11th Annual DVE Rocks for Children’s Radiothon Raises a Record-Breaking $852,539
Thank you for rocking for Children’s!

Following an inspiring and exciting two days of radio, the 11th Annual DVE Rocks for Children’s Radiothon announced a record-breaking total of $852,539 raised in support of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. In total, the Radiothon has raised nearly $6 million over its 11 years.

On Sept. 20 and 21, 102.5 WDVE on-air talent, including Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show, Michele Michaels, and Sean McDowell, broadcasted live from the Eat’n Park Atrium on the sixth floor of UPMC Children’s Hospital with interviews and stories from patients, families, and staff.

“We are extremely grateful for the tremendous support from WDVE and its listeners who have generously donated year after year to UPMC Children's Hospital,” said Rachel Petrucelli, interim president and chief development officer, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation. “Though the support we receive through this event, nearly $6 million has been donated to the hospital over the past 11 years.”

Special guests included Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva and former Pittsburgh Penguins player Colby Armstrong. This year’s Radiothon featured live musical performances from Scott Blasey of The Clarks, Paul Luc, and The Commonheart.

The “Pens Hour” brought in more than 370 new Rock Stars, donors who pledge a monthly gift of at least $10, as well as call-in donations from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, former Steelers player Brett Keisel, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, former Penguins player Bryan Trottier, and comedian Billy Gardell.

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Credit: Heather Kemp Photography

Lilah's Lifesaving Birthday Gift

When she was 30 weeks pregnant, Katherin Joiner learned that her baby Lilah had autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, a rare genetic condition. Shortly after Lilah was born, her enlarged kidneys impacted her ability to breathe, and she was placed on dialysis for two years.

Lilah’s family learned from her doctors that a multi-organ transplant from living donors was the only solution that would save her life. Originally from Carthage, Mississippi, the family brought Lilah to UPMC Children’s for the transplant.

“In the United States, there aren’t enough deceased donors to help the patients with organ transplant,” said George V. Mazariegos, chief of pediatric transplantation at UPMC Children’s. “We’ve been fortunate with living donation and other resources to help these children in a timely fashion, but there’s always a potential risk.”

Lilah’s bravery and strength throughout the process was an inspiration to her family and her doctors.

“One of the things that struck me was, despite what she needed to have done, she was a really delightful child,” added Dr. Mazariegos. “She was trying to make the best of the situation.”

Two family friends were found to be matches and volunteered to donate their organs to save Lilah. On July 31, 2018, a year to the day after she was put on the list for a transplant, Lilah received two transplants from living donors. Now, she is a happy and relatively healthy little girl who just celebrated her third birthday and was featured on ABC News and Good Morning America.

“This is the best birthday gift she could ever receive,” said Katherin. “Living donation saved Lilah’s life.” 

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HACK THIS. HELP KIDS.

On Oct. 5 and 6, more than 270 hackers from colleges and companies across the country joined Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation for HACK THIS. HELP KIDS., a 24-hour pediatric hackathon presented by Citrone Thirty Three Foundation and Tulco.

Hosted at the brand-new Tepper Quad on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus, HACK THIS. HELP KIDS. brought together the brightest minds in business, technology, and medicine. Teams of hackers worked with experienced mentors to solve challenging health care pain points with cash prizes awarded to the teams with the best solutions, as judged by panels of experts.

Following a keynote address from Thomas Tull, founder and CEO of Tulco, and a surprise visit from former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, UPMC Children’s President Chris Gessner presented the pain points that 57 hacker teams would choose from to solve. These pain points were submitted by physicians, nurses, administrators, and patient families in the UPMC Children’s community.

The winning team, Thirsty Scholars, provided an innovative solution to storing and delivering breast milk and received the top prize of $5,000 from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation.

Click below to watch a video recap of the inaugural HACK THIS. HELP KIDS.

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Celebrating 10 Years of the Survivorship Clinic

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Survivorship Clinic at UPMC Children’s, founded by Jean M. Tersak, MD, to focus on life after cancer treatment for pediatric cancer survivors. Dr. Tersak founded the clinic in 2008 in response to advances in treatment and supportive care for pediatric cancer that resulted in long-term survival rates of 80 percent.

“Many of our survivors went through treatment as children or teens,” said Dr. Tersak. “It is important that we educate them as to past treatment and individual health risks, to help them transition to the adult health care arena with the information needed to reduce late effects of therapy and optimize their quality of life as a childhood cancer survivor.”

Led by Dr. Tersak, the program is staffed by a nurse practitioner, nurse researcher, social worker, and coordinator.

In addition to screening for late effects of therapy, the program offers nearly 700 survivors a yearly exam and visit with an oncologist, educational resources and support from a nurse practitioner, medical testing or referrals as needed, and access to support services.

The program also encourages connection between survivors, hosting events throughout the year including the annual Kennywood Day on National Survivors Day, the first Sunday of June.

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