Cystic Fibrosis Foundation honors Children’s John McNamara, MD

The Minnesota Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation recently honored John McNamara, MD, medical director for Children’s cystic fibrosis program at its annual Breath of Life gala. Dr. McNamara’s award was part of an eventful end of the year for the entire Children’s cystic fibrosis and endocrinology program team. In November, several members of the team, including Dr. McNamara, participated in and presented at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Dr. McNamara was the recipient of the foundation’s "Angela Warner Friend of The CF Foundation Award.” The award is given annually to an individual who brings the fight for a cure for cystic fibrosis to a greater level.

About Children’s cystic fibrosis program
Outcomes for Children’s cystic fibrosis program, as reported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, are among the best in the nation — including the very important measures of lung function and nutritional status.

The program has been ranked first in the country for participation in observational studies and number seven for the complexity of clinical research.

Children’s cystic fibrosis program is part of a Learning and Leadership Collaborative sponsored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Pediatric Endocrine Society for the care of patients with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes. Its partners in this collaborative include other respected cystic fibrosis centers such as Emory University, Cincinnati Children’s, John Hopkins, Seattle Children’s, and Vanderbilt University.

Children’s cystic fibrosis program diagnoses and treats children in all stages of CF and is dedicated to providing family-centered care and education to help patients and their families learn to live with cystic fibrosis. Services include a continuum of care through coordinated inpatient and outpatient services, from diagnosis through long-term follow-up.

North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference presentations

The following members of Children’s Cystic Fibrosis and Endocrinology team participated and made presentations at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Anaheim, Calif., Nov. 2-5, 2011:

• Dr. McNamara; Laura Gandrud, MD; Mary Sachs, RN, CNP; Mary Smieja, RD, LD; Sandy Landvik, RN; and Jan Majkozak, RN; presented their year long project on “Improving Screening, Identification and Treatment of Children & Adolescents with CFRD” as a part of a CF Foundation Learning and Leadership Collaborative
• Renee Temme, MS, presented her newborn screening education project, “Quality Improvement in Genetic Counseling Following a False-Positive Newborn Screen Result for CF: Assessment of Parent Knowledge with the Use of a Video”
• Cynthia Brady, DNP, facilitated a roundtable discussion session on “Applying Knowledge to Practice: Tools to Facilitate Care Guideline Implementation.” She also presented a poster on “Bordetella bronchiseptica in a Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Center” (Brady, C., Johnson, M.; Ackerman, P.; McNamara, J.)
• Mahrya Johnson, CCRP, facilitated a roundtable discussion on “Subject Reimbursement Guidelines and Options.” She also received recognition from the CF Foundation for her work on research referral programs. She presented a poster on “Evaluating the Effects of Yoga on Children with Cystic Fibrosis: Pain, Sleep, Anxiety and Depression” (L. Read, Johnson, M., Vander Velden, H.; Thygeson, M.; Liu, M.; Gandrud, L.; McNamara, J.)
• Christina Mikesell, DO, presented a poster on “High Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation in Cystic Fibrosis: An Investigation into Adherence and the Reliability of Patient Reporting” (Mikesell, C.L.; Kempainen, R.; Laguna, T.A.; Henn, L.; Gaillard, P.; Hazelwood, A.; Williams, C.; Regalmann, W.)
• Brooke Moore, MD, presented a poster entitled “Increased Adherence to CFF Practice Guidelines for Pulmonary Medications Correlates with Improved FEV1” (Moore, B.M.; Laguna, T.A.; Liu, M.; McNamara, J.)

Other presentations

• Dr. McNamara and Heather Christiansen, PsyD, presented a “CF Center Report” and “Adherence to Prescribed Therapies,” respectively, at the CF Education Conference for Families at the University of Minnesota (Nov. 19).