Pediatric News
Updates from the Department of Pediatrics - 2023 Vol. 6
|
|
Congratulations to the
2023 Department of Pediatrics Graduates
|
|
The Department of Pediatrics congratulates all of our 2023 graduates and wishes them well in their careers. The graduates are listed below along with their future plans.
Dr. Scheherzade Aslam has taken a Pediatric Gastroenterology faculty position at UNMC and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Caleb Cave will pursue a Neonatology fellowship at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Songita Choudhury will pursue a Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati.
Dr. Kelli-ann Corrao will pursue an Adolescent Medicine fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Dr. Christopher Cummings will be joining the Genetics faculty at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Morgan Dreesen will pursue a Hepatology fellowship at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Jenna Essink will pursue an Allergy fellowship at UNMC in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Micah Fischer will take a position in General Med/Peds as a hospitalist and in primary care at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Ind.
Dr. Jessica Fisher will take a position in General Pediatrics with the Cottonwood Pediatric Clinic in Newton, Kan.
Dr. Samantha Gilg will pursue a Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Fellowship in Houston.
Dr. Allison Guild will pursue a Hematology/Oncology fellowship at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Elizabeth Hartley will take a position in General Pediatrics with Children’s Physicians, Dundee Clinic in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Ami Kanley will take a position in General Pediatrics at Children’s Physicians, UNMC in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Raquel Lamarche will pursue an Adult Critical Care fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland.
Dr. Brooklyn Leitch will take a position in Hospital Medicine at Children’s Minnesota in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.
Dr. Taylor Losole will join Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Katie Manning will take a position in General Pediatrics at the Northeast Missouri Health Council Pediatric Clinic in Kirksville, Mo.
Dr. Kelli Mans will be the Pediatrics co-chief resident for 2023-2024 at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Ahmad Miri will take a Pediatric Gastroenterology faculty position at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Elizabeth Null will pursue a Medical Biochemical Genetics Fellowship at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.
Dr. Courtney Plemel will take a position in General Med/Peds with Alexandria Clinic in Alexandria, Minn.
Dr. Lauren Ridgway will pursue a Neonatology fellowship at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix.
Dr. Spencer Robinson will pursue a Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Sophia Johnson Schneider will go into General Pediatrics in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Amelia Sneve will be the co-chief resident for 2023-2024 at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Shane Storm will take a position in General Pediatrics with the Pediatric Care North clinic in Kansas City.
Dr. Claire Troia will pursue a Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Mo.
Dr. Travis Schreier will pursue a Genetics fellowship at UNMC and Children’s in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Alamelu “Priya” Udayappan will take a position in General Pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente clinic in Oahu, Hawaii.
|
|
Rank Advancements Announced |
|
Congratulations to the Department of Pediatric faculty who received promotions in 2023. |
|
Assistant Professor to Associate Professor |
Andrew Huang Pacheco, MD,
Gastroenterology
|
|
|
Aleisha Nabower, MD, Hospital Medicine
.
|
|
|
Chittalsinh Raulji, MBBS, Hematology/Oncology
|
|
|
Jeffrey Robinson, MD, Cardiology
|
|
|
Natalie Ronshaugen, MD, Sports Medicine
|
|
|
Alice Sato, MD, Infectious Disease
|
|
|
Gwenn Skar, MD, Infectious Disease
|
|
|
Sara Swanson, MD, PhD, Cardiology
|
|
|
Zebulon Timmons, MD, Emergency Medicine |
|
|
Associate Professor to Professor with Tenure |
Suzanne Haney, MD, Child Abuse
|
|
|
Gastroenterology Division
Exemplifies Benefits of Diversity
|
|
The Division of Gastroenterology includes faculty from Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Thailand, India, and Puerto Rico. The fellows within the division are from equally wide-ranging backgrounds. Ruben Quiros, MD, chief, Division of Gastroenterology, believes this diversity provides distinct advantages for patients and learners.
Dr. Quiros, his faculty and staff work hard to identify the most qualified candidates for division openings. In assessing a candidate, one of the questions the team considers is how the individual’s talents and background can broaden the division’s ability to connect with patients and learners. “We are intentional,” Dr. Quiros explains. “We are intentional in including diversity in the qualities we look for in applicants because we know that having a team with a wide range of backgrounds is attractive to those we treat and teach.”
Dr. Quiros believes that being a person of color contributes to the division’s success in recruiting and retaining a diverse team. “Representation matters,” he says. “When applicants can see people who look like themselves in our program, they are more likely to view the department as an option for them.” Once the faculty or fellowship candidates have joined the team, Dr. Quiros stays engaged to help them thrive here. “Making people feel cared for and empowered to achieve their goals has been really successful in having faculty stay and build their careers with us, which makes our division stronger,” Dr. Quiros says.
|
|
Letter from the Chair:
Kari Simonsen, MD, MBA
|
|
It’s been another busy and exciting month in the Department of Pediatrics. June is a time of celebrating accomplishments, including our resident and fellow graduates! We wish them the very best as they embark on their next career phase and encourage them to stay in touch with UNMC. I’d also like to acknowledge and applaud all of our faculty who will be advanced in academic rank on July 1. These individuals have each had an important and lasting impact on the field of pediatrics and on our department. Thank you all for your contributions. As we celebrate our graduates, we also welcome our new interns who have arrived on campus and started their orientation. We are excited to have them at UNMC!
There are lots of opportunities to get engaged in our department and our community, as you can see in this month’s edition. A few upcoming events of note include the Community Partner Day planned for July 13. Students interested in health professions will be visiting UNMC to learn about health careers from our department faculty and staff. June is also Pride month, and the Children’s and Nebraska Medicine Employee Resource Groups have events occurring on both campuses. The Omaha PRIDE parade will also be held on July 15 (with the youth Pride parade on July 14), so stay tuned for information on signing up to march in the parade. In addition, the Early Career faculty lunches have returned, and I will be hosting, along with other department and campus leaders, faculty in their first five years of service for lunch once a month to talk about concerns of early faculty and build connections and collaborations among the group. I look forward to meeting more regularly with our junior faculty.
We are also planning multiple research events later in the year that you’ll want to mark your calendars for now: the CHRI Annual Scientific Conference (Nov. 3) , the Pediatric Cancer Research Symposium (Aug. 29), and the fall Pediatric Academic Workshop Series (Sept. 8). All will present opportunities to share research results and build new collaborations.
Thanks again for all you do to support the Department of Pediatrics!
|
|
Kristi Graybill Wins Silver "U" Award |
|
Congratulations to Kristi Graybill, GME Program Coordinator III, for winning a Silver "U" Award. Here are some of the things her colleagues have written about Kristi -
“Everything Kristi does she puts 100% into. I never see her do anything halfway. She is thorough and detail oriented, and I know that when I ask her to take care of something, it will be done. - Chris Curzon, DO, Cardiology Fellowship Program Director
“Kristi is a conscientious person, which is evident in how she approaches her own work which extends to others. She almost always has a smile on her face, and I enjoy when she walks by just to say hi.” - Kelly Kadlec, MD, Critical Care Fellowship Program Director
“Watching the accelerated growth in Kristi as she took on challenges in 2022, has been the best seat in the house. My seat started in the front row and is progressively going higher and higher in the stadium, requiring less & less direct supervision. By this time next year, I will be in the club house." - Priscilla Phillips, Academic Division Administrator
|
|
NPQIC Cohosts Meet and Greet
for Black Doula Support Program
|
|
The Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPQIC) hosted a meet-and-greet event for the Rooted Doula Care and Support Program, a pilot program that will connect 30 Black pregnant people with the support of full spectrum doulas at no cost. Other program partners include I Be Black Girl, Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Black Doula Collective and United Healthcare.
The meet and greet provided partners of the program with an opportunity to meet one another and form meaningful connections. The doulas interested in participating met with the Nebraska Medicine nurses and providers, as they will all be a part of the care team of the Black pregnant patients. At one table, doula Delicia McGhee talked about the unique value of doulas in Black birth journeys with Jeff Stafford, chief executive officer of Nebraska Medicaid for United Healthcare. McGhee explained that births in the Black community conventionally involve family or extended family providing support for the pregnant person. “The role of the doula continues this tradition in a more formalized way,” she said. “For a Black expecting person, I provide a crucial role of being someone who looks like her, with an understanding of her priorities and needs, that advocates for her and her birth plan.”
Stafford stated that United Healthcare is invested in the Rooted Doula Care and Support Program because its leadership believes the best way to ensure the long-term health of the mother and the child is to start early. “We see the data that shows having a doula involved in the birth process results in fewer instances of lower birth weight, caesarian deliveries and birth complications,” he explained. “Doulas statistically contribute to better births for the mother and the child, and that’s obviously something we want to support.”
Ashlei Spivey, executive director of I Be Black Girl, expressed that the Rooted Doula Care and Support Program is crucial to counteracting a health system in Nebraska that does not serve Black people well. “This program allows Black pregnant people to participate in creating their own care teams by adding an advocate in the room,” she said.
Sydnie Carraher, DNP, program administrator, NPQIC, stated that the partnerships formed in creating the Rooted Doula Care and Support Program will be invaluable going forward to address additional perinatal concerns in the Black community. “We hope this pilot program is just step one towards making a systemic impact on Black maternal and infant health outcomes in Nebraska,” Dr. Carraher said.
|
|
For a list of activities planned at UNMC, Children's and throughout the community, click here [conta.cc].
|
|
|
|
Summer Book Club Discussion Opportunity |
Children's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee, the Culture & Inclusion Team and the UNMC Department of Pediatrics Anti-Racism committee are partnering to host a discussion of the book Ahead of Their Time: The Story of the Omaha DePorres Club, which tells the history of a local advocacy group that challenged racial discrimination and segregation in Omaha when it was known as "the Birmingham of the North." We will have two opportunities to discuss the book via WebEx on Tuesday, July 25 at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, Aug. 1 at noon.
To register for one of the discussion sessions, please use the SignUp Genius registration form. Once we have received your registration, we will send you a calendar invitation for the meeting.
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to the
UNMC Office of Inclusion Newsletter
|
|
Click here to become a subscriber to the Inclusion Corner Newsletter. |
|
Back of the Napkin Deadline is July 1 |
|
UNeMed is calling for entries into its second Back-o-the-Napkin contest.
The deadline for entries is July 1, and the contest is open to all faculty, students and staff who have ideas for innovative medical devices.
The top three innovations will win additional support with a professionally engineered and designed prototype. The prototype stage is a common hazard for inventors because prototypes can be costly and time-consuming to create. Yet they are essential for attracting additional support and financing for further development.
Click here or more information.
|
|
Pediatric Provider Study: |
|
This month we feature Brian Juber, MD, assistant professor, Division of Neonatology, and Amy Lacroix, MD, associate professor, Division of General Pediatrics and director of Adolescent and School Health.
|
|
 |
Meet Dr. Juber
What brought you to your given specialty/role?
I was first exposed to the NICU at the very beginning of my fourth year of medical school. After going through all the core rotations the year prior, I was unsure of a specialty or career path. During my rotation in the NICU, my clinical experiences, as well as mentoring from an amazing neonatologist, solidified that this was the career path I had been searching for.
What’s your favorite place in the word?
Our backyard is flush with trees, bushes and flowers. In the late spring and early summer, when everything is verdant and blooming, sitting outside brings so much peace and relaxation. In late June, fireflies sometimes get added into the mix at dusk which makes it extra special. (The cleanup in the fall is less relaxing! But the spring and summer makes it worth it.)
What are you a fan of or very interested in?
My primary hobby is distance running. I have done two full marathons and numerous half marathons. Now that my medical training is over, I hope to train for and complete many more in the coming years.
Is there any book, music, TV series or movie that you admire and would recommend to others?
I tend to not gravitate toward media that features or focuses on the medical world, since I spend many hours a week at work thinking about medicine! I am a big fan of fantasy and science fiction works. These media allow a fun escape into another world, and my favorites involve worlds with verisimilitude crafted by the author, showrunner or director. If I had to pick one, it would be the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien crafted not just an amazing story, but a truly enchanting world to immerse oneself into, which makes it captivating, time after time.
What was the most important lesson taught to you during your career training?
I completed my neonatal fellowship at the University of Iowa, where there was a strong emphasis on care for the smallest and most immature infants born as early as 22 weeks. Although this places these infants at high risk and presents a major challenge, many of these infants I cared for survived and went on experience normal early childhoods, with some of them even weaning off oxygen and other medical support by their first birthday. There is often skepticism and reluctance regarding the care of these infants (and in some cases, rightfully so) – but the resilience of these infants is truly inspiring.
|
|
|
|
|
Meet Dr. Lacroix
What brought you to your given specialty/role?
I started out thinking I would be a veterinarian. Then after dissecting cats in Embryology in college, I decided it would be easier to work with people than animals. I think pediatrics is kind of similar to veterinary medicine in that you are often working with patients who can't tell you what is wrong and depend on you to figure things out for them. Over the years I have drifted into Adolescent Medicine specifically for many reasons. I find that my young adult patients are often really interested in their own health and bring a lot of openness to learning that is refreshing. I also love their honesty and emotional rawness.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
I love to travel and have been captivated by many interesting places. However, right now I would say that sitting in my sunroom with hot tea in my hand and a warm blanket with the sun shining on me in the morning is my favorite place.
What are you a fan of or very interested in?
I have always loved horses and volleyball (GO HUSKERS!). I don't think there is a more wonderful example of freedom, power and beauty than a horse on the run, and the fact that they tolerate humans is admirable. I love going to the Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale, Ariz. in February and watching the steeplechasers/jumpers at the Omaha show in the spring. I played volleyball during high school and some (intramural) during college and am always game to play, though more cautious now than I use to be. And I love to go for nice long casual bike rides on the Omaha trails in the summer.
Is there any book, music or TV series or movie that you admire and would recommend to others, particularly if it relates to the medical world?
My favorite medical book is still Atul Gawande's Being Mortal. I read it too late to benefit from it while my mother was in hospice care. Even so, I feel it should be required reading for everyone in medicine and everyone who has aging family/parents.
What was the most important lesson taught to you during your medical training?
Vital signs are vital, and they don't lie. And don’t trust them unless you did them yourself.
|
|
|
|
Our Success:
Department Celebrations
|
|
|
|
Please click on the link below to see achievements by Department of Pediatrics faculty and staff, including awards, certificates, publications, grants and more. |
|
|
Staff Milestones:
Recent Service Anniversaries
|
|
Congratulations to those celebrating recent work anniversaries. We wish you all the best for continued success! |
|
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
982155 Nebraska Medicine
Omaha, NE 68198-2155
402-955-3933
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
