Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Jayne Ness, MD, PhD Patients and Families in which a child has multiple sclerosis face many challenges in their daily lives. How can physicians support the family and their patient to cope with MS. Join Dr. Jayne Ness whose research focuses on Pediatric Demyelinating Disease, share her thoughts with host Dr. Bill Rutenberg.

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Jayne Ness, MD, PhD Dr. Jayne Ness shares with host Dr. Bill Rutenberg the profile of a child diagonsed with Multiple Sclerosis, typically a disease identified previously only in adults. What does it look like in children and what should pediatricians and neurologists be looking for to identify MS?

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Joseph Muenzer, MD Previously, patients could only receive palliative care for symptoms associated with Hunter syndrome, a rare but serious genetic disorder that inhibits the body’s ability to break down specific complex carbohydrates. Now, a new enzyme therapy is making it possible to prevent Hunter syndrome manifestation, typically occurring as early as year two, which dramatically improves long-term quality of life. How quickly do patients show improvement with enzyme therapy? What are the most common side effects? Join host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill for an interesting conversation with Dr. Joseph Muenzer, professor of pediatrics and genetics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and one of the world’s leading experts on Hunter syndrome.

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Joseph Muenzer, MD Hunter syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that inhibits the body’s ability to break down specific complex carbohydrates. Initial onset symptoms include inguinal hernias, recurrent otitis, and the common cold, frequently manifesting concurrently as part of a multi-system failure sometime after the first year of life. Because many of these symptoms are common in infants, physicians often do not suspect Hunter syndrome, yet treatment for the disease is much more effective when administered early in its progression. How can we minimize the delay typically associated with diagnosis of Hunter syndrome? Dr. Joseph Muenzer, professor of pediatrics and genetics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and one of the world’s leading authorities in Hunter syndrome research, joins host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill to share his expertise.

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Joseph Muenzer, MD Hunter syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that inhibits the body’s ability to break down specific complex carbohydrates. What are the prinicipal symptoms that would lead a primary care physician to consider Hunter syndrome? Dr. Joseph Muenzer, professor of pediatrics and genetics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and one of the world’s leading authorities in Hunter syndrome research, joins host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill to share his expertise.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Michele Goodwin, JD Michele Goodwin, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and recent author of "Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts," joins host Dr. Maurie Pickard to discuss the transplant waiting list. How we can respond to the growing list of patients waiting for transplants. Can we fairly address the dynamics of a wait list that has one group of people such as African Americans who are more severely impacted by lack of available organs for transplant? Join us for an interesting conversation.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Michele Goodwin, JD Michele Goodwin, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and recent author of "Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts," formulates a hybrid business model that includes incentives and altruism to increase the number of transplants by 40% per year. The voice of moral concern is not the only one being heard in this paradigm.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Michele Goodwin, JD Michele Goodwin, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and recent author of "Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts" discusses what can be done to shorten the wait for organ transplants. Current solutions such as matching programs, solicitations and altruism still lead to poor outcomes in that 50% of patients on transplant lists die before their names are called.

Host: Paul Raeburn Guest: Chiara Cirelli, MD, PhD Why do we sleep, and what happens when we do? Why is sleep so critical to the brain? Join host Paul Raeburn addressing these and related questions in depth with sleep medicine expert Dr. Chiara Cirelli. Her work identifying genes involved in sleep regulation and characterizing molecular correlates of sleep and wakefulness is explored to provide a clearer depiction of this mysterious basic human function.

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Paul Davenport, PhD Coughing is usually thought of as a brainstem reflex event with little information coming from higher brain centers. Yet we all can cough voluntarily. What is known today about the biology of the urge to cough? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes expert Dr. Paul Davenport to discuss the stages of what takes cough from motivation to action and how this may be relevant clinically.