Dr. Lisa Roth is a recipient of a $200K grant from The Jeffrey Pride Foundation for her projects titled, Defining Biomarkers of Response to Immunotherapy in Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma & Genomic and Immunologic Predictors of Response in Primary Mediastinal B-cell Lymphoma.

Dr. Claire Otero (Postdoctoral Associate) has been awarded The Michelson Prize research grant of $150K for her proposal titled, Viral Fc receptors as vaccine antigens for prevention of congenital CMV. Read more here!

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:

Wei Wei, MD (3rd Year Hematology/Oncology Fellow

Topic: " Elucidating Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Oncogenic Drivers by MUSASHI RNA Binding Proteins in Neuroblastoma" 

Priya Marathe, MD (2nd Year Hematology/Oncology Fellow)

Topic: "Evolution of Patient-Reported Symptoms and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults with Histiocytic Neoplasms" 

Dr. Sean Cullen was the winner of the Eastern Society of Pediatric Research (ESPR) "Young Investigator – Junior Faculty" award and the "Top Member" award! He also presented his research at the ESPR annual meeting from March 8-10, 2024, on The Role of KHDC3 & Small RNA in the Epigenetic Inheritance of Obesity.

Dr. Nina Debenedictis presented her work on Extubation Readiness Using Heart Rate Variability at the Eastern Society of Pediatric Research annual meeting on March 8-10, 2024.

Dr. Claire Otero's abstract, Addition of human cytomegalovirus viral Fcγ receptors to gB subunit vaccine improves antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis response in a rabbit immunogenicity model; Dr. Ria Goswami's abstract, Gut commensal bacteria suppress ex vivo HIV infection of pediatric tonsils and restore virus-associated immune alterations; and Dr. Krithika Karthigeyan's abstract, A prefusion glycoprotein B subunit vaccine candidate against human cytomegalovirus has similar immunogenicity to postfusion gB in mice, have been been accepted for an oral presentation at the American Society for Virology's 43rd Annual Meeting, which is being held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Monday-Friday June 24-28, 2024.

Dr. Zeynep Bahadir (Postdoctoral Associate) was awarded a travel scholarship from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Dr. Nitya Gulati

Old is gold: frontline etoposide for pHLH

Dr. Mohamad Hamieh

Synthetic dual co-stimulation increases the potency of HIT and TCR-targeted cell therapies

Drs. Isabella Kong & Lisa Roth

Targeting latent viral infection in EBV-associated lymphomas

Dr. Michelle Loy

Qigong 101: A Beginner’s Guide to the Art of Cultivating Vital Energy

Dr. Richard O'Reilly

Two novel assays demonstrate persistent daratumumab exposure in a pediatric patient with delayed engraftment following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Dr. Claire Otero

Rhesus Cytomegalovirus-encoded Fcγ-binding glycoproteins facilitate viral evasion from IgG-mediated humoral immunity

Dr. Juan Pascual

Genetic influences on motor learning and performance and superperforming mutants revealed by random mutational survey of the mouse genome

Dr. Christine Salvatore

Congenital Cytomegalovirus Testing Outcomes From the ValEAR Trial

Dr. Liana Senaldi

Khdc3 Regulates Metabolism Across Generations in a DNA-Independent Manner

Dr. Chani Traube

Screening for Delirium during Pediatric Brain Injury Rehabilitation

Dr. Teresa Vente

Antidepressant Prescribing Practices of Pediatric Palliative Care Providers

Dr. Melody Zeng

Gut bacteria-derived serotonin promotes immune tolerance in early life

Dr. Bernhard Kuhn was featured in an article about his transition from the research lab to becoming the pediatric cardiology chief. He shares his best leadership advice throughout the interview. Read more here!

Dr. Melody Zheng was featured in the WCM Newsroom for her research discovery that unique bacteria abundant in the newborn gut may supply the neurotransmitter needed to shape the immune system and prevent food allergies. Read more here!

Dr. Sallie Permar participated in a panel discussion titled "Strengthening Pediatric Infectious Disease for the Next 40 Years" at the St. Judes/PIDS Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Conference, which was held March 6–8, 2024.



On March 2, 2024, Dr. Sallie Permar also spent the day with the residents of the Pediatric Scientist Development Program, discussing career options as a pediatrician scientist and learning about research on children's health! 

Weill Cornell Medicine was represented at the Eastern Society of Pediatric Research (ESPR) by a few of our neonatologists. Let's go, team! 

The ESPR helps further pediatric investigation and research in the eastern U.S. and Canada and promotes academic careers in pediatrics.

Call for Nominees: Internal Pediatrics Awards

A call for nominees for the Department of Pediatrics Awards will be going out shortly. These awards honor faulty, trainees, and staff that have gone above and beyond. The awards include: the Master Clinician Award, Employee Recognition Awards, and the David H. Komansky Research award, among others. Please keep an eye out for a more detailed email about the nomination process. The due date for applications will be May 10, 2024.

Mentoring Meetings with MAC (MM&M)

Meet with senior faculty member, Dr. Katherine Hajjar for career guidance and mentorship.

The MAC member series aims to provide early-career faculty with an opportunity to meet with senior faculty for career guidance and to promote interdepartmental relationships between faculty.

Date: April 3, 2024

Time: 12-1pm

Location: TBA

Register HERE!

Bi-Campus Webinar: The Road to Pediatric Kidney Transplant and Hot Topics - Living Donation

You are invited to join the Pediatric Kidney Transplant Team of NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine as they discuss an array of topics in this four-part series. Registration is required.

Date: April 3, 2024

Time: 6-7pm

Location: Virtual

Register HERE!

Postdoc Research Day

Join us for an exciting full-day program featuring 

engaging postdoctoral lectures and a panel 

discussion on professional growth moderated by 

Irina Matei featuring Drs. Melody Zeng, Emilie 

Grasset, and Mohammed Hamieh. The event concludes with a networking reception.



Date: April 30, 2024

Time: 9am-5pm

Location: Griffis Faulty Club

Email Janet Lam, Program Manager, at jal2059@med.cornell.edu for registration details!

Pediatric Book Club: Solito

Everyone Invited: Please join us for the next book club – Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora 

In his memoir, “Solito,” the poet Javier Zamora recounts his experience traveling from El Salvador to the United States, by himself, when he was a young boy.

Date: June 24, 2024

Time: 12-1pm

Location: Zoom