Holly Wayment interviews Dr. Alice Gong about updated newborn screening guidelines, expanded blood tests (now 59–60), additions like lysosomal storage disorders and SMA, point-of-care screens (hearing and critical congenital heart disease), and newborn blood spot retention and consent policies.

The episode covers testing timelines, follow-up coordination between hospitals and pediatricians, counseling families about results, special considerations for premature or critically ill infants, and emerging genomic approaches.

Holly Wayment and the Department of Pediatrics at UT Health San Antonio bring you this episode featuring Dr. Eric Horvitz from Microsoft, who explores the history, recent breakthroughs, and future directions of AI in medicine. He discusses advances from early expert systems to modern generative, multimodal, and agentic AI, and practical applications like diagnostic orchestration and tumor board support.

Dr. Horvitz highlights trends such as scale, real-time reasoning, cross-modality models, and human-AI collaboration, and emphasizes challenges around reliability, integration, ethics, and regulation while arguing for thoughtful adoption to improve healthcare outcomes.

link for CME credit coming soon!

Host Holly Wayment speaks with Dr. Deena Sutter about rising H3N2 influenza activity, a partial vaccine mismatch, and what pediatricians and families should do as cases climb.

They discuss vaccine effectiveness, when to test and treat, masking and infection control, and specific guidance to protect babies too young to be vaccinated.

The episode also covers a local pertussis outbreak, the role of vaccination gaps, and practical communication tips for clinicians to counsel vaccine-hesitant parents.

https://cmetracker.net/UTHSCSA/Publisher?page=pubOpen#/getCertificate/10101339

Dr. Ian Mitchell joins Holly Wayment to review pectus excavatum and carinatum: how they present, typical ages of detection, and practical screening tips for pediatricians.

The episode summarizes evaluation steps including when to order CT with Haller index, echocardiography, and pulmonary testing, and compares treatment options—bracing and vacuum bell therapy, Nuss and Ravitch procedures—plus timing (ideal repair ~14–15 years) and perioperative care.

Listeners also hear about pain management advances (erector spinae blocks, cryoanalgesia), outcomes, psychosocial effects, adult considerations, and the Fresh Start program offering free reconstructive surgeries for eligible families.

Link for CME Credit

https://cmetracker.net/UTHSCSA/Publisher?page=pubOpen#/getCertificate/10101136

Goat Milk Formula: New U.S. Approval — What Pediatricians Need to Know

In this episode of Pediatrics Now with Host Holly Wayment, Dr. Cynthia Blanco discusses the recent FDA approval of goat milk–based infant formula in the U.S., how it compares to cow’s milk formula, and what pediatricians should know about nutrient composition, allergy management, and clinical scenarios. She reviews evidence on tolerability, digestibility, and common misconceptions, emphasizes the importance of breastfeeding, and offers practical counseling strategies for families considering goat milk formula.

Link for CME Credit Coming Soon!

Dr. Sheldon Gross explains how evaluation and management of tics and Tourette's syndrome, when to refer to neurology or psychiatry, and practical steps for families and schools. He emphasizes the power of a thorough history, behavioral therapies like CBIT, thoughtful medication use, and lifestyle factors such as sleep and stress. We also delve into when psychiatry and neurology in general overlap.

The episode also covers related conditions—PANDAS/PANS, autoimmune encephalitis, functional neurological disorders, and seizures—highlighting collaboration between specialties and offering reassurance about prognosis for most children.

Holly Wayment talks with Dr. Sheldon Gross about how to tell tics from twitches, common causes and triggers (stress, stimulants, sleep), and simple first steps families and pediatricians can take to reduce symptoms without medication.

They review Tourette’s criteria, behavioral approaches like CBIT, medication options (guanfacine, clonidine, antipsychotics, topiramate), red flags for seizures or other neurological causes, and the overlap between neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Link for CME credit coming soon!

Dr. Avinash Boddapati joins Pediatrics Now and builds on the wonderful talk by Dr. Mario Fierro in part one, to explain more about what we know—and don’t—about the causes of autism, highlighting that autism is multifactorial and involves genetics, brain biology, and environmental influences.

He covers early red flags, genetic risk and testing, maternal and prenatal factors, common misconceptions (including vaccines), and promising research directions like gene–environment interactions and epigenetics.

Key takeaways for pediatric clinicians: counsel families without blame, prioritize early identification and intervention, and weigh risks and benefits when discussing exposures during pregnancy.