Leaders from Banner-University Medicine and the UA will provide an update about the “Children’s Postinfectious Autoimmune Encephalopathy (CPAE) Center of Excellence”—the first center of its kind in the United States. The new center will conduct research and treat children suffering from autoimmune disorders that result when the body’s immune system attacks the brain, as a result from an infection like strep throat. These often misdiagnosed and debilitating disorders are estimated to affect between 1.8 and 2.9 million children nationwide.
DATE/TIME: THURSDAY, JAN. 26, 9 – 9:30 A.M.
LOCATION: Arizona State Capitol
House Hearing Room 4
1700 W. Washington St.
PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Arizona House of Representatives will hold a Health Committee session featuring the “Children’s Postinfectious Autoimmune Encephalopathy (CPAE) Center of Excellence,” on Thursday, Jan. 26, 9 a.m., at the Arizona State Capitol.
Kathy Bollinger, executive vice president of Banner – University Medicine, Charles Cairns, MD, dean, UA College of Medicine –Tucson, and others will provide an update about the Children’s Postinfectious Autoimmune Encephalopathy (CPAE) Center of Excellence at the UA Steele Children’s Research Center that opened in August.
The CPAE Center is the first of its kind in the United States. The Arizona Legislature, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and the PACE Foundation played pivotal roles in getting the center established through the UA-Banner partnership.
Bollinger and Dean Cairns will provide an update about the CPAE Center and Paul Ryan, founder of the PACE Foundation, will discuss how Banner, the UA and PACE are organizing a national symposium to address children’s postinfectious autoimmune encephalopathies in research, education, clinical care and outreach to academic health centers across the nation.
In addition, UA-Banner pediatric immunologist Michael Daines, MD, will provide an update about the center’s efforts in diagnosis, treatment, research and training. He also will provide a description of autoimmune encephalopathies and highlight patient Holland Barr, a young girl from Scottsdale who successfully was treated at the new center.
The hearing will live stream at: http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=8.
About the UA Steele Children’s Research Center
The UA Steele Children’s Research Center is one of the prestigious Centers of Excellence within the UA College of Medicine - Tucson at the University of Arizona Health Sciences. It is the state’s only academic pediatric research center designated by the Arizona Board of Regents, and the only facility in Southern Arizona where researchers and physician-scientists are dedicated to advancing medical knowledge through basic and translational research to improve children’s health. As researchers, they seek to discover answers to children’s medical mysteries. As physician-scientists, they provide compassionate care to hospitalized patients at Banner Children’s at Diamond Children’s Medical Center and pediatric outpatient clinics throughout Tucson and the state. And, as faculty members with the UA Department of Pediatrics, they teach and train the next generation of pediatricians and researchers.
About Banner Health
Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health-care systems in the nation. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, the Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, Banner Medical Group, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services, including family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.