Re-verified as a level I Children’s Surgery Center
UC Davis Children’s Hospital was re-verified as a level I Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the world standard bearer for surgical quality. Level I centers have children’s surgeons in every discipline, with pediatric anesthesiologists and dedicated operating rooms for children available 24 hours a day. They also train future leaders in education and research and participate in community outreach.
Robotic-assisted surgery now offered at UC Davis Children’s Hospital
A robotic-assisted surgery program is now available at the UC Davis Children’s Surgery Center. The program is directed by pediatric general surgeon Payam Saadai, M.D., who worked for the past year with the adult robotic surgery team to expand this minimally invasive approach to pediatric patients in the Sacramento region.
$15 million grant awarded to UC Davis CuRe Trial
A team of UC Davis Health researchers, led by pioneering fetal surgeon Diana Farmer, M.D., and bioengineer Aijun Wang, Ph.D., have been awarded nearly $15 million for groundbreaking work on a spina bifida treatment by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and Shriners Children’s Northern California. The funding will allow the team to carry out phase 2 of the CuRe Trial (Cellular Therapy for In Utero Repair of Myelomeningocele) that tests the first stem cell treatment for the birth defect.
Launched in the spring of 2021, the CuRe Trial tests a one-of-a-kind treatment that uses placenta-derived stem cells to improve outcomes for children with spina bifida. The treatment, a stem cell patch, is delivered directly to the spinal opening of the fetus while still developing in the mother’s womb.
