Children’s National in the News: 2025 - Children's National

In 2025, Children's National Hospital was featured in major national news outlets for pioneering advances in pediatric care, groundbreaking clinical research and powerful human stories of healing and hope. From gene therapy for sickle cell disease and innovative pacemakers for newborns to breakthrough transplants, cancer trials and emerging mental health concerns like AI psychosis, these stories highlight the hospital's leadership across the full spectrum of pediatric medicine. The following ten highlights showcase the patients, families and experts behind this impact, as reported by outlets including NBC News, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, USA Today, Healio, ABC News and ESPN.

Children's National patient Wedam, 19, begins the first steps for intensive gene therapy for sickle cell disease, discussing his skepticism while his mother expresses her joy and gratitude for the treatment. (NBC News)

Charles Berul, MD, pediatric electrophysiologist and emeritus chief of Cardiology, discusses his study highlighting the safety and efficacy of an innovative smaller pacemaker designed for newborns with critical congenital heart disease. (Healio)

Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD, senior vice president and chief research officer, and the NexTGen team are poised to recruit patients for a new clinical trial that will take on an old, implacable foe: children's solid tumors. (The Washington Post)

Yves d'Udekem, MD, PhD, chief of Cardiac Surgery, talked to Good Morning America about how an 11-year-old's groundbreaking partial heart transplant will change his life and the lives of other children in need of valve replacements. (Good Morning America)

Brian Rood, MD, medical director of the Brain Tumor Institute, talked about how patients like Kasey Zachman are the motivation behind finding a cure for brain cancer. (ABC News)

USA Today Sports spoke with Gavin Brown and his parents, as well as Yi Shi, MD, a pediatric nephrologist at Children's National Hospital, about their kidney transplant journey. (USA Today)

After Jayden Daniels visited Commanders fan Sarah Addison at Children's National Hospital while she was being treated for myeloid leukemia, they quickly became friends. (ESPN)

International opera stars performed for children, their families and employees at Children's National Hospital. (The Washington Post)

A baby boy in Maryland is back home after being given a second chance at life, just before his first birthday. The boy's mother and his surgeon, Manan Desai, MD, share the remarkable story of a moment that changed all of their lives. (NBC4)

Ashley Maxie-Moreman, PhD, clinical psychologist, spoke to ABC7 about what AI psychosis is and what parents need to know. (ABC7)