It’s no small accomplishment when a visit to a pediatric care unit can feel less clinical and a little more like home. Thanks to a special gift from an appreciative family, that’s what’s happening at UC San Francisco’s Pediatric Clinical Research Center (PCRC).
Diane Wara, MD, a UCSF pediatric immunologist and founding director of the PCRC, has long cared for the Christensen boys, now adults, whose family recently donated a beautiful dollhouse to the center. The two young men are in good health, but a condition that prevents them from producing protective antibodies requires that they receive infusions of immune globulin each month.
It was Dr. Wara’s clinical research protocol that was instrumental in the boys receiving a gene-based diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency. She and Jennifer Puck, MD, also a UCSF pediatric immunologist and the current PCRC medical director, were on hand when the dollhouse was dedicated in February 2013. Also present were Mrs. Christensen, one of her sons, and PCRC nurses and staff who have worked with the family for many years.
Mrs. Christensen’s gift was inspired by the Immune Deficiency Foundation, which promotes the “Think Zebra!” initiative to support primary immunodeficiency awareness. The IDF website explains the campaign: “In medical school, many doctors learn the saying, ‘when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras,’ and are taught to focus on the likeliest possibilities when making a diagnosis. However, sometimes physicians need to look for a zebra. Patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases are the zebras of the medical world.”
This unique way of looking at providing care is what led Mrs. Christensen to donate the dollhouse, which includes a tiny zebra rug, black and white bathroom tiles, and even a zebra munching on a sunflower bouquet outside. Children coming to the PCRC for research studies and treatments are attracted to the detail of the dollhouse, from the working lights to the sliced bread on a kitchen cutting board.
The PCRC is one of eight Bay Area clinical research service facilities managed by UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).