Coast-to-Coast

Twin Harbors Origins

This page highlights the leadership steering the Coast-to-Coast conference. This conference, rotating between Houston and Seattle, aims to work towards a common mission of ending sudden, unexplained deaths in pediatrics.

This conference brings together two conferences. The first is the Microsoft/Seattle Children’s Hospital, Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Summit, often called the “Microsoft SIDS Summit”, organized by Microsoft and the Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild of Seattle Children’s Hospital. The second is the Isabel Davis Center for Safe Children Annual Conference (IDCSC), organized by Baylor College of Medicine and the IDCSC at Texas Children’s Hospital.

By merging these two conferences into the “Coast-to-Coast Conference,” we want to signal unity among SIDS researchers in our quest to prevent and hopefully eliminate Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). We recognize the importance of sharing ideas and data, and the need for transparency to most effectively solve the mysteries surrounding SIDS. Our goal is to bring together researchers and families from all over the world, because we know that together we are stronger.

The West Coast team comprises Nino Ramirez’s research lab and the Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild of Seattle Children’s Hospital. Nino’s team has long been a bright light in the field of SIDS and sudden death research, advancing novel methodologies and approaches. Click here to learn more about Nino’s lab.

The Aaron Matthew SIDS Research Guild of Seattle Children’s Hospital was named in honor of Aaron Matthew Kahan, son of Heather Kahan and John B. Kahan, VP and Chief Data Analytics Officer at Microsoft. Aaron died of SIDS days after his birth in 2003. The Guild was formed in partnership with the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Microsoft, under the leadership of Dr. Juan Lavista Ferres. The Guild board includes leaders from Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Integrative Brain Research Institute, Microsoft, Accenture, Marriott Hotels, Adobe, Tata Consulting Services, and VMLY&R. Click here to learn more about the Aaron Matthews SIDS Research Guild of Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The Gulf Coast team comprises Russell Ray’s research lab and the Isabel Davis Center for Safe Children. Russell’s team is the “New Kids on the Block”, ready to try new things, ready to challenge the paradigm. His drive to end sudden, unexplained deaths in pediatrics by uniting the vast resources of the Texas Medical Center resulted in the Isabel Davis Center for Safe Children. Click here to learn more about Russell’s lab, and click here to learn more about the Isabel Davis Center for Safe Children.