Peds R Us
Department of Pediatrics
Rutgers RWJMS
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Enjoy our newsletter. Your feedback and comments are welcomed! |
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The Department of Pediatrics Rises to the Occasion in Approaching and Handling the COVID-19 Pandemic
In March of 2020 our worlds were turned upside down as the pandemic hit the tri-state area. Navigating working from home, going from in-person to telehealth doctors visits, learning and mastering zoom and webex to continue to provide the superior services the department is known for.
We suffered the loss of loved ones from COVID-19, those of us with children became teachers as our children's school moved to a virtual platform, the cancellation of graduations, vacations and proms, the new birthday party became a drive-by celebration and the list goes on and on to how we have adjusted to our new way of living.
While we are still navigating our new way of living, the pandemic has shown the resilience and flexibility of our department. As we move forward let's take a look back at our successes over the past year.
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Pediatrics Leads the Way, Hosting First System-Wide Grand Rounds |
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The Department of Pediatrics under the leadership of Sally Radovick, MD, Henry Rutgers Term chair of pediatrics and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, held the first system-wide Grand Rounds earlier this week.
Pediatrics will host Grand Rounds on the first Wednesday of each month from 8 - 9 a.m. Presenters will be invited from the four affiliated institutions: RWJBarnabas Health, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey Medical School, Newark Beth Israel Children's Hospital of New Jersey, and Unterberg Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center. CME credits will be available.
This week's inaugural virtual program, Management of Fever in Infants, was presented by Mark Baker, MD, professor and vice chair for clinical development in the Department of Pediatrics.
"This is the beginning of a system approach to provide the best care for the children we serve," said Dr. Radovick
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Faculty Promotions Effective 7/1/2021 |
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Katie Devine Recuay, PhD from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor
Joseph Gaffney, MD from Associate Professor to Professor
James Luckey, MD from RBHS Instructor to Assistant Professor
Maureen Madden, DNP from Associate Professor to Professor
Robert Manduley, MD from Associate Professor to Professor
Ian Marshall, MD from Associate Professor to Professor
Cynthia Salvant, MD from RBHS Instructor to Assistant Professor
Michele Takyi, MD from RBHS Instructor to Assistant Professor
Prerna Trivedy, MBBS from RBHS Instructor to Assistant Professor
Shoshana Zitter, MD from RBHS Instructor to Assistant Professor
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New Grant Supports Rutgers Study Seeking to Identify Factors for Children at High Risk for Severe Illness from COVID-19 |
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Rutgers researchers have been awarded $1.6 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in support of the creation of a national collaborative network seeking to identify risk and protective factors that may allow clinicians or public health professionals to predict which children are at greatest risk for serious illness from SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19. The grant was awarded to Lawrence Kleinman, MD, MPH, professor and vice chair for academic development in the Department of Pediatrics.
The two-year grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the NIH will support the development of a national network, thus building an infrastructure that ensures that children from around the country can be a part of the study. The project is designed to incorporate a variety of scientific perspectives and integrate an array of multidimensional data – clinical, sociodemographic, epidemiologic, and biological – to develop approaches that allow clinicians and public health professionals to identify which children are at highest-risk for developing severe illness following infection of SARS-CoV-2.
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Study Pilots a Bilingual Family Literacy Program for Dual Learners Entering Kindergarten |
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Manuel Jimenez, MD, MS, FAAP, assistant professor of pediatrics, and first-year medical student Patricia Shelton, are lead authors on a study titled "Ready and Healthy for Kindergarten: A Bilingual Family Literacy Program (FLP) in Primary Care."
The model is an English–Spanish bilingual FLP that uses four parent and pediatrician-prioritized health topics to introduce early English literacy skills to families and promote healthy behaviors that are important for school readiness while encouraging maintenance of Spanish.
Researchers developed an FLP manual, conducted a 16-week single-arm pilot study, and modified the FLP based on family feedback and observation.
The study published this month in Maternal and Child Health Journal has the potential to be replicated in other primary care sites and lays the groundwork for future studies on how to best leverage health care settings to promote equity in school readiness.
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Feel-Good Story: Kudos to Dr. Denzin! |
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As a volunteer in her local YMCA, Lisa Denzin, PhD, associate professor, Division of Child Health Sciences in the Department of Pediatrics, and resident member of the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, reached out to Bridgewater-Raritan elementary school teachers seeking areas where she and others may be able to assist. Dr. Denzin quickly learned that the district libraries were sorely lacking books that celebrate diversity.
Dr. Denzin and her daughters Rylee Sant'Angelo and Ankora Sant'Angelo, along with members of the YMCA's Togetherhood Program jumped into action. Togetherhood is the YMCA’s signature social responsibility program and provides members and the community with rewarding opportunities to give back and support neighbors through volunteer projects that address the needs of others.
Rylee, a senior at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, and Ankora, a sophomore at Gill St. Bernard's School, helped carry boxes, organize the books and kept a running track of donations.
After reaching out to a variety of community groups in addition to companies with diversity programs, dozens of books began pouring in. Many were one-book donations from hundreds of families that cared.
As a result, more than 700 books have been collected! The group is now working to deliver the books to all five elementary schools.
Congratulations, Dr. Denzin! Thank you for your contributions to our medical school community and to the community we serve!
Taken from the Dean's weekly 2/5/2021
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Dr. Pai Publishes Case Study on Statewide Collaborative to Address Families' Health Concerns During Pandemic |
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Shilpa Pai, MD, FAAP, associate professor of pediatrics, along with colleagues in the New Jersey Pediatric Residency Advocacy Collaborative, have published a case study in the journal Pediatrics, outlining the community partnerships NJPRAC developed and then utilized during the pandemic to improve the health of young children in New Jersey.
NJPRAC is led by faculty from each of the state’s 10 pediatric residency programs, including Dr. Pai, who serves as co-director, and has for the past two years provided “resources and supports for families in crisis, with a focus on child abuse prevention.” During the pandemic, the organization shifted its focus to provide “Virtual House Calls,” webinars in which pediatricians and other health care providers, along with community leaders, addressed questions about COVID-19 that the collaborative’s community partners throughout the state were receiving from families. According to the abstract, the webinars included question-and-answer sessions that allowed presenters to address concerns and fears in real time. It also led to an expansion of experts that included social work, lawyers, dentists and parent advocates.
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Pediatrics Faculty Publish Study in JAMA Neurology
Coauthors in the Department of Pediatrics Simon Li, MD, associate professor, and Lawrence C. Kleinman, MD, MPH, FAAP, professor and vice chair for academic development, along with supplemental author Steve Horwitz, MD, assistant professor, recently published a study in JAMA Neurology seeking to understand the range and severity of neurologic involvement among children and adolescents associated with COVID-19.
While COVID-19 has been proven to affect the nervous system in adult patients, the spectrum for children and adolescents is unclear. Researchers used data analyzing the type and severity of neurologic involvement and outcomes at hospital discharge for patients 21 years-of-age and under.
The study showed that many children and adolescents hospitalized for COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children had neurologic involvement, mostly transient symptoms. A range of life-threatening and fatal neurologic conditions associated with COVID-19 infrequently occurred. Effects on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes are unknown.
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Dr. Chefitz Receives Appointment with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has unanimously approved the six-year appointment of Dalya Chefitz, MD, professor of pediatrics, as an appeal panel member for Pediatrics.
The ACGME is a not-for-profit organization that sets standards for U.S. graduate medical education (residency and fellowship) programs and the institutions that sponsor them and renders accreditation decisions based on compliance with these standards.
Congratulations, Dr. Chefitz, on this most recent achievement!
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Vaccine Mistrust -- Patricia N. Whitley-Williams, MD -- healthprofessionalsradio.com
Taken from the Dean's Weekly 1st Qtr 2021
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New Faculty/Staff
June 2020
David J. Cordoba - Temporary Resident Assistant Division of Child Neurology
July 2020
Abigail Bergman, MD -Housestaff PGY I
Bianca Chendrimada, DO - Housestaff PGY I
Yisha Cheng, MD -Housestaff PGY I
Odeilis Dominguez, MD - Housestaff PGY IV
Matthew Federici, MD - Housestaff PGY I
Lori Fingerhut, MD - Housestaff PGY I
Jazmin Garcia, DO - Housestaff PGY I
Melissa Guillermo, MD - Housestaff PGY IV
Simon Li, MD - Associate Professor, Division Director Critical Care
Geethanjali Lingasubramanian, MD - Housestaff PGY IV
Nimisha Nandankar - Student Assistant, Endocrinology
Sally Ng, MD - Housestaff PGY I
Haidang Nguyen, MD - Housestaff PGY I
Sonia Pothraj, MD - Housestaff PGY I
Soraya Simon, MD - Housestaff PGY I
Sara Zeltsman, MD - Housestaff, PGYI
September 2020
Michelle Cheng - Fellow, Institute for the Study of Child Development
Evelyn Lagalante, RN - Staff Nurse, Allergy Immunology and Infectious Disease
Kenneth Paridiso, Ph.D, - Assistant Professor, Division of Immunobiology
October 2020
Genevieve Gabriel, MD, - Assistant Professor, Division of Child Neurology
November 2020
Mayoor Bhatt, MD - Assistant Professor Division of Neonatology
Ashley Fuhrman, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Assistant Professor, Division of Child Neurology
Vivian Ibanez, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Assistant Professor, Division of Child Neurology
Daniel Lima, Research Teaching Specialist III, Division of Child Neurology
Daniel Mitteer, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Assistant Professor, Division of Child Neurology
Kathryn Peterson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Child Neurology
January 2021
Gaetan Barbet, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Division of Immunobiology
February 2021
Razia Akhtar, MD, Assistant Professor. Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
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