Dear friends,

 

First, I would like to thank those of you who supported our psychiatry colleagues in responding to the mental health crisis on campus. We continue to work together to help children, adolescents and college students who are suffering. We also welcome several new pediatric psychiatry faculty as we try to increase access to these services. 

 

The NC Children’s Hospital has been at capacity for several weeks. Both 7 Children’s and NICU now have all beds open with available nursing staff. Other units continue to have difficulty with staffing. Melanie Dawes and Tracy Frisbee are working hard to hire nurses so we can open all the beds on 5 Children’s and open the Short Stay Unit. Thank you for your tireless commitment to caring for children and families across the state.

For those of you who rounded on 7 Children’s, you are likely aware that the units had a pumpkin decorating contest. The winner was the NICU with the Wizard of Oz design and the motto “We have courage, brains and heart. There’s no place like the NCCC.” Congratulations!

 

The resident interview season has kicked off and the fellow interview season is ongoing. Thank you to all who are participating in our resident and fellow interviews! Genetics just completed their interview season and matched an excellent candidate from the University of Connecticut. Several excellent programs did not match in genetics. Kudos to Cynthia Powell and the team!

 

Please consider applying for one of the CRI research awards! Faculty, fellow and early career development awards are available.

 

With gratitude,

Stephanie

Dr. Virkud joined the Division of Pediatric Allergy-Immunology as faculty on October 1, 2021. Dr. Virkud received her medical degree from Washington University in 2008. She completed her pediatric residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 2011. Her clinical and research fellowships were completed at Duke University in 2014. Dr. Virkud was most recently an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. Welcome Yamini!

Dr. Rudra joined the Pediatrics Division of Gastroenterology as faculty on October 4, 2021. Dr. Rudra received her BS from Duke University in 2010 and her MD from the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio in 2015. She completed her pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2018. Dr. Rudra has just recently completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Welcome Sharmisthai!

Dr. Herrera received her BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Northwestern University in 2008. She completed her medical degree at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 2013, where she also earn her MPH from the University of Illinois School of Public Health. Dr. Herrera completed her pediatric and internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago in 2017 and went on to complete a fellowship in global health at the University of Florida, Port au Prince, Haiti in 2018. Dr. Herrera currently serves as a pediatric hospitalist at Kapi’Olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu, Hawaii. Welcome Adriana!

Jessica Owens joined Pediatric Gastroenterology on October 18th. Ms. Owens received her BSN from Queens University of Charlotte – Presbyterian School of Nursing in 2013 and went on to completed her MSN at the Duke University School of Nursing in 2018. Beginning in 2013, she worked for 6 years as a nurse on a variety of services at Duke University Medical Center. Since 2019, she has worked as Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Growing Child Pediatrics in Clayton, NC. Welcome Jessica!

Dr. Weiss received her BS in Biology from Florida Mechanical and Agricultural University in 2011 and her medical degree from Duke University in 2015. She completed her pediatric residency at Emory in 2019 and went on to complete a Master of Health Science through the Yale National Clinician Scholar Program in June 2021. Welcome Jasmine!

UNC Children’s: Leading the Way to Fight Sepsis

Click here to see the full story.

on Thurs, October 21st,

Click to see the Slide Deck

Dr. Sofia Aliaga has been appointed as the new Director of Simulation, Experiential Learning and Training (SET) Center for the UNC School of Medicine effective December 1, 2021.

As the Director of SET, she will be responsible for the overall design, management, integration, evaluation, and enhancement of the Center. She will oversee the SET Center team, work towards accreditation of this Center, and enhance the SET Center’s visibility nationally and across the entire School of Medicine.

We are incredibly excited to have Dr. Aliaga in this role. Congratulations Sofia!

Recently, the council members of the American Pediatric Society (APS) formally elected Dr. Mike Steiner to active membership with the society.

Active membership in the APS is reserved for individuals residing in the United States or Canada who have distinguished themselves as child health leaders, teachers, scholars, policymakers, and/or clinicians and whose important contributions are recognized nationally or internationally. The APS is the oldest academic pediatric society in North America and is dedicated to honoring those who have made major contributions to pediatrics. Congratulations, Mike!

Desmond Runyan, MD, MPH, a long-time Adjunct Professor and mentor in General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, has received the 2021 Distinguished Career Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services section of the American Public Health Association. This award is for outstanding dedication and leadership in the science of injury control and emergency health services, with contributions and achievements that have a significant and long term impact on the field of injury.

Many thanks and congratulations to Drs. Colin Orr and Jennifer Gutierrez on their participation as panelists at the Wake County Health Department virtual COVID vaccine outreach events in October. This was part of Wake County's monthly “Ask the Doc” series - a forum for community members, especially those from under represented groups, to ask COVID-related questions directly to physicians. The focus for the session was COVID vaccination for children. Dr. Orr participated in the English-language event and Dr. Gutierrez-Wu joined the Spanish-language session.Thank you both for your part in outreach about this critical and timely issue!

Jim Hagood MD, PhD - Pediatric Pulmonology - In collaboration with Ronit Freeman, PhD, Associate Professor in Applied Physical Science at UNC, has been awarded a $350,000 opportunistic grant to pursue research in lung fibrosis from the Eshelman Institute for Innovation. The award will fund the development of a new peptide-based approach to reverse lung fibrosis and will identify and validate a chemical lead to test for clinical use. Read More>>

Michelle Hernandez, MD - Pediatric Allergy/Immunology - Senior author on a recent publication accepted by the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology - Pacheco SE, Guidos G, Annesi-Maesano I, et al. Climate Change and Global Issues in Allergy and Immunology [published online ahead of print, 2021 Oct 21]. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021;S0091-6749(21)01622-5. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2021.10.011

Corinne Keet, MD - Pediatric Allergy/Immunology - Senior author on a recent publication accepted by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine - McCormack MC, Balasubramanian A, Matsui EC, Peng R, Wise RA, Keet CA. Race, Lung Function and Long-term Mortality in the National Health and Examination Survey III [published online ahead of print, 2021 Oct 1]. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021;10.1164/rccm.202104-0822LE. doi:10.1164/rccm.202104-0822LE

Michael Kulis, PhD - Pediatric Allergy/Immunology - was recently awarded a Department of Defense Discovery Award for work developing an mRNA vaccine for peanut allergy in our mouse models. The total award is ~$300K for 2 years, with $200K in direct costs,

Matthew Vogt, MD, PhD - Pediatric Infectious Diseases - was recently the recipient of two awards to support his research on enteroviral D68:  the Pichichero Family Foundation Vaccines for Children Initiative Research Award from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Foundation and an NIH NIAID K08: Human antibody modification of enterovirus D68 infection.

Tracei Walker, MD & Stephanie Schwartz, MD - Pediatric Critical Care Medicine - recently had their research on the effectiveness of COVID vaccines in adolescents published - Olson SM, Newhams MM, Halasa NB, et al. Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA Vaccination Against COVID-19 Hospitalization Among Persons Aged 12–18 Years — United States, June–September 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1483–1488. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7042e1external icon.

Ellice is an incredibly important, diligent, and compassionate member of our health care team who has brought a spark of energy to 6 Children's. Ellice helps patients and families cope with the stress and uncertainty of hospitalizations. Not only does she prepare patients for procedures and educate them about medical care to reduce anxiety, but she also allows them to have a sense of normalcy and fun in the hospital, all while advocating for their best interests.

She has been particularly critical to the care of several of our patients with longer stays - supporting the patients but also the staff with the stress that long hospitalizations can cause. For many of these patients, she provides a voice for the patient in family and provider meetings and reminds us to focus on more than just the medical complexities. Whether it is arranging an impromptu birthday party, guiding a patient through breathing exercises, or providing gifts for siblings stuck at home, Ellice goes above and beyond for her patients. We feel so lucky to have her as one of our colleagues.