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Hi all!

As our upcoming live session is going to be with an occupational therapist, here's an article we can all read to learn a little more about it:

my.clevelandclinic.org

Occupational therapy can be an important part of your treatment plan. Learn how OT can help you meet your goals and overcome challenges.

Here are some of my takeaways:

• Occupational therapy helps people perform daily tasks and functions

• Many different kinds of people might require occupational therapy. The therapist we're going to be meeting specializes in pediatric occupational therapy.

PAVA World is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: PAVA BioImpact

Time: Sep 19, 2026 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88151423249?pwd=LITf2U3lreBQXxzJV9jcBRwlSXnhMi.1

Meeting chat link

✨ PAVA BioImpact Medical Live Series! ✨

We’re excited to announce a very special presentation on Occupational Therapy, with a focus on pediatric practice! 🧠💙

📅 Saturday, September 19

⏰ 6:00 PM

FEATURING:

Dr. Janet S. Gunter, OTD, OTR/L

Hi everyone, I was recently reminded about how a dentist I know was able to identify oral cancer in one of her patients and thankfully got her to seek medical attention before it was too late, so I decided to look more into what oral cancer exactly is.

Oral cancer is cancer that develops in the tissues of the mouth or nearby areas of the throat. This means that the lips, gums, tongue, inner cheeks, and floor or roof of the mouth are all potential sites where oral cancer can occur. Oropharyngeal cancers, cancers that occur in the tissues of the oropharynx, or the middle part of the throat behind the mouth, appear further back, such as at the base of the tongue or on the tonsils. Major risk factors include tobacco and alcohol consumption, with HPV as a big cause of oropharyngeal cancer. Other factors, such as UV exposure,…

Recently, my family had someone close to us get diagnosed with an aneurysm, so I wanted to learn more and share what I learned in this post. Hopefully you guys find this helpful and learn a lot as well.

What is an aneurysm?

An aneurysm is a weak spot that forms, beginning to swell and "balloon" outward. If the aneurysm grows too big, it can burst and cause dangerous bleeding that can be fatal. Aneurysms can form in any artery in the body; however, the most common are found in the brain, aorta, and chest.

Symptoms?

Unruptured aneurysms usually cause no symptoms unless they grow too big and press on a nerve. Ruptured aneurysms in the brain causes a sudden, severe headache. Ruptured aneurysms in the abdomen causes a sharp pain in the chest, back, or belly, which in turn, causes dizziness.

Main causes and how to prevent? Causes for…

Hi all!

Since a lot of us went to the pava leadership conference and heard from the Alzheimer's association on 10 healthy brain habits, I figured I should recap what we learned for those of us who couldn't be there.

• The brain is made of 86 billion neurons and probably the same amount (or more) glia cells (helpers)

• Alzheimer's is a progressive dementia that kills neurons, starting in the regions of the brain responsible for making new memories and eventually spreading all over the brain

• We don't know what causes it. However, we do have some compelling biomarkers.

• Neurodegeneration appears to be driven by the complex interplay between misfolded proteins amyloid beta and tau. People also think inflammation driven by overreactive glia cells can contribute to further destruction.

Have you ever heard the saying “mistakes are meant to be made, that’s why pencils have erasers”? I remember first looking at this quote on a poster at my middle school, and it has stuck with me ever since. But why do people make mistakes? And how are we able to learn from them? After researching, I found some mistakes usually stem from our expectations. Usually when a teacher says a quiz or test will be really easy, then students are probably more likely to not study for it. This expectation is what causes them to make mistakes that they wouldn’t have made had they studied a little. These mistakes can cause error related negativity within the brain, and is what ultimately helps us in the future to deter from them.

https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.00080

Hi everyone! Last time I looked into regenerative dentistry it was pretty interesting so I found another article, this time on stem cells. The article explains how researchers look at how stems cells could be used to create cells similar to ameloblasts, which are the cells that produce tooth enamel. The issue is that humans don’t normally have active ameloblasts after teeth develop so enamel cannot regenerate naturally. With stem-cell-derived cells and a molecules that activates something called the Notch signaling pathway, researchers are able to encourage cells to mature into ameloblast-like cells which are able to produce an enamel-like material. It’s yet another way researchers are pushing to repair damaged teeth, so I thought it was pretty interesting. Definitely check it out!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41765949/

A huge thank you to Dr. Robert Lee for taking the time to join us for last night’s PAVA BioImpact meeting!

We had the opportunity to hear about his journey into cardiology and work through some real-life cases. What struck me most was the tremendous dedication and responsibility that comes with his specialty as an Interventional Cardiologist.

Imagine, getting that call at 2 AM, getting out of bed, heading into the hospital in less than 30 minutes, and performing an emergency cardiac catheterization that literally saves someone’s life.

I also loved Dr. Lee’s message:

If you want to be a doctor, you will be a doctor.

The path may not always be straight. It may take longer than you expect. There will undoubtedly be obstacles along the way. But if you genuinely love medicine, remain dedicated, and keep moving forward, you can get there.