Several young people have fallen seriously ill from the coronavirus in Europe, the Trump administrations coronavirus task force said on Wednesday, suggesting that the elderly are not the only group vulnerable to the flu-like virus. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator, urged millennials to heed health guidelines more forcefully and avoid any large social gatherings. There are concerning reports coming our of France and Italy about some young people getting seriously ill and very seriously ill in ICUs, she said during the task forces briefing on Wednesday. She said the task force feared that Americans had seen data from China and South Korea that suggested the flu-like virus largely affected the elderly or those with pre-existing medical conditions. It may have been that the millennial generation, our largest generation, our future generation... there may be [a] disproportional number of infections among that group and so even if its a rare occurrence, it may be seen more frequently in that group and be evidence now. She said millennials cannot have these large gatherings that continue to occur across the country.. you have the potential to spread it to someone. She added that there does not appear to be significant mortality among children.

The task force issued 15-day guidelines on Monday that, in part, said states with evidence of community transmission should close bars, restaurants, and places where large groups congregate. They also called on all Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

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Trump Task Force: Millennials Are Getting Seriously Ill From Coronavirus and Need to Avoid Socializing - The Daily Beast

Good nutrition somehow has a direct impact on ones overall health and quality of well-being. When you follow a healthy diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you arent just satisfying your hunger, but youre nourishing your body too. Nutrition serves as an essential aspect of a healthy lifestyle, the importance of which just cannot be undermined. But are we even familiar that the benefits of good nutrition go beyond weight? The Bridge caught up with Arunava Bhattacharyya, a certified personal trainer, and nutritionist to discuss how good nutrition helps boost ones health and how to go about it.

Source: Instagram / Arunava Bhattacharyya

Proper nutrition means to be benefitted with all kinds of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that a human body needs to work its best. Usually, the source of daily calories consumed becomes just as important as the number of calories we consume. Nutrition trainers often stress upon limiting the consumption of empty calories, which comes with food that provides little or no nutritional value at all.

There is a common belief that in order to become fit, you should hit the gym or maybe enroll yourself in Zumba classes or be involved with any physical activity. Even when doctors come across an overweight person, they usually advise for a morning walk or jog. But I have been stressing upon how important nutrition is to our health. There is a lot beyond the kind of physical activities we do daily, says Arunava.

Also read: Could proper nutrition be the Achilles heel to coronavirus?

However, there is a piece of much differing information out there when it comes to nutrition. As a consequence, it can be sometimes difficult to figure out the healthiest ways to eat. But having said that, one might wonder what to expect to familiarise with specific requirements and limitations while consuming a proper diet.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Ghee always had its own benefits, but in between, it had a nasty reputation of being high in saturated fats. Ghee, butter, and coconut oil are rich in Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT). MCT is helpful in boosting energy and increasing endurance, besides it plays an important role in improving weight management, he explains.

But then, how does one build an ideal nutritional plan? Experts suggest it is all about balanced proportions of a nutrient-rich diet from various food groups, and adhering to several healthy eating habits. Besides, vitamin and mineral use has skyrocketed over the past decade as the nation has experienced a massive health and wellness boom.

In general, it is believed by health experts that our diets should be our main source for vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Should health supplements replace a well-balanced diet, one may argue. Human bodies, as Arunava admits, are naturally designed to absorb and make use of nutrients as they occur in foods.

Source: Instagram / Arunava Bhattacharyya

The deadly coronavirus presents many uncertainties, and none of us can completely eliminate our risk of being infected. But what we can definitely do is eat as healthily as possible. If infected, our immune system is responsible for fighting it, because research shows improving nutrition helps support optimal immune function. Micro-nutrients essential to fight infection include vitamins A, B, C, D, and E, and the minerals iron, selenium, and zinc.

The fear of Coronavirus is more because of the way it has been spreading. As a matter of fact, there is not enough research to suggest where this virus is originating from. One of my friends called up and said that his father is prescribing homeopathic medicines to help people cure them of coronavirus. To me, 99% of it is misinformation that has been floating around, Arunava suggests.

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Know what this nutrition expert believes is best to fight coronavirus - The Bridge

Malnourished people tend to be more prone to disease (Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission)

In light of the ongoing global health concerns, wellness is top of mind for people around the world.

While one should never disregard their health, it is now more critical than ever to ensure we take care of ourselves and our loved ones.

Our bodies are naturally equipped to fight off disease, and while no one is invincible, we can significantly lower our risk of infection by strengthening our immune system.

At times like these - when our travel is impacted, major events are canceled, and the news fails to offer any glimmer of hope = it can seem like we dont have any control. But we do.

We can choose what goes into our bodies, and we have the power to protect ourselves in this way. Keep reading to learn how you can take control, strengthen your immune system, and remain strong and healthy through these uncertain times.

Humans are not defenseless. Our bodies are naturally equipped with a complex and powerful immune system to fend off disease.

Both to its credit and detriment, our immune system can be compromised depending on ones lifestyle. Treat your body right, and you can give your cells a fighting chance of fending off infections. Here are five basic steps to strengthen your system:

We get it - all of these are common sense practices that should be incorporated into any healthy lifestyle, but thats the key: a healthy lifestyle.

The immune system is based on the constant creation and death of cells. When we keep these cells in a steady state of health, we can take charge and defend our bodies to the best of our ability.

Those who can should exercise regularly(Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission)

Professors at Harvard School of Public Health have noted that those who are malnourished - even micronutrient malnourished - tend to be more prone to disease.

Those in developing countries and the elderly tend to be most at risk, as these two populations either dont get enough food or decrease the variety in their diets, but young, affluent, and seemingly healthy people can also experience micronutrient malnourishment.

To function at full capacity, cells need the essential nutrients - not just carbs, proteins, and fats, but vitamins A-K, magnesium, potassium, iron, calcium, boron, and more.

The Standard American Diet - along with popular diet trends such as Keto and Paleo - relies on foods such as meat and dairy that are severely lacking in these micronutrients. Plant-based foods, on the other hand, tend to be extremely high in these essential nutrients that support healthy cell function. Think of it this way: when one consumes a dairy product, such as cows milk, they are likely opting out of a more nutrient-dense option, such as pea milk.

While its true dairy does contain some nutrients - mainly calcium, protein, potassium, and fortified vitamin D -it also contains harmful trans and saturated fats, artery-constricting cholesterol, natural bovine hormones that may stimulate unregulated cell growth (increasing the risk for hormone-dependent cancers), and inflammatory properties. When there are ample amounts of foods that offer the same nutrients without the side harmful side effects, there is no reason to consume dairy for the sake of meeting nutrition needs.

Dairy containsharmful trans and saturated fats, artery-constricting cholesterol, natural bovine hormones and inflammatory properties(Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission)

In addition to micronutrients, antioxidants are key. These compounds are mostly found in plant foods and help fight inflammationthe nexus for disease. In fact, a whole foods, plant-based diet contains 64-times the amount of immunity-boosting antioxidants compared to a diet that includes meat and dairy. Cut out the antioxidant-depleted animal foods and incorporate these nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich plant foods into your diet.

Need help transforming these foods into meals? Start with this Chocolate Beet Magic Soup, Anti-Inflammation Recovery Smoothie, or this Mediterranean GoodBowl.

Inflammation is part of our immune systems toolkit. When we scrape our knee, break down our muscles via exercise, or become infected with a pathogen, the immune system triggers an inflammatory response to help the body heal.

Cells rush to the injury or infection site and work to destroy the pathogen or heal the wound. Temporary, or acute inflammation, is perfectly natural. You might experience some site-specific swelling, soreness, or redness, but it will go away within a few days.

Long-term, or chronic inflammation, however, can compromise your immune system.

Essentially, the immune system goes into overdrive, and over time it simply cannot keep up. Because chronic inflammation overtaxes the immune system, researchers have definitively stated that chronic inflammation is malignant and sets the stage for disease.

Certain foods are known to cause inflammation, and when one consumes these foods regularly, they can lead to chronic inflammation. Food should not be a stress to the body - it should be purely supportive and healing.

Dairy - from plain cows' milk to yogurt - is a highly inflammatory food. Researchers believe a number of its compounds trigger an inflammatory response, including its unbalanced ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s, high levels of trans and saturated fats, the sugar molecule D-galactose, and foreign compounds the human body doesn't recognize such as Neu5gc (a simple sugar molecule the human body does not make or need - thus mounting an immune response to fight this 'foreign invader').

Nuts like walnuts are inflamation-fighting and immunity-boosting

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Ways To Boost Your Immunity On A Plant-Based Diet - Plant Based News

All too often, like the boy who cried wolf, the word crisis is casually tossed about to grab attention or stir emotions. Unfortunately, crisis understates the imminent threat that the coronavirus outbreak poses to our personal and collective health and economic future.

We know almost instinctively what to do when floods or tornadoes strike, but many feel powerless in this pandemic. To contain the disease and minimize its effects, everyone must act to lead us through what lies ahead.

Foremost are personal efforts to protect your health and those around you. You have heard this before, but the single most effective thing you can do is wash your hands with soap and warm water frequently even up to once an hour. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your elbow crook when you cough or sneeze. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Eat a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables (frozen or canned) and get proper sleep.

If you are over 65 and or have pre-existing health conditions like lung disease, diabetes or are immunosuppressed, remain homebound and limit interaction. Social distancing is highly effective in limiting spread of the coronavirus. Healthy individuals age 50 to 65 are also at risk and must limit public interactions.

If you have flu-like symptoms, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care. Call your provider, urgent care clinic or emergency room before going in person. Medical personnel will advise you if you need to be evaluated in person. Frequently clean and disinfect hard surfaces and objects, such as doorknobs, countertops, touchscreens and cell phones.

Our traditional, heroic volunteerism in the face of a natural disaster can be tremendously beneficial, now more than ever. Young adults and teenagers can electronically organize groups to individually babysit for parents especially healthcare professionals, first responders, police, firefighters and food service workers who cannot work from home.

Visit your elderly homebound neighbors, either virtually or from outside, maintaining social distancing. Volunteer to prepare or pick up meals and deliver them to the homebound. If you have a favorite restaurant, offer to deliver meals for 1 or 2 hours a day for free. My husband and I are going to do this to help small businesses survive through the pandemic. One caveat, do not do volunteer work if you have a fever or cough!

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We need free and vastly more available coronavirus testing. As a former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I suggested more funding for the agency. A $525,000 appropriation was made to the State Hygienic Laboratory for testing kits; its possible more will be required.

Drive-by testing should be fast-tracked and implemented immediately. We need to know who has symptoms or is ill and how many are infected but asymptomatic. Restrictions on telemedicine should be temporarily lifted and all insurers should reimburse such care.

We should develop a volunteer healthcare workforce through temporary licensure of physicians, nurses and physicians assistants who have retired or whose licenses lapsed. My husband and I both former Army medical professionals would be willing to volunteer to reduce the potential burden on current health care personnel, as I am sure other former Army active duty and reserve members would.

Immunity should be granted to volunteer healthcare providers and expanded telehealth service unless conduct is significantly outside the standard of care. This approach also should become part of our preparedness planning. State and federal lawmakers should also loosen unemployment compensation rules for those who are temporarily out of work or see their work hours reduced; temporarily increase in SNAP benefits and low-interest small business loans; temporarily defer student loan repayments; and suspend FICA tax collection for up to 90 days.

Our best selves prevail in any disaster because we come together to help others. A pandemic differs because we must maintain distance and hygiene, but not in how we respond in spirit and action. Iowa and America have always risen to the challenge and we will do so again.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks represents District 41 in the Iowa Senate. She is an ophthalmologist, former president of the Iowa Medical Society and former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Originally posted here:
To fight coronavirus in Iowa: Good hygiene, free testing, more telemedicine - The Gazette

When uncertainty is high, few things are more reassuring than having a plan to follow.

By Gaurav Gupta

Change is hard and complex, and changing the behaviors of millions of people is especially so. It is seductive to try to make it simple or at least more defined and straightforward. For the millions of people who decide to go on a diet each year, for example, following a program like Atkins or Paleo is a straightforward way to get started. For the business leaders who are looking to make their businesses more efficient, more effective or more nimble, particularly when prompted by external events like the current global pandemic, following a methodology like Six Sigma or Agile similarly provides a seemingly easy way to get started and a roadmap to follow. When uncertainty is high, few things are more reassuring than having a plan to follow.

There are successful stories to look to for inspiration and a well-documented process to follow that requires little upfront thought and planning. But for every company, like GE, that was successful in driving change through Six Sigma, there are countless others that were not as successful or successful at all. For every successful Atkins weight loss victory there are countless people who started and stopped achieving no meaningful results.

The data below shows searches on Google for some popular management techniques and diets. These searches are a proxy for the popularity of these methodologies and show a dramatic decline in the popularity of Six Sigma and Quality Circles. We can see that Agile still has some runway. One possibility for this trend of a rise in popularity followed by a gradual decline, is that these methodologies are simply being replaced by newer, more effective ones. Another hypothesis is that these methodologies got popular on the backs of some great successes but eventually were found to not be universally effective.

Google search data

The reality may well be a combination of both. What is clear is that many organizations, in their quest to find easy answers to the complex questions inherent in managing a modern-day business, turn to the most popular ideas of the day and mostly fail to see any real benefits. None of these methodologies are inherently bad or invaluable if they didnt work in at least some scenarios, they would never have gotten so popular. However, once popularized they are stretched in their application or implemented in a manner that reduces the concept to some seemingly sensible but limiting techniques that are implemented without a robust understanding of the underlying ideas.

So, before jumping on the bandwagon of Agile or 360 feedback (or the latest diet) there are a few questions you should ask yourself:

Why are we doing this and how will our business performance be improved?

While it might seem obvious at the start, once the teams have been spun up, the budgets established, the implementation timeline determined and the objectives cascaded to each unit, function and department, the goals are often no longer clear. When a process is so well established, it becomes easy to default to. There is a risk of operating on a sort of autopilot looking at procedural metrics and losing sight of the business goals and how the context may have shifted since the start of the whole effort. Companies start to focus on how many Six Sigma black belts have been trained or how many projects have been completed, instead of focusing on the business impact of these efforts. This is especially true in rapidly changing environments where it can be difficult to tease out the impact of the efforts. Worse still, often the reasons for following a particular management fad is the fear of missing out on some terrific benefit that everyone else is realizing. A few years ago, in a conversation about the future manufacturing footprint, a leader of a large food business admitted that the main reason behind pursuing a large investment in a Chinese facility was that everyone else was doing so. This may well have been the right decision, but it was certainly not made based on robust analysis of the available information.

What are the principles behind the approach?

In an increasing fast paced world, success is contingent on many employees actively engaged in making things better. As my colleague Justin Wasserman remarks, Operational excellence can be achieved through engagement instead of enforcement. Engagement requires more than an understanding of processes and methods; it requires an understanding and commitment to the principles and ideas followed by actual actions and behaviors. Almost all management methodologies originated from some principles and specific goals that the company that developed them was looking to achieve. For example, at its heart, Lean is about focusing on activities that add value to a customer. This can mean different things in different businesses, but too often businesses jump right into techniques and methods without reflecting on the principles and goals that underpin them. A one size approach may fit most, many, or hardly anyone at all. It could be highly dependent upon what youre trying to accomplish.

I worked with a paper and pulp company which, in its quest to be more efficient, implemented a Lean program. The Lean methodology, which originated from Toyota, was designed for the automobile industry which has an almost infinite number of different products models, configurations, colors and the like. By contrast, a manufacturer of corrugated paper has just a few. For an automobile manufacturer, minimizing working inventory is critical you dont want to be stuck with a lot of clutch assemblies if consumer interest moves further to automatic transmissions. However, the downside to minimizing working inventory is that the supply chain is not as resilient and you increase the probability of lost production from missing components or materials. For a paper company, this lost time is far more valuable than the reduction in working inventory. By implementing a method (to reduce working inventory) rather than adoptingthe principle (focus on what adds value to the customer) the company actually became less efficient.

Which parts of this approach is relevant to our business?

Another way to stay focused on relevance to your business is to ask which techniques/methods are actually relevant to solving your biggest challenges. In the previous example, some aspects of Lean manufacturing such as reducing product waste were highly relevant, whereas others were not. Another version of this is to understand which functions or departments are likely to benefit from the methodology. The iterative approach that is the hallmark of the Agile methodology may be highly effective for sales or product development but may be less so for customer service or human resources.

What is the most effective way to implement the approach?

Even when the methodology checks out to be a good fit with the needs of your business, poor execution can undermine the effectiveness of its implementation. Companies often rely on newly created departments or technical experts who are steeped in the methodology to lead the implementation. This can backfire, as these individuals are typically highly committed to the approach and can fail to see the limitations, overlook the essential step of creating strong buy-in, and can push too far too fast, leading to disruption and cynicism. Starting from the underlying principles and an understanding of which aspects of the approach are most relevant to the business allows leaders to develop an implementation plan that integrates with the business operations, includes a clear articulation of the benefits to be realized, demonstrates early success and engages employees through early and active participation.

New and popular management approaches and ideas can be very useful for businesses in keeping pace with the rate of change. However, beware of the frequency with which these ideas and concepts get replaced with a rigid methodology and tools. These techniques so often get blindly applied without a robust understanding of the underlying principles or without a clear sense of connection to the real business challenges, all of which, not surprisingly, is highly ineffective at making any meaningful change.

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Silver Bullets Are Seductive But Unhelpful Especially In Uncertain Times - Forbes

Dr. Levy, senior physician in medicine and genetics at Boston Children's Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, is being honored for his many years of groundbreaking work with patients who have genetic metabolic diseases including phenylketonuria (PKU), homocystinuria, cobalamin metabolic disorder, and others; as well as for his training and mentoring of the next generation of genetics service providers; and for his major contributions to the development of newborn screening in the United States and around the world.

Dr. Levy's medical career spans more than 60 years. He hasmentored over 60 medical genetics fellows; published more than 400 research articles, reviews, book chapters, and proceedings from research meetings; written 2 books and created 2 educational videos for patients and clinicians; served on editorial boards and as a reviewer for numerous prominent research journals; and founded and formerly directed both the Maternal PKU Program and the Inborn Errors of Metabolism/PKU Program at Boston Children's Hospital.

"Harvey Levy is a physician scientist who has been instrumental in the development of newborn screening programs for metabolic diseases," said former ACMG Executive Director Dr. Michael S. Watson, FACMG. "Of particular importance has been his melding of knowledge of clinical genetics, population genetics and metabolic diseases to identify critical issues in the transition from a disease-based understanding of particular metabolic diseases to a population-based prevention program that has had enormous impact on hundreds of newborns in the United States."

"We take newborn screening for granted now," said Gerard Berry, MD, director of the Metabolism Program and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. "There are laws in different states that babies need to be screened for certain diseases. But when Harvey began, this was uncharted territory. People didn't understand the power of newborn screening and how it could change lives by allowing someone to get on a diet or a medication that they need to take for life in order to be healthy. Harvey played a major role in allowing all of this to come to fruition. These same individuals, who might have been institutionalized years ago because of severe intellectual disability, are now students in elite colleges. Harvey possesses insight and super-ability to understand what is really important for healthcare. Newborn screening is one of the major healthcare successes of the previous centurymaybe the most important healthcare success. And Harvey was part of a group of unique individuals who helped to see that through."

The news that he had received the David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award came to Dr. Levy as a delightful surprise. "This means a great deal to me because of the ACMG, where I've been an active member for a number of years," Levy shared. "It's a wonderful organization full of outstanding individuals, so to be in that company is particularly gratifying. And it's very, very nice to be appreciated."

"The Rimoin family is proud to recognize Dr. Harvey L. Levy, whose outstanding work includes studies that formed the basis for newborn metabolic screening, the discovery of the first human vitamin B12defect and the establishment of cobalamin defects, and the development of Maternal PKU programs," said Dr. Ann Garber, David Rimoin's surviving spouse."Based on his scientific accomplishments, along with his remarkable integrity, empathy and collaboration, our family is pleased to honor Dr. Levy with the David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award."

Beyond his list of academic achievements and leadership positions, the nominations for Dr. Levy to receive this award stressed his abounding generosity of time, knowledge and skill while working with patients, families and the broad range of clinical providers and researchers who have collaborated with him.

"He's dedicated himself to the study of PKU and metabolic disorders with an energy and intellect and soul that is extraordinary," said neuropsychologist Susan Waisbren, PhD, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and Dr. Levy's long-time collaborator at Boston Children's Hospital Metabolism Clinic. "One of the qualities I've always found striking is the respect he has for professions outside of medicine. In his mind, every member of the clinical team is important. He truly feels this and it shows in his academic as well as clinical work. He has included as co-authors psychologists, dieticians, social workers, genetic counselors, nurses, administrators, secretaries, and parents.

"The patients adore him, always," she added, "and they recognize a certain compassion and ability to see the whole person, not just the metabolic disorder."

"Harvey is one of those special individuals who one may encounteronce in a lifetime," said Dr. Levy's collaborator at Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Berry. "He's much more than an accomplished geneticistand investigator.First and foremost, he's a very endearing individual with a wonderful bedside manner, and he's beloved by patients and families whom he's cared for over the years. Harvey goes out of his way to make things better for patients and their families."

As an example, Dr. Berry, who has knownDr. Levy for several decades, recalled a case around 15 years ago, when a baby had been born with PKU in a suburban hospital outside of Boston. "Without telling anyone, Harvey drove to the hospital just to say hello to the new parents and to see the baby," Dr. Berry recounted. "He didn't need to do that. Everything was already in place, people were already taking care of what needed to be done, but he felt compelled to drive out there on a Friday evening to say hello."

Harvey L. Levy was born in Augusta, Georgia in 1935, the eldest of three sons. His father owned a one-room mercantile that supplied clothing to families of the surrounding area, which comprised mostly farmland during that period. His mother, who was a homemaker, graduated from Hunter College and served as a technician in a research laboratory in New York before her marriage. He credits her with some of his initial interest in research.

"I was a guy who was looking for answers to things, so I was always interested in science. And I particularly liked chemistry," Dr. Levy recalled. "My mother was a very intelligent person and very interested in education and music and arts, and also interested in science. I talked with my mother quite a bit about science. So, I think she had a feeling that maybe it would be a good idea for me to be a doctor."

Dr. Levy began studying history as an undergraduate student at Emory University and then switched to an early admission program at the Medical College of Georgia. One of his medical school professors, the famous Dr. Victor Vaughan, headed the department of pediatrics and had a profound influence on the direction of Dr. Levy's career. "I was always interested in pediatrics because of its developmental aspects," explained Dr. Levy. "I felt that if I was going to do something in terms of disease, preventing or helping patients in a significant way, I had to start early, and the earlier the better."

After completing his medical degree in 1960, Dr. Levy served an internship in pediatrics at the Boston City Hospital under Dr.Sydney Gellis, a renowned teacher of pediatrics. Following the internship he moved to New York and the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, where he spent a year under Dr. Dorothy Anderson, the discoverer of cystic fibrosis. Then, as world events escalated toward the start of the Vietnam War, he was drafted and served 2 years in the Unites States Navy as a medical officer stationed in the Philippines.

His introduction to genetics came when he returned to his medical training in 1964 as a second-year pediatrics resident at Johns Hopkins University, where he met the pioneering pediatric clinical geneticist Dr. Barton Childs. What he learned from Dr. Childs about DNA triggered memories of an earlier time, and brought forth questions that further defined Dr. Levy's future career.

"If I go back to my childhood, my upbringing, I had three cousins from one of my father's brothers, whose family we were very close to, and all of these cousins were developmentally disabled," Dr. Levy said. " No reason was given for their disability and I always thought if I got into genetics, then maybe I could discover the causes of brain disease, particularly intellectual disability, and maybe I could influence the prevention of it."

Dr. Levy returned to Boston, where he served as Chief Resident in Pediatrics back at the Boston City Hospital. During that year he heard a lecture by Dr. Mary Efron, director of the Amino Acid Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital, in which she described her studies on metabolic disorders and their enzymatic defects as well as how newborn screening was helping clinicians to identify infants with these disorders so they could receive immediate preventive treatment.

"I became so fascinated with that. It was just absolutely the thing that I really wanted to do," recalled Dr. Levy. "Here was chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, and the prevention of disease! So I asked Dr. Efron if I could do a fellowship with her, which resulted in an NIH-funded fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. And that began the journey that has continued to this day."

One cold, fateful Friday afternoon while he was working in Dr. Efron's lab, a telephone call came from Dr. Robert MacCready, director of the Massachusetts Newborn Screening Program. Dr. MacCready asked if someone could come to the screening lab to look at an unusual screening result. Dr. Efron was ill, so Dr. Levy rode his bicycle seven miles across town to the State Laboratory Institute, where he recognized the unusual spot on the paper chromatogram test as a high level of methionine, the hallmark of a genetic disorder he had recently learned about called homocystinuria.

"I called the baby's doctor and asked if I could see the baby at the Massachusetts General Hospital the following Monday," Dr. Levy recalled. "The family and baby came that Monday and I confirmed that the infant indeed had homocystinuria. I asked if they had other children, and was told, 'Yes, we have a daughter.' And I asked if she was ok, and they said she was fine. I asked to see her and she was brought to the next visit, where I immediately recognized that she was developmentally delayed and had other features of homocystinuria that had only recently been described. She was born before screening for homocystinuria had begun. So that launched me into the field of methionine metabolism and some very interesting new areas of research." Much of this research was in collaboration with the late Dr. Harvey Mudd of the NIH, who was the world's foremost authority on methionine and on sulfur amino acid metabolism in general.

Dr. Efron passed away and Dr. Levy assumed Dr. Efron's position as consultant to the Massachusetts Newborn Screening Program and, in 1972, was appointed Director of the program. Four years later, he became Chief of Biochemical Genetics for the New England Newborn Screening Program, a position he held until 1997. Throughout this period, Dr. Levy collaborated with the famed, late microbiologist Robert Guthrie, MD, PhD, of Buffalo, New York, who had established newborn screening with his invention of the PKU test. During this time, he also continued to conduct research and to diagnose and treat patients with metabolic disorders at the Massachusetts General Hospital. An extraordinary influence for Dr. Levy during this time, and continuing to the present, is the internationally famous Canadian biochemical geneticist Dr. Charles Scriver, with whom Dr. Levy has often collaborated.

Toward the end of the 1970's Dr. Levy moved to Boston Children's Hospital, where he transformed the PKU Clinic it into a larger, comprehensive clinicthe Inborn Errors of Metabolism clinicthat now sees patients and families from around the world who are affected by a range of diseases: PKU, galactosemia, histidinemia, methylmalonic acidemia, problems with vitamin B12 metabolism and many other disorders. The hospital recently named the metabolic program after Dr. Levy.

At Boston Children's Hospital Dr. Levy became concerned about infants born to mothers who have genetic metabolic disease. "Before we began newborn screening girls who had PKU became delayed in their mental development, so very few bore children," Dr. Levy explained. "But now that we were treating them from infancy, they were bearing children. Even though their babies were genetically normal, they would be born with multiple severe problems if the mothers were not strictly treated for PKU during the pregnancies. So, with an extraordinary group of very talented professionals, including psychologists, nutritionists, a nurse, and a social worker, as well as physicians, we organized the New England Maternal PKU Program and followed these women on very strict dietary treatment throughout their pregnancies. We found that this regimen prevented many of these problems that the babies would otherwise have."

Today Dr. Levy is considered one of the foremost proponents worldwide for newborn screening. He led a successful effort in Massachusetts to expand newborn metabolic screening with new technology so that 20 to 30 disorders of amino acid, organic acid and fatty acid metabolism could be included rather than only 5 or 6 disorders previously screened. Within the ACMG, Dr. Levy led the effort to develop "ACT Sheets," one-page synopses of the newborn screened metabolic disorders so that physicians caring for infants can easily read an explanation of the biochemical, clinical and treatment characteristics of the disorders when contacted by a newborn screening program about an abnormality. As part of a contract funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Dr. Levy began and led the Newborn Screening Translational Research Network of the ACMG.

Though many of his contemporaries have retired, Dr. Levy continues to lead research efforts that examine the long-term outcomes of expanded newborn screening using tandem mass spectrometryincluding the medical, biochemical and neuropsychological outcomes in relation to early treatment. He is also involved with clinical trials to develop new therapies for PKU and homocystinuria. Dr. Levy is driven to continue his work because there is still much work to do. "The fact that we've had to rely on complicated diets that alter the lives of patients so they cannot enjoy a normal meal with their family or their friends, they have to only be able to eat this very difficult diet, and also the fact that we still discover diseases for which we have no treatment, " he explained, "these are the issues that trouble me. There are still individuals we discover during newborn screening or we discover later on because we didn't screen for their disorder, and they have severe disorders for which we have no treatments. There are still metabolic diseases that are not being prevented."

Dr. Levy still spends time communicating face-to-face with patients. "If you have a new baby, in a room with the family, you have to present this very complicated story, and the family has no idea what this is about," he explained. "So, we spend a great deal of time explaining the biochemistry, the genetics, the problems that can occur and the treatments that can prevent these problems. Early on, we just thought about biochemistry. But today we become more involved in talking about the genes, because we think it's important for families to understand the origin of these disorders since at some point we are likely to talk to them about the possibility of gene therapy, actually introducing the normal gene into the child. So, they need to understand where the disorder comes from. It's a complicated and long process. The family will take in as much information as they can, but as you can imagine, a lot of what we tell them will be forgotten or not understood. So, we go over everything with them again, and for as many times as they need."

One of the most pleasing aspects of Dr. Levy's career, he recounted, has been working with wonderful and dedicated individualspsychologists, nutritionists, dieticians, nurses, social workers, coordinators, administratorsand within the community of clinicians and researchers who study metabolic genetic disorders, a "relatively small, cohesive group of delightful, brilliant people" as he describes them. "It's been an extraordinarily wonderful professional life, as gratifying as any professional life I could ever dream of," reflected Dr. Levy. "Little did I know when I started that I would have this kind of life and little did I know that I would be awarded with the awards and certainly nothing comparable to the David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award."

The David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious award given by the ACMG Foundation. A committee of past presidents of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics selects the recipient following nominations, which come from the general membership.

About the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics in healthcare. Established in 1992, the ACMG Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health." Through its work, the ACMG Foundation fosters charitable giving, promotes training opportunities to attract future medical geneticists and genetic counselors to the field, shares information about medical genetics and genomics, and sponsors important research.To learn more and support the ACMG Foundation mission to create "Better Health through Genetics" visit http://www.acmgfoundation.org.

Note to editors: To arrange interviews with experts in medical genetics, contact ACMG Senior Director of Public Relations Kathy Moran, MBA at [emailprotected].

Kathy Moran, MBA[emailprotected]

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

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Pediatrician and Geneticist Dr. Harvey Levy Receives 2020 David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award in Medical Genetics from the ACMG Foundation for...