Winter 2023

USF Health Pediatrics Winter 2023

Chair's Message

2023 is proceeding fast and furious! We are officially post-Covid (I guess) and now it seems that our memories are either pre- or post-Covid. This seems fitting since our work and our lives were turned upside down. We are not the same as a nation, as a department, or as individuals. I believe some good things came out of the disruption, but also some bad. Life is beginning to be more settled, but I think many of us still feel somewhat isolated and disconnected. That is why I encourage you to come in person to celebrate our learners, our faculty and our academic events. The upcoming Barness lecture, USF Research Day, and Match Day are all being held in person. Reconnecting with colleagues at lectures, meetings or in the office offer opportunities for us to build and re-build connections, which is so meaningful after the disruption to our lives. Life goes on and we have much to celebrate, with faculty, trainees and staff continuing to achieve great things – as highlighted in this newsletter. Please congratulate our colleagues who received word of their academic promotions this month. This is an arduous process requiring a bit of self-promotion and vulnerability as one asks for external validity of their work. But it is worth the effort, and a key part of academic medicine. Many thanks to Jane Carver who assists in the development of promotion packets — her assistance is invaluable. Spring is a busy time and this year it is dominated by the LCME visit and review, which is required for accreditation for our medical school. Promotions, presentations, Match Day, graduation and accreditation all remind us of our primary mission: medical education. Every member of the department contributes to this mission, and our achievements and events are all tributes to the work you do every day.

Bernard Pollara Lecture

Promotions

Congratulations to faculty who are being promoted this year, including four who have achieved the rank of full professor!

Joe Puccio, MD : Professor

Antoinettte Spoto-Cannons, MD : Professor

Panida Sriaroon, MD : Professor

Amy Weiss, MD : Professor

Frank Ayestaran, MD : Associate Professor

Steven Ford, MD : Associate Professor

Kudos

Dr. Adam Lewin was elected president of the American Board of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, which oversees the review and examination process for all child and pediatric psychologists.

Dr. Lewin was also appointed to the National Child Psychology Training Guidelines Revision Taskforce, and competed a 3-year term on American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation, serving as co-chair of Program Complaints

Cimarron Lagor, nurse manager, was awarded a USF Health Culture Coin for being a shining example of what leadership in healthcare should look like. One of her most significant accomplishments is the establishment of the Employee of the Month program for USF Peds.

40 Years of Pediatric Kidney Transplants!

       In December TGH performed its 7,500^th kidney transplant! The TGH Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center is one of the top five kidney transplant programs in the country. In addition to treating adults, the center has performed 359 pediatric kidney transplants. The Center woks in close collaboration with the USF Peds Division of Nephrology. Division director Dr. Alfonso Campos states that “The goal of kidney transplantation in children is to provide a duration and quality of life similar to their health peers.”. TGH hosted an event celebrating 40 years of pediatric transplants. Dr Campos has been the director of the transplant program since its inception. We owe amazing gratitude to Dr. Campos and his team for their outstanding work!  Tampa General Hospital Reaches Milestone with a Total of 7500 Kidney Transplants | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org)



•       Congratulations to Drs. Melinda Murphy, Ethan Nowell, Ivy Wilson, and Taylor Tragesser and their TGH/USF team on collecting baseline data for the Simultaneously Implementing Pathways Study funded by NIH. They are investigating ways to improve the care of children hospitalized for asthma, bronchiolitis and pneumonia. This year they will transition to the interventional arm of the study.

•       Dr. Tara Randis was elected to the serve on the Southern Society for Pediatric Research Council.

•       Drs. Claudia Gaviria-Agudelo and Jaime Flores-Torres were elected to serve on the board of the Tampa Bay Latin American Medical Society for 2023.

•       Eleven USF Peds providers were recognized at an event at Dr. Lockwood’s home in honor of their outstanding patient experience scores: Drs. Nathan Brinn, Alfonso Campos, Marisa Couluris, John McCormick, Diame Nieves, Valerie Panzarino, Dayanhara Pena, Elaina Piedrahita-Llano, Jessica Rodriguez, Megan Spiewak and Laura Weathers.

Pediatrics in the News

Dr. Melinda Murphy discussed RSV in children during a November 15 interview with WTVT – Fox News. https://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=55117a1d-a733-4f84-9044-03f19c0074a8

Dr. Panida Sriaroon was interviewed by BBC News about the world’s only approved drug for peanut allergy. Peanut allergies: Parents worry after Palforzia drug sales flop - BBC News

USF Peds was featured in the Feb 17 issue of Top News From USF Health. Dr. Heather Agazzi, director of HOTDOCS, was interviewed for a story along with a grateful parent whose child benefited from the program. A heart-warming story, which includes a YouTube video, features an 8-year old patient whom Dr. Racha Khalaf diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

• HOT DOCS gives parents the tools to guide children’s behavior toward positive growth (83degreesmedia.com)
• Eight-year-old grateful patient thankful to Dr. Racha Khalaf - USF Health NewsUSF Health News



Happenings

Refugee Clinic

Sexual Health Education

In October, the Hillsborough County School Board approved a comprehensive CDC-funded Sexual Health Education curriculum, which has been in place for several years. Although the school district received over 3000 petitions opposing the curriculum and the board's approval of it, fewer than 1% were from Hillsborough County residents/parents. Dr. Amy Weiss and advocates from several community organizations spoke at the December 2022 and January 2023 Hillsborough County School Board meetings to advocate for maintaining the curriculum. On January 12 the Hillsborough County School Board met and voted 5-2 in favor of keeping the curriculum in place for this school year. Read here Dr. Weiss’s op ed for the Tampa Bay Times. 

Hillsborough County students deserve comprehensive sexual health education | Column (tampabay.com)

Transitions

Welcome New Employees

• Monica Lamie: Insurance Specialist, Early Steps
• Riley Jackson: Research Support Specialist, Clinical Research
• Rico Carter: Research Scientist, in the lab of Dr. Tina Ho

Clinical Team Members of the Month

November 2022

Roddric Johnson, LPN, 17 Davis 2

Roddric is an integral part of the Med-Peds family. His caring and calm demeanor puts pediatric and adult patients at ease and helps build trust between the care providers and patients and their families. 

December 2022

Crystal Queiror, LPN, Children’s Medical Center

Crystal is a tremendous asset to the CMS clinic and CMS lab and significantly supports other department areas. She has a passion for nursing and is always improving her skills and thinking outside the box. 

January 2023

Tammy Feliciano, secretary, Curran Children’s Health Center and Riverview Clinic

Tammy’s kindness, energy, hard work and compassion make her an invaluable employee at the two locations she serves. She has been instrumental in helping with clinic upgrades and renovations, and takes on numerous responsibilities effortlessly and gracefully. 

February 2023

Nikita Schoonover, CMA at the 17 Davis Clinic

Nikita’s intelligence, diligence, and cheerful, warm and caring demeanor are greatly appreciated by staff, patients and their families. She is often complimented on Press Ganey surveys, and is a huge asset to USF Health. 

Additions

Residents

Dr. Jade Walter was awarded a Pediatric Advocacy Training Scholarship from the Florida Pediatric Foundation. She will use the funds to attend the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Advocacy Conference in March in Washington, DC. The scholarship is awarded to residents who are members of the Florida Chapter of the AAP.

The Pediatrics and Med-Peds residency programs were recognized for their active participation in the Safety Huddle Program at TGH.

Drs. Jasmin Shahrestani and Celisse Zabalo, nominated by Dr. Emmanuel, were chosen to participate in the 2023 Frontiers in Science Symposium to be held in Clearwater in March. The symposium is held as part of the annual meeting of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Departments.

Grants

Dr. Adam Lewin received a $250,000 grant from the Ream Foundation and a $150,000 donation from a private donor in support of his work in misophonia research.

Dr. Jolan Walter and her USF colleagues Joseph Dasso, MD, PhD and Krisztian Csomos, PhD, along with colleagues from Israel and the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, PA, received an award of $200,000 from the Jefferey Model Foundation for their proposal titled From clinical and molecular characterization to CRISPR genome-editing therapy of RAG1 combined immunodeficiency. The USF team will lead the B cell receptor repertoire investigations.

Dr. Lisa Sanders and her team at the Ybor Youth Clinic received a $4000 grant from the Kiwanis Foundation for their proposal titled Welcome to the YYC: Creating a youth-friendly waiting room to engage clinic patients. The funds will be used to complete their waiting room renovations, which focus on promoting overall wellness and mental health.

Dr Jolan Walter her co-I Dr. Joseph Dasso received $5,000 from the USF Microbiome Research Award Program for their project titled The role of gut microbiota in exacerbating or alleviating immune dysregulation in patients and a mouse model of partial RAG deficiency.

Invited Lectures

• Dr. Adam Lewin presented The Treatment of Misophonia at Boston Children's Hospital in July 2022.



• Dr. Jolan Walter participated in a CME program titled Clinical Consultations™: Raising Awareness and Optimizing Treatment in Adenosine Deaminase Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID) on Nov 3, 2022.



Presentations

• Yilmaz M. B-cell abnormalities and fitness in WHIM syndrome. International WHIM Syndrome Consortium via TEAMS. Sept 20, 2022.

• Walter J. Multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children and conditions and diseases that compromise the immune system and major phenotypes. Sabara International Pediatric Congress. Sao Paulo, Brazil. October 6, 2022.

• Klein D, Vargas J, Panzarino VM, Gaviria-Agudela, C. Renal Function and Injury Assessment in Premature Infants.Southern Society for Clinical Investigation's Regional Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana. February 3, 2023

• Butte M, Dorsey M, Walter J, Tricta F, Fradette C, Wiley J, Wall L. Study Design and Baseline Characteristics of a Single Arm, Open-Label, Multicenter, US Registry Study of Elapegademase Treatment in Patients with ADA-SCID. European Society for Immunodeficiencies 2022. Gothenburg, Sweden. October 12-15, 2022.

• Barnett-Staines L, Steward K, Flores-Torres J, John J, Wickline K. Duration of hypotension and risk of severe intraventricular hemorrhage in periviable infants. Southern Society for Clinical Investigation’s Southern Regional Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana. February 3, 2023.

• Bindernagel C, Plott N, Crocus P, Zabalo C, Sullivan S, Dabrow S, Sriaroon P. Evaluation Knowledge and Implementation of the AAP-Endorses Early Peanut Introduction Guidelines in Florida. National AAP Meeting, Anaheim, CA, October, 2023

• Torek N, Kangavary A, Cepeda S L, Vazquez T, Kudryk K, Lewin AB, Ehrenreich-May J. Who is seeking treatment for youth misophonia? Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 2022 Convention, New York City, November.

•  Dickinson S, Kudryk K, Bolen M, Ehrenreich-May J, Lewin AB. Treatment for Youth with Misophonia (U-HEAR). (2022, November 17-20). Building misophonia knowledge through the examination of phenotypes, mechanisms, treatment strategies, stakeholder perceptions, and public awareness. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 2022 Convention, New York City, November.

American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY, November, 2022

• Sotoudeh S, Gordon S, Ujhazi B, Yilmaz M, Bacchetta R, Csomos K, Walter JE. Late Onset IPEX Syndrome in an Adolescent Male

• Nguyen MHN, Galvez R, Sriaroon P. A Rare Case of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis in a Pediatric Patient With Albinism

• Ishmael L, Westermann-Clark E, Eatrides J, Uzel G, Csomos K, Ujhazi B, Gordon S, Walter J. Diagnosis and Management of CTLA-4 Variant Immune Dysregulation

American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, New Orleans, December 2022

• Potts DE, Yilmaz M, Ujhazi B, Meehan CA, Ellison M, Cruz R, Gordon S,nPatel P, Dasso J, Betensky B, Mayer J, Meyer A, Rico JF, Cockrell E, Eslin D, Hauk CI, Kumar A, Nieves D, Sriaroon P, Metts J, Ayala I, Ong MS, Csomos D,Westermann-Clark E, Walter JE. Investigating Biomarkers for Inborn Errors of Immunity in Patients with Autoimmune Cytopenia

• Bledsoe JR, Delecourt-Billet M, Kelley ML, Fenneteau O, Geier C, Neff J, Yilmaz M, Sakovich I, Sharapova S, Neri L, Moschese V, Walter JE, Cavieres M, Akahane D, Mousallem M, Tarrant T, Li J, Bolyard AA, Mauriello A, Sockel K, Newburger P, Donadieu J, Dale D. The Morphologic Spectrum of Myelokathexis in WHIM Syndrome and Germline CXCR4 Variants: New Insights into Cellular Changes in the Bone Marrow and Peripheral Blood

• Wang C, Sun B, Wu K, Farmer J, Ujhazi B, Geier C, Gordon S, Westermann-Clark S, Sinisa S, Ravishankar S, Chen K, Dutmer CM, Kanariou MG, Adeli M, Palma P, Bonfim C, Lycopoulou E, Wolska-Kusnierz B, Ghassan D, Bleesing J, Moshous D, Neven B, Schuetz C, Raif G, Notarangelo L, Miano M, Buchbinder DK, Csomos K, Wang W, Wang J, Wang X, Walter JE. Clinical, immunological features, treatments, and outcomes of autoimmune hemolytic anemia in patients with RAG deficiency

• Salzer U, Geier C, Ellison M, Yilmaz M, von Spee-Mayer C, Speckmann C, Ehl S, Neth O, Garcia AP, Martinez AD, Alsina L, Sockel K, Schütz C, Potts D, Ujhazi B, Csomos K, Walter JE, Warnatz K. Circulating B-Cell Precursor Cells as Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Biomarker in Patients With WHIM Syndrome

• Warren JT, Walkovich K, Bolyard AA, Dickerson K, Walter JE, Cadavid D, Chapa E, Kelly Chen, Richard MacLeod, Katie Peters, Richard Polisson, David C. Dale Mavorixafor for Patients with Chronic Neutropenic Disorders: Results From a Phase 1b, Open-Label, Multicenter Study

• Pai SY, Nagarsheth N, Prockop S, Armant M, Kohn DB, Marsh RA, Booth C, Everett JK, Bleesing J, Chellapandian D, Dansereau C, de Oliveira S, London WB, Marinovic MA, Moore TB, Oleastro M. O'Toole G, Vander Lugt M, Urdinez L, Walkovich KJ, Walter JE, Schambach A, Thrasher AJ, Bushman FD, Williams DA. Long-Term Outcome of Gene Therapy for X-Linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID-X1) Using an Enhancer-Deleted Self-Inactivating Gammaretroviral Vector

11th Annual JHACH Research Symposium, October, 2022

• Gordon S, Ujhazi B, Alas E, Blair G, Dasso J, Yilmaz M, Potts D, Csomos K, and Walter J. Anti-Interferon Alpha Autoantibodies in Patients with Inborn Errors of Immunity and/or COVID.

• Blair G, Javed Z, Neri L, Alas E, Yilmaz M, Potts D , Nguyen M, Patel P, Sotoudeh S, Sriaroon P, Hajirawala M, Dasso J, Gordon S, Ujhazi B, Ayala I, Betensky M, Metts J, Grana N, Mayer J, Csomos K, Nieves Munoz D, Walter J. The Benefits of Targeted Therapies for Treating Age-Dependent Immunological Causes of Neutropenia as seen at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and USF Health.

• Alas E, Nieves Munoz D, Illes P, Blair G, Yilmaz M, Potts D, Gordon S, Murguia-Favela L, Csomos K, Ujhazi B, Dasso J, Chellapandian D, Vaughn G, Grunebaum E, and Walter J. A Real-World Experience in The Long-Term Efficacy of Elapegademase Treatment in ADA-deficient Patients.

• Yilmaz M, Potts D, Ujhazi B, Meehan C, Ellison M, Cruz R, Gordon S, Patel P, Dasso J, Betensky M, Mayer J, Meyer A, Felipe Rico J, Cockrell E, Eslin D, Hauk C, Kumar A, Nieves D, Sriaroon P, Metts J, Ayala I, Ong M-S, Csomos K, Westermann-Clark E, and Walter J. Investigating Biomarkers for Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders in Patients with Autoimmune Cytopenia.

• Potts D, Palmer K, Yilmaz M, Dasso J, Ujhazi B, Gordon S, Ellison M, Nandiwada S, Brigatti K, Chandra S, Ward B, Csomos K, Rider N, Strauss K, and Walter J. Phenotypic variability within U.S. Mennonite patients with a hypomorphic RAG1 mutation.

• Dasso J, Illes P, Csomos K, Ujhazi B, Alas E, Gordon S, Timothy P, Miranda M, Sullivan S, Shaffren S, Sriaroon P, Szymanski A, and Walter J. Comparison of Humoral Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection and/or Immunization in Primary Immunodeficient, Rheumatic and Healthy Individuals.

• Shaffren S, Wonnaparhown A, Dasso J, Milligan E, Davis D, Fischer B, Venturi G, Carney C, Tarrant T, Mousallem T, Lugar P, Prince K, Curtis A II, Sleasman J, De Paris K, and Walter J. T Cell Responses and Clinical Outcomes After SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination and Infection in X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia.



Publications

Gaviria-Agudelo C, Yonts A, O'Leary S, and Anderson E. Update from the September 2022 Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. October 2022.

Kalyoussef S, Hakim A, Kumar A, Fanella S, Mohandas S, and Gaviria-Agudelo C. PIDS Telehealth Work Group: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Infectious Disease Telehealth Practices in North America. Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. November 2022.

Zehentmeier S, Lim V, Ma Y, Fossati J, Jiang Y, Tumanov A, Lee H, Dillinger L, Kim J, Csomos K, Walter J, Choi J, and Pereira J. Dysregulated stem cell niches and altered lymphocyte recirculation cause B and T cell lymphopenia in WHIM syndrome. Science Immunology Journal. September 2022.

Yilmaz M, Potts D, Geier C, and Walter J. Can we identify WHIM in infancy? Opportunities with the public newborn screening process. American Journal of Medical Genetics Seminars in Medical Genetics. October 2022.

Schuetz C, Gerke J, Ege M, Walter J, Kusters M, Worth AJ, Kanakry J, Dimitrova D, Wolska-Kusnierz B, Chen K, Unal E, Karakukcu M, Pashchenko O, Leiding J, Kawai T, Amrolia P, Berghuis D, Buechner J, Buchbinder D, Cowan M, Gennery A, Güngör T, Heimall J, Miano M, Meyts I, Morris E, Rivière J, Sharapova S, Shaw P, Slatter M, Honig M, Veys P, Fischer A, Cavazzana M, Moshous D, Schulz A, Albert M, Puck J, Lankester A, Notarangelo L, and Neven B. Hypomorphic RAG deficiency: impact of disease burden on survival and thymic recovery argues for early diagnosis and HSCT. Blood. October 2022.

Havlicek, E and Suneja U. Delayed Diagnosis of Chronic COVID Syndrome. Consultant 360. October 2022.

Lim, S.J.; Jithpratuck, W.; Wasylik, K.; Sriaroon, P.; Dishaw, L.J. Associations of Microbial Diversity with Age and Other Clinical Variables among Pediatric Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) Patients. Microorganisms 2023, 11, 422.

Huang S, Cho S, Walter J, Rico J. Disorders of Primary Hemostasis: Updates on Management. The Florida Pediatrician, Winter 2023.

Torres CM, Geneslaw AS, Svoboda L, Smerling AJ, Schlosser Metitiri KR. Effect of standing IV acetaminophen on post-operative opioid exposure in a pediatric cardiac ICU. J Pediatrics Dec 23, 2022.

Patra K, Clute JL. Chest Pain. In: Comprehensive Pediatric Hospital Medicine, 3^rd Edition. McGraw Hill, 2023.

Sauerwein KMT, Geier CB, Stemberger RF, Rossmanith R, Akyaman H, Illes P, Fischer MB, Eibl MM, Walter JE, Wolf HM. Functionally impaired antibody response to BNT162B2 Booster vaccination in CVID IgG responders. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2022 Dec 1.

Blazso P, Csomos K, Tipton CM, Ujhazi B, Walter JE Lineage Reconstruction of In Vitro Identified Antigen-Specific Autoreactive B Cells from Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoires.Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Dec 23.

Walter JE, Ziegler JB, Ballow M, Cunningham-Rundles C. Advances and Challenges of the Decade: The Ever-Changing Clinical and Genetic Landscape of Immunodeficiency. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2023 Jan;11(1):107-115.

Tonarely-Busto NA, Phillips DA, Saez-Clarke E, Karlovich A, Kudryk K, Lewin AB, Ehrenreich-May J. Applying the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents to Misophonia: A Case Example. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Feb 2, 2022.

Guzick AG, Cervin M, Smith EEA, Clinger J, Draper I, Goodman WK, Lijffijt M, Murphy N, Lewin AB, Schneider SC, Storch EA. Clinical characteristics, impairment, and psychiatric morbidity in 102 youth with misophonia. J Affect Disord. 2022 Dec 28;324:395-402.

Farhat LC, Vattimo EFQ, Ramakrishnan D, Levine JLS, Johnson JA, Artukoglu BB, Landeros-Weisenberger A, Asbahr FR, Cepeda SL, Comer JS, Fatori D, Franklin ME, Freeman JB, Geller DA, Grant PJ, Goodman WK, Heyman I, Ivarsson T, Lenhard F, Lewin AB, Li F, Merlo LJ, Mohsenabadi H, Peris TS, Piacentini J, Rosa-Alcázar AI, Rosa-Alcázar À, Rozenman M, Sapyta JJ, Serlachius E, Shabani MJ, Shavitt RG, Small BJ, Skarphedinsson G, Swedo SE, Thomsen PH, Turner C, Weidle B, Miguel EC, Storch EA, Mataix-Cols D, Bloch MH. Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: An Empirical Approach to Defining Treatment Response and Remission in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022

Lewin AB, Kudryk, K. (2021). Parent training for childhood anxiety. In D. McCay & E.A. Storch (Eds.), Handbook of Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders, second edition. New York, NY: Springer.

Save the Date

March 3: USF Research Day

March 17: Match Day

April 6: Lewis Barness Lecture and Fellows Forum

May 11: Commencement 

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Please send content for the next newsletter to pedicom@usf.edu by 6/23/2023.