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This Month In Pediatrics
April 2025
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As RFK Jr. Champions Chronic Diseases Prevention, Key Research is Cut
Drs. Sallie Permar and Sean Cullen comment on the severe impact of key grants and programming in pediatrics being terminated, and their efforts to receive philanthropic funding to continue this research. Read more here!
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Mental Health Challenges are on the Rise Among Healthcare Workers
Dr. Juliana Romano shares her personal experiences with mental health struggles. Her story sheds light on the pressures and difficulties many doctors face, often in silence, and emphasizes the need for support, self-care, and open dialogue within the medical community. Read more here!
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Emina Hodzic, MD
Division of Cardiology
| | Appointments & Promotions | | Dr. Lisa Giulino Roth has been named the John D. and Lili R. Bussel Professor in Pediatric Hematology effective April 1, 2025. This professorship, powered through philanthropy, recognizes Dr. Roth’s leadership in B-cell lymphoma research and significant contributions to understanding the underlying mechanisms of this disease and development of innovative therapeutic strategies. Her accomplishments and commitment as leader and mentor bring distinction to Weill Cornell Medicine. We look forward to Dr. Roth's future achievements at Weill Cornell Medicine. | | Dr. Sallie Permar has been nominated to the Board of Directors of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPDC) effective April 27, 2025. This prestigious appointment reflects Dr. Permar’s unwavering commitment to advancing child health through medical education, research, and advocacy. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Permar on this well-deserved recognition. | |
| | The Department of Pediatrics 8th Weill Cornell Medicine, Transition-to-Residency (TTR) Boot Camp was a tremendous success! TTR is an interprofessional team-based course designed to consolidate and synthesize the clinical skills of our graduating fourth-year medical students in preparation for internship. Over two-weeks, our students worked alongside NYP nurses on interdisciplinary teams to rehearse clinical reasoning and medical decision making skills, reinforce teamwork skills, and practice high-yield procedural skills. Dr. Kevin Ching has raised TTR from just an idea to a full-fledged successful course and has leveraged the work into scholarship. | | | |
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Dr. David Lyden has been awarded $750,000 from the The Pershing Square Foundation’s 2025 Ovarian Cancer Challenge Grant for his proposal entitled,Targeting Ovarian Cancer Metastasis: From Pre-metastatic Niches to Liquid Biopsies.
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Dr. Nitya Gulati has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Ritu Banga Healthcare Disparities Research Award. This award recognizes the significant contributions made by WCM investigators and her dedication to ensuring that everyone has access to quality and equitable healthcare and treatment.
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Dr. Alexandra Huttle was a recipient of the Cornell Center for Health Equity Pilot Grant for her project entitled Pediatric Healthcare Contacts in the Year Before a Suicide Crisis.
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| | Has your research been affected by recent government cuts? The Coalition for Pediatric Medical Research wants to hear from you! Below is a brief survey to capture stories to help inform ongoing messaging. Complete the survey. | | | |
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Call for Perspectives: Strategies to Enhance Pediatric Health Research Funded by NIH
The National Academies Committee on Strategies to Enhance Pediatric Health Research Funded by NIH would like to hear from individuals conducting pediatric health research who have applied for or received funding from the NIH, including but not limited to academic researchers, physician-scientists, non-clinical faculty scientists, and nurse researchers. Submit nominations here. Deadline is July 1, 2025 at 11:59pm ET. For more information, please view the project page or email PediatricResearch@nas.edu.
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Pediatric Fellows' Research in Progress takes place on the 4th Thursday of each month. Third and second year fellows present their ongoing academic scholarship work. This month's presenters were:
Melanie Gao, MD (2nd Year Neonatology Fellow)
Topic: Maternal and Social Determinants of the Preterm Human Breast Milk Lipidome
Salvatore Aspromonte, MD (2nd Year Hematology/Oncology Fellow)
Topic: Repurposing DLL3 CAR T Cells to Treat Refractory Neuroblastoma
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Speak Up & Stand Up for Children
The time to speak up for children is now. Myriad issues affecting children’s health present advocacy opportunities, and the landscape changes quickly. Here are just a few examples to help you determine where you want to use your OUTSIDE voice.
Protect Pediatric Research
Additionally, we have seen many research programs cut, chief among them the Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP). As you know, research is the cornerstone of children’s health, so we need everyone to advocate for PSDP. You can find everything you need in the toolkit, including sample scripts and tips on writing to your representatives.
Your Representation in Congress
Find who represents you.
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Dr. Sallie Permar has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Stanley A. Plotkin Lecture in Vaccinology Award. This award is intended to honor Dr. Plotkin’ s contributions to the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and to the fields of Vaccinology and Infectious Diseases. As the lecturer, Dr. Permar will be recognized for her contributions to the field of vaccinology or areas of related science that have impacted the lives of children and the specific area of pediatric infectious diseases.
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Dr. Jane Chang has been chosen as the 2025 recipient of the Jeanne and Herbert Siegel Faculty Development Award. The late Board of Fellows member Herbert J. Siegel and his wife, Jeanne, made this award possible through an endowed gift to acknowledge professional achievement and innovation by a faculty member at the assistant or associate professor level of his/her career. She will be recognized at Commencement in May 2025.
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| | Dr. Marisa Censani has been elected to the position of President-Elect on the Executive Committee on the Obesity Medicine Association Board of Trustees! The Obesity Medicine Association is the largest organization of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other health care providers treating obesity with over 5,000 members from the United States and internationally. | | | |
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Dr. Omar Abdul-Rahman has been invited to serve on the USMLE Management Committee, responsible for setting the passing standards of all USMLE Step examinations – Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK), and Step 3. The Committee also makes recommendations regarding the content and overall direction of the examinations to the USMLE Composite Committee.
| | | | Click here to view publications by faculty members published in the last 30 days! | | |
| | Dr. Natalie Uy was invited to give an oral presentation, titled “Shunt wars: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt + Peritoneal dialysis catheter,” at the SCOPE (Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Endstage Kidney Disease) collaborative Spring Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. | | | |
| | Dr. Karen Acker moderated a Converse & Convene session hosted by the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) on "Mother-Infant Dyad During Respiratory Illness Surges." | | | |
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Dr. Allison Gorman's project entitled “Improving Early Childhood Vaccination Rates in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Quality Improvement Approach” has been selected by the Quality Improvement Academy (QIA) leadership to be included in their advanced QI training and faculty development program.
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Dr. Melissa Rose's project entitled “Pediatric Foreign Body Emergency Pathway: A Multidisciplinary Collaboration to Standardize Care and Improve Patient Safety” has been selected by the Quality Improvement Academy (QIA) leadership to be included in their advanced QI training and faculty development program.
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| | Dr. Adin Nelson led three workshops at the Association of Pediatric Program Directors conference, covering strategies for becoming a more effective educator, enhancing visual communication for teaching and academic work, and redefining resident scholarship to align with updated requirements. Additionally, Dr. Nelson presented two posters: “Pediatrics Residents’ Conference Attendance Does Not Correlate with Their In-Training Exam Scores” and “Daily Text Messages Did Not Induce Residents to Answer Exam Practice Questions.” | | | |
| | Many of our physicians attended the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting from April 24-28, 2025, in Honolulu, Hawaii. | | | |
| | Many members of the endocrine team attended the 25th Anniversary Everyone CARES Gala. In attendance were Dr. Zoltan Antal, Emily Coppedge NP, Elizabeth Gunckle NP, one of our pediatric endocrine fellows Dr. Sara Velasquez Restrepo and others. | | | |
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The Food Allergy and InTolerance (FAIT) support team led by Dr. Aliza Solomon and Dr. Arielle Bergman held a virtual meeting entitled “Navigating Food Choices and Avcomodations: College and Beyond” on March 26th.
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| | Our incredible team of doctors and staff from the Wellness Committee spent a heartwarming day at the Ronald McDonald House, serving meals, and sharing smiles with kids through fun crafts and activities. | | | |
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The Department of Pediatrics is NOW on Instagram!
Help us gain more followers on Instagram by following us @WCMPediatrics, engaging with our posts by liking, commenting, sharing, and tagging us in your department-related posts! Please send an email to PedsSocial@med.cornell.edu if you would like any of your updates to be featured on our social media channels.
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Pediatrics Research Day 2025
Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and Drukier Institute for Children’s Health are pleased to host the 4th Annual Weill Cornell Medicine Pediatrics Research Day highlighting pediatric research conducted by faculty, fellows, residents, graduate students, postdocs, medical students, and other researchers!
Date: June 3, 2025
Time: TBA
Location: Belfer Research Building
Register HERE!
Submit an Abstract HERE!
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Pediatrics Summer Internship Lunch & Learn Series
The series includes 30-minutes presentation from speakers either on their area of expertise or career path along with a 30-minute Q&A session.
Date: Wednesdays, June 11 - August 6
Time: 12-1PM
Location: Conference Room M614
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The Children's Hospital Solutions for Patient Safety Network (SPS) wanted to give a shoutout to recognize the contributions of Dr. Nena Osorio to SPS. They appreciate her leadership as a New York Regional Champion. In that role, Dr. Osorio has been an invaluable guide and role model for a number of hospital participants. Their network has so much momentum and have recently surpassed a milestone of 30,000 children spared serious harm.
One of our wonderful child life specialists from the Peds ED had her manuscript published in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Her article is entitled "Quality of Life for Children with Mental and Behavioral Health Emergencies in the Pediatric Emergency Department."
Shout out to sleep technologist, Rubin Francis, for being professional, thorough, and for having excellent bedside manner.
Drs. Alyson Gutman, Nicole Kucine and Oleh Akchurin were among the top pediatric physicians with stellar Google review ratings this month!
Share your appreciation for colleagues by submitting a shout-out for inclusion in the department newsletter here!
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