Publications by authors named "Jessica Valdez"

Despite progress, breast cancer remains the most feared disease among women. In the USA alone, the incidence is now almost 300,000 new cancers per year, a rate that has nearly doubled in the last 30 years. Most women survive, but over 40,000 women a year still die of their disease [99].

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Background: Almost half of all women in the US experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends IPV screening paired with intervention for women of reproductive age. We aim to understand clinical practices and policies that are beneficial, detrimental, or insufficient to support survivors of IPV in a safety-net healthcare system.

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Burn care continues to improve and larger total body surface area (TBSA) burn survival is increasing. These survivors require more extensive care than smaller burns and are at higher risk for wound/scar-related complications. Prior work has shown low rates of follow-up for burn survivors linked to socioeconomic factors such as housing insecurity and substance use.

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Background: Language barriers play significant roles in quality of healthcare. Limited studies have examined the relationships between Spanish language and quality of intrapartum care. The objective was to determine the association between primary Spanish language and quality of intrapartum care so as to further inform best practices for non-English speaking patients in the labor and delivery setting.

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Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for surgical residency programs to rethink their methods of evaluating and recruiting candidates. However, the past year has not been seamless, with a soaring number of applications, reports of programs and applicants having difficulty evaluating each other, and an increasingly uneven distribution of interviews among applicants. Consequently, many have called for national changes to the residency application process to address these longstanding concerns.

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Unlabelled: Genomic studies of pediatric cancer have primarily focused on specific tumor types or high-risk disease. Here, we used a three-platform sequencing approach, including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), whole-exome sequencing (WES), and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), to examine tumor and germline genomes from 309 prospectively identified children with newly diagnosed (85%) or relapsed/refractory (15%) cancers, unselected for tumor type. Eighty-six percent of patients harbored diagnostic (53%), prognostic (57%), therapeutically relevant (25%), and/or cancer-predisposing (18%) variants.

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Objectives: To qualitatively describe parent perspectives of next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS) for their children with cancer, including perceived benefits, risks, hopes/expectations, and decision-making process when consenting or not consenting to NGS and prior to result disclosure.

Data Sources: Qualitative interviews were used.

Conclusion: Altruism is an important factor in parents consenting to NGS testing, as well as making sense of their child's cancer and legacy building.

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Background: With the advent of next generation sequencing, tumor and germline genomic testing are increasingly being used in the management of pediatric cancer patients. Despite this increase in testing, many pediatric hematology-oncology (PHO) providers are not confident interpreting or utilizing tumor or germline genomic results to care for their patients.

Methods: We developed and delivered a needs assessment survey to PHO program directors, attendings, and fellows in the United States to understand this deficiency, gather data on existing cancer genomics educational initiatives, and query preferences for creating a future curriculum.

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Hematogenous meningoencephalitis (HCME) is a life-threatening complication of neonates and immunocompromised children. Amphotericin B (AmB) shows poor permeability and low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations, but is effective in treatment of HCME. In order to better understand the mechanism of CNS penetration of AmB, we hypothesized that AmB may achieve focally higher concentrations in infected CNS lesions.

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Background: Patients with cancer are increasingly offered genomic sequencing, including germline testing for cancer predisposition or other disorders. Such testing is unfamiliar to patients and families, and clear communication is needed to introduce genomic concepts and convey risk and benefit information.

Methods: Parents of children with cancer were offered the opportunity to have their children's tumor and germline examined with clinical genomic sequencing.

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Background: Advances in the application of genetic technologies reveal a growing number of heritable disorders associated with an increased risk to develop cancer during childhood. As genetic testing is increasingly employed in the clinical setting, it is essential to understand whether parents communicate with their children about test results and to elucidate the factors that influence the content and outcomes of these conversations.

Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 parents whose children tested positive for Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS).

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The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has introduced an exciting new era in biomedical research. NGS forms the foundation of current genetic testing approaches, including targeted gene panel testing, as well as more comprehensive whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing. Together, these approaches promise to provide critical insights into the understanding of health and disease.

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Whether children should be offered genetic testing for cancer risk is much debated but young voices are rarely heard in these conversations. The current study explored perspectives of genetic testing held by adolescents and emerging adults in families with Li Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). Twelve 12- to 25-year-olds in families with LFS completed qualitative interviews for this study.

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Background: The incorporation of genomic testing to identify targetable somatic alterations and predisposing germline mutations into the clinical setting is becoming increasingly more common. Despite its potential usefulness, to the authors' knowledge physician confidence with regard to understanding and applying genomic testing remains unclear, particularly within the realm of pediatric oncology.

Methods: Before initiating an institutional feasibility study regarding the integration of clinical genomic testing, the authors surveyed pediatric oncologists regarding their confidence around understanding of genomic testing, perceived usefulness of test results, preferences around the disclosure of germline test results, and possible risks and benefits of testing.

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Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a rare cancer predisposing condition caused by germline mutations in TP53, the gene encoding the TP53 transcription factor. LFS is typified by the development of a wide spectrum of childhood and adult-onset malignancies, which includes, among others, the lymphoid and myeloid leukaemias, myelodysplastic syndrome and, to a lesser extent, lymphoma. Accordingly, it is important that haematologists/oncologists be familiar with this pleiotropic hereditary cancer syndrome.

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This pilot study evaluated the Ho'ouna Pono curriculum, which is a culturally grounded, school-based, drug prevention curriculum tailored to rural Native Hawaiian youth. The curriculum focuses on culturally relevant drug resistance skills training and is aligned with the State of Hawai'i academic standards. Six Hawai'i Island public middle/intermediate schools randomly assigned to intervention or treatment-as-usual comparison conditions (N = 213) were evaluated in this study.

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Contemporary prevention science has focused on the application of cultural adaptations of evidence-based prevention programs for minority youth populations. Far less is known about culturally grounded methods that are intended to organically develop prevention programs within specific populations and communities. This article systematically reviews recent literature on culturally grounded interventions used to prevent health disparities in ethnic minority youth populations.

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This study examines gender differences in the use of drug resistance strategies for rural Asian/Pacific Islander youth. Multiethnic Asian/Pacific Islander youth (N = 213) from six middle/intermediate schools on the Island of Hawai'i participated in the study, and gender differences in their real-world use of specific strategies (e.g.

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Background: Persistent neutropenia associated with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is an important risk factor for development of life-threatening infections. Earlier studies underscored the high mortality associated with invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in SAA. However, little is known about the current patterns of infections and the impact of advances in anti-infective therapy on survival in SAA.

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Introduction: To enhance the quality of neurosurgery consultations, triage, and transport decisions between a Level I trauma service neurosurgery program at the University of New Mexico Hospital and referring hospitals, a secure Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant Web-based system was developed, to which digital neurological images could be sent for review by a neurosurgeon for consultation or patient transfer. Based upon prior experience of neurosurgery, it was predicted that 25% of transfer requests would be avoided if the neurosurgeons reviewed the computerized tomography scans at the time of a transfer request. In addition, it was predicted in 25% of the case that changes in management recommendations would take place independent of the transfer decision.

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Infection is a major cause of death in patients with aplastic anemia (AA). There are differences between the immunocompromised state of a patient with AA and the patient who is neutropenic due to chemotherapy and this leads to a difference in the infections that they incur. Prolonged neutropenia is one of the largest risk factors for the development of infections with the invasive mycoses and bacteria.

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Sediment, water, and fish gut samples taken at three sites near the headwaters of the San Marcos River, Texas, were analyzed for salmonellae Salmonella spp. by culture and molecular techniques. While enrichment cultures from sediment and water samples from the two uppermost sites were negative for salmonellae in polymerase chain reaction analyses, both sediment and water samples were positive at the downstream site.

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