August 6, 2008 – Oakland, Calif. – Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland continues to lead the way in pediatric rehabilitation with the creation of a new medical journal focused on children and teenagers. Jacob Neufeld, MD, MSPH, Medical Director of Children's Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Approach. The quarterly journal released its second issue in July 2008 and a third issue is expected in late 2008, highlighting Muscular Dystrophy, with the Spina Bifida volume to follow in early 2009.
The journal, initially released in late 2007, is the first of its kind in pediatric rehabilitation, a subspecialty with only about 200 physicians in the country. The publication is extensively peer reviewed and evaluated by a biostatistician with an international editorial board of more than 30 physicians from a variety of subspecialties. "By requiring articles to be co-authored by medical professionals representing at least two different disciplines, the international journal's content parallels the multidisciplinary team approach practiced at Children's Hospital Oakland when caring for children with acute and chronic diseases," said Dr. Neufeld. "Having a child with a disability treated by a wide range of experts encourages an interdisciplinary approach, which has been shown to be most effective during rehabilitation."
Each issue of the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Approach will be focused on a theme, though still broad in scope. Issues will include pediatric medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, spina bifida, amputation, muscular dystrophies of all types, stroke, cancer, mental retardation, and developmental delays. "Ultimately, my goal is to contribute scientific knowledge to clinical care for children with disabilities," said Dr. Neufeld.
About Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland
Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is Northern California's only freestanding and independent children's hospital. Children's is the leader in many pediatric specialties including neonatology, cardiology, neurosurgery and intensive care. The hospital is a designated Level 1 pediatric trauma center and has the largest pediatric critical care facility in the region. Children's Hospital has 190 licensed beds, 201 hospital-based physicians in 30 specialties, more than 2,611 employees and an operating budget of $312 million. Children's research arm, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, has about 300 staff members and an annual budget of more than $49 million. Primary research funding comes from the National Institutes of Health. The institute is a leader in translational blood diseases, developing new vaccines for infectious diseases and discovering new treatment protocols for previously fatal or debilitating conditions such as cancers, sickle cell disease and thalassemia, diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS, pediatric obesity, nutritional deficiencies, birth defects, hemophilia and cystic fibrosis.