Dr. Ai-Xuan Holterman, our Co-Director for the UIC Pediatric Global Health Program, is the founder of IPSAC Vietnam. IPSAC facilitates and mediates academic exchanges and global health activities between UIC and Vietnam partner sites, working toward the missions of both the UIC Pediatric Global Health Program and IPSAC.

  • Thirty percent of the burden in global health is surgical in nature and 90% of the global burden of injuries affect low and middle-income (LMIC) countries1
  • Half of the surgical needs in the world are life-threatening
  • LMIC patients with injuries have a 6-10 fold higher mortality rate2
  • The 2030 Lancet commission on Global Surgery defined its sustainable development goals for global health GH to include universal access to timely, safe and affordable surgical and anesthesia care3
  • Surgery is the neglected stepchild of Global Health, with Pediatric Surgery as GH unborn child.

1. Murray CJ, et al. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012 Dec 15;380(9859):2197–223.
2. Mock CN, et al. Trauma outcomes in the rural developing world: comparison with an urban level I trauma center. J Trauma. 1993 Oct;35(4):518–23.
3. Ng-Kamstra J et al. Global Surgery 2030: a roadmap for high income country actors. BMJ Glob Health. 2016 1(1):e000011 For additional information, please visit our website at IPSACVIETNAM.ORG. The following pages provide more details of our activities.

IPSAC-VN (International Pediatric Specialists Alliance for the Children of VietNam): A philanthropic organization with 501(c) (3) status, incorporated in 2009 in the US and in 2016 in Vietnam. Our volunteers are academic professionals of varying pediatric specialties (pediatric surgery/urology/ENT, anesthesiology, oncology, critical care, emergency medicine, neonatology, pediatric surgical nurse practitioners, etc.) and from US and non US health care institutions.

Our mission is to enhance the care of the children in Vietnam through partnership with Vietnamese health care professionals to enhance the workforce and build the institutional capacity.

We use a scholarly approach to our humanitarian activities, with the academic cornerstones of education, research, and patient care, but with patient care to the extent that it is used as the clinical base for training and research, for the ultimate goal to improve patient care.
We do workforce building and workforce skill enhancement activities for pediatric surgery and pediatric subspecialties at VN pediatric institutions through

  1. Clinical program development such as quality improvement and patient safety initiatives
  2. Educational and training projects such as a new resuscitation course in pediatric acute surgical emergencies (PASS) for first responders in low resources facilities. The course currently targets future trainers of front-line medical staff from LMIC.
  3. Promotion of research activities such as conducting interventional clinical trials, and collaborating in innovative translational investigations with scientists in Vietnam
  4. Support of academic activities such as manuscript preparations, publications, and scientific presentations, and sponsorship of qualified LMIC individuals for grant applications of observership at US institutions.

Our sites of operation include medical universities in the South of Vietnam, and 6 children hospitals in the North, Central and South of Vietnam. The frequency of the visit at any of the sites is a function of their programmatic needs.

US trainees’ participation in of our activities is site-specific and program-dependent. We are developing a structured program to engage residents for 2-4 weeks of combined observership and longitudinal outcome research for quality of training and safety practices at urban children hospitals in Ho Chi Minh. This program is to be implemented in 2018.

In November of 2018, UIC Pediatrics Faculty Members & Residents visited City Children’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Our faculty members provided a PASS training course while our residents spent 2 weeks for a global health rotation.

Sickle Cell Collaborative in Nigeria Heading link

Much progress has been made in management and cure of sickle cell disease in the USA, but a huge population of sickle cell patients in Nigeria has not yet benefited from this progress. Early diagnosis through newborn screening is fundamental to better care. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The estimated number of Nigerian babies with sickle cell disease is about 100,000 per year, which is more than the total number of Americans of all ages living with sickle cell disease. Nigeria has oil wealth and a lot of economic growth but big disparities in income. There are multiple ethnic and linguistic groups, and Kaduna state is a microcosm of the country’s diversity. The governor of Kaduna state has decided to fund newborn screening for sickle cell disease as a demonstration of feasibility.

Our collaborative will work to set up newborn screening services in Kaduna state Nigeria utilizing prior experience in several states on sickle cell newborn screening. The team will draw upon the programs for newborn screening in Ghana, USA, and UK. We will also use Implementation Science approaches and a range of community health workers to adapt the programs to the needs of Nigeria. We plan to visit Abuja, Nigeria in the near future to help launch the newborn screening program by “train the trainer” sessions: training staff there to train Community Health Workers and to use Implementation Science.

We are a loose collaborative group of the following partners:

Chicago

UI Health Sickle Cell Center (pediatric and adult, including bone marrow transplant team); Loyola University Medical Center at Maywood

Nigeria

University of Ibadan; Kaduna State University; Bingham University; Bowen University

United Kingdom

Kings College; Guys and St Thomas Hospital; Oxford University Hospital

The collaborative has published two papers together with University of Ibadan, on genomics and on a demonstration trial of hydroxyurea safety and feasibility.

  1. Saraf SL, Akingbola TS, Shah BN, Ezekekwu CA, Sonubi O, Zhang X, Hsu LL, Gladwin MT, Machado RF, Cooper RS, Gordeuk VR, Tayo BO. Associations of α-thalassemia and BCL11A with stroke in Nigerian, United States, and United Kingdom sickle cell anemia cohorts. Blood Adv. 2017 Apr 25;1(11):693-698. doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2017005231.
    PubMed PMID: 28868518;
  2. Akingbola TS, Tayo BO, Salako B, Layden JE, Hsu LL, Cooper RS, Gordeuk VR, Saraf SL. Comparison of patients from Nigeria and the USA highlights modifiable risk factors for sickle cell anemia complications. Hemoglobin. 2014;38(4):236-43.
    doi: 10.3109/03630269.2014.927363. Epub 2014 Jun 18.
    PubMed PMID: 24941131;
    PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4161131.

Additionally, Dr. Lewis Hsu has participated in several grant applications for newborn screening for sickle cell in Nigeria (European Union Marie Curie RISE program, Wellcome Trust, British NHS, Children’s Prize). The video pitches the need and the main ideas we are trying to get funded.

Pediatric Tobacco Control by Clinicians in Kenya Heading link

The Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE) clinical curriculum is designed to help clinicians address family tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure in a routine and effective manner. CEASE was developed and tested via extensive research in the United States (US) and our team has demonstrated its effectiveness in pediatric settings in the US and in China. The proposed project aims to adapt and test the CEASE intervention for use in clinical settings in Kenya and to build the tobacco control research-capacity of investigators, pediatricians, community health workers and clinical practice in Kenya. Our ultimate goal is to assess the impact of these interventions on tobacco-related outcomes. The Specific Aims of the proposed project are to:

  1. Develop an adaptation of the CEASE tobacco intervention for child healthcare physicians and community health workers in Kenya to address parental smoking and the secondhand smoke exposure of children and other nonsmokers;
  2. Test the feasibility and acceptability of CEASE tobacco interventions in clinical settings in Kenya; and
  3. Build the research capacity of child healthcare physicians, community health workers and other stakeholders via collaboration in the development and practice-based testing of the CEASE intervention.

Neurofibromatosis Awareness and Education in Brazil Heading link

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a ubiquitous disease, but patients from developing countries tend to suffer more due to lack of resources and expertise. Much progress has been made in management of NF in the recent years, especially with advances in Neuro-Oncology and Neuroimaging. Still, than are approximately 80,000 Brazilians with NF but very few health professionals with expertise in treating the condition.

In Brazil, a pioneer work has been done by AMANF, a local association of patients with Neurofibromatosis. Through a long-established partnership with expert providers, including Dr. Nikolas Mata-Machado of UIC, the group has published guidelines to engage patients, developed a blog and spread awareness of this condition in Brazil using different media formats.

Additionally, the partnership is working to improve the section on neurology the Brazilian Blackbook of Pediatrics (the most utilized pediatric textbook in Brazil). This textbook is an invaluable tool for physicians to use in diverse settings.

Literature

Papers

  1. Figueiredo, A. C.; Mata-Machado, N.; McCoyd, M.; Biller: Neurocutaneous Disorders for the Practicing Neurologist: a Focused Review. Current neurology and neuroscience reports(2016) DOI: 10.1007/s11910-015-0612-7
  2. Batista, P. B.; Bertollo, E. M.; Costa Dde, S.; Eliam, L.; Cunha, K. S.; Cunha-Melo, J. R.; Darrigo Junior, L. G.; Geller, M.; Gianordoli-Nascimento, I. F.; Madeira, L. G.; Mendes, H. M.; Miranda, D. M.; Mata-Machado, N.; Morato, E. G.; Pavarino, E. C.; Pereira, L. B.; Rezende, N. A.; Rodrigues Lde, O.; Sette, J. B.: Neurofibromatosis: part 2 – clinical management. Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (2015) DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20150042

Book chapters

  1. Epilepsy in Children: Mata-Machado,N: . In: black book pediatric manual, editor. Blackbook editora. Belo Horizonte (Brazil) ISBN: 9788599130070
  2. Headache in Children: Mata-Machado,N: . In: black book pediatric manual, editor. Blackbook editora. Belo Horizonte (Brazil) In press

Contact

Nikolas Mata-Machado MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in Neurology
Associate Medical Director of Child and Youth Center
Director of Neurofibromatosis Clinic
nmatam2@uic.edu