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This Month In Pediatrics

March 2025

Children's Health

Welcome to Children's Hospital of New York at NewYork-Presbyerian!


This milestone reflects our collective unwavering commitment to delivering world class, patient-centered care to all children across the region. By uniting all pediatric services across NYP, including those at Komansky and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospitals, as well as our partners at Brooklyn Methodist, Queens, and Lower Manhattan Hospitals, we are strengthening our national presence. This brand encompasses all 9 campuses with pediatric services across 3 NYC boroughs, ensuring families have access to the very best care across multiple pediatric specialties. This also presents an exciting opportunity to enhance collaboration with our Columbia partners to further advance clinical care, training, and outreach. Rebranding as Children’s Hospital of New York underscores our mission to deliver exceptional care and support our youngest patients. Our campus name will now be NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital of Children’s Hospital of New York. 


This transformation and evolution of the brand wouldn’t be possible without your dedication to our patients, groundbreaking research, training of the next generation of children’s health providers, and advocacy, precisely what makes the Children’s Hospital of New York a leader in children’s health.

 

More details and brand guidelines are coming soon, but for now, let’s celebrate this exciting new chapter!

New Faculty

Natina Freda Auyeung, MD

Division of General Academic Pediatrics

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Susan Beker, DO

Division of Cardiology

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Appointments & Promotions

Nazera Pasha, MBA has been promoted to Division Administrator for both the Division of Critical Care and the Division of Neonatology, effective March 3, 2025. In this role, Nazera will oversee administrative responsibilities for our inpatient ICU services. Nazera has been an integral member of our department since she joined in 2006. Over the past 19 years, she has demonstrated exceptional dedication and expertise within the Division of Neonatology. Her extensive experience in business analytics, budgeting, finance, and administrative management makes her exceptionally well-suited for this role. We are confident that her leadership will be instrumental in driving our divisions forward.

Darline Victor, MHA has been promoted to Division Administrator II and will take over the administrative leadership for the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. Darline joined the department in 2018 and has overseen the finance and administration of several divisions. She is currently the Division administrator for Pediatric Endocrinology and Pediatric Nephrology. In her expanded role she will add the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology to her portfolio.

Chantal Azarian, MHA has been promoted to Division Administrator II for the Divisions of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Genetics and Pulmonary/Allergy, including the Pediatrics Sleep Center. Her previous experience includes a strong foundation in healthcare operations and leadership. Chantal's career began at Keck Medicine of USC, where she gained extensive experience in both hospital and ambulatory operations and administration. She joined the Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Pediatrics in 2020 as Divisional Administrator for Pulmonary Allergy and Immunology and the Pediatric Sleep Center. Since then, her role has expanded to include the management of all finances and administration for multiple divisions, including Gastroenterology and Medical Genetics.

Education


We are thrilled to welcome the class of 2028 residents to our Pediatrics team! This is an exciting time in your medical journey, and we are honored to have you join us. Over the coming months, you'll have the opportunity to grow, learn, and make lasting contributions to the care of our youngest patients and their families.

Research

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:


Marissa Dale, MD (2nd Year Rheumatology Fellow)

Topic: Demographic, Clinical, and Laboratory Characteristics of Pediatric Antiphospholipid Antibody-positive Patients


Kaela Ellis, MD (2nd Year Gastroenterology Fellow)

Topic: Association of Niacin Intake, Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Pediatric Patients: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Advocacy

Cornell Represents On the Hill


Dr. Sallie Permar, Iliana Ewen, and students from Cornell’s Master of Public Health program recently joined forces at the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life Advocate to Vaccinate Summit to champion global vaccine access. Read more here!

Advocating for Children’s Health in Albany


Drs. Laurie Gordon and Alyson Gutman met with Christopher Labarge, Legislative Director for NYS Senator Cordell Cleare (30th District, Harlem/UWS) and Reuben Mitchell, Special Assistant to NYS Assemblymember Micah Lasher (69th District, UWS). "New York state AAP Advocacy Day was invigorating, educational, and a lot of fun. They had the opportunity to meet with state legislators to discuss critical issues affecting child health. They were inspired to engage with policymakers and advocate for the well-being of our children. They are hopeful that these conversations will lead to positive change and stronger support for children's health in the state," reflects seasoned advocate Dr. Gordon.

Our HT-3 team took a moment to pause and recognize Patient Safety Awareness Week. PSA week is such an important time to reflect on safety practices and highlight the ongoing efforts to protect patients.




Awards & Honors

Dr. Jaclyn Rosenzweig has been has been appointed as the the Charles, Lillian and Betty Neuwirth Clinical Scholar Award in Pediatric Oncology II effective July 1, 2025. Dr. Rosenzweig’s clinical and research interests lie in identifying new treatments for children with leukemia. She is particularly focused in identifying novel targeted therapies.

Dr. Chelsea Hartman (3rd Year NICU Fellow) received the Young Investigator Trainee Award at the Eastern Society for Pediatric Research (ESPR) conference.

Dr. Hannah Federman (Postdoctoral Research Fellow) has been awarded the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN) Fellows Presentation Award for her abstract entitled, Utilization of urinary cells to detect nephrotoxicity of iron in children with chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Khaled Musallam has been selected as the recipient of the highly prestigious European Hematology Association (EHA) Clinical Excellence Award 2025.

Publications

Drs. Omar Abdul-Rahman & Francis May (Medical Genetics Fellow)

SMARCA2-Related Nicolaides-Baraitser Syndrome


Dr. Zoltan Antal

Endocrine manifestations of pediatric CNS tumors at diagnosis and as sequalae of treatment


Dr. Alexander Chou

Large scale multi-omic analysis identifies anatomic differences and immunogenic potential in subtypes of leiomyosarcoma


Dr. Nicole Kucine

A Toolkit for Healthcare Transition for Adolescents With Classical Myeloproliferative Neoplasms


Dr. Marianne Nellis

The Association Between Platelet Transfusion and Acute Kidney Injury Following Fontan Surgery


Platelet transfusion stated practices among neonatal and paediatric veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation providers: A survey


Dr. Sallie Permar

Cost-effectiveness of broadly neutralizing antibodies for HIV prophylaxis for infants born in settings with high HIV burdens


Policy strategies for inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in vaccine research


Dr. Marianne Sharko

Integrating Artificial Intelligence Support in Patient Care While Respecting Ethical Principles


Drs. Marianne Sharko & Curtis Cole

Patients Have Mixed Feelings About AI-Generated Patient Portal Messages


Dr. Sujit Sheth

Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia


Dr. Han-Wei Wu

Exploring the Landscape of Integrative Medicine in Pediatric Oncology: Characterization of an Outpatient Consultative Service

Click here to view publications by faculty members published in the last 30 days!

Announcements

Our New Lower Manhattan Location for Pediatric Allergy & Immunology will be located at 156 Williams Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10038. Please inform your patients that they can call (646) 962-3410 to schedule an appointment or login through Connect to schedule their next visit with FastPass.


During the 13th Plates for Pediatrics event, Saks Fifth Avenue and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital of Children's Hospital of New York raised $2.5 million. More than 400 people attended the fundraiser, which was hosted by Dr. Sallie Permar and was organized in partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue, a luxury retailer, on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at Casa Cipriani. Read more here!


Pediatric kidney transplant patient, Javion "JoJo" McCoy, was featured at the annual Plates for Pediatrics event at Casa Cipriani. Below is the link for the video of JoJo’s incredible journey from diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome leading to end stage kidney disease, requiring hemodialysis and kidney transplant. Watch video here!

As we celebrate Women's History Month, we thank all the incredible women in healthcare who dedicate their time, energy, and compassion to making a difference in the lives of others. Your strength, resilience, and unwavering commitment inspire us every day. We celebrate you, not just today but always. Your work truly leaves an indelible mark, and we are grateful for everything you do!

Dr. Jennie Ono joined Dr. Steven Corwin In today's edition of Inside NYP, for a discussion about developments in pediatrics at her campus, and the evolution of NYP Children’s Hospital of New York. Dr. Ono’s vision for pediatrics at NYP Queens is to provide a “medical home” where patients and families build trusting relationships with doctors within the community, and to have access to advanced technology, diagnostic innovation, and complex care across the breadth of services provided by the NYP enterprise. Watch here!

Dr. Adin Nelson was an invited guest speaker at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Ninth Annual Graduate Medical Education Conference where he presented his workshop titled “Lessons from the Hogwarts School of Faculty Development; What are our natural teaching styles, and what can we learn from other teaching styles?”


Additionally, he is giving three courses on how to become a more effective educator and how to master visual communication for education and scholarship at the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD) conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Sallie Permar and Oregon Health & Science University co-authored a study that provides critical insight for the development of a vaccine that can more effectively block the spread of CMV across the placenta to babies before they are born. Read more here!


Our Drs. Hanano Watanabe, Andrea Heras, and Jennifer Cross have partnered with eCornell to launch and host case-based lectures on a new platform, called the Weill Cornell Virtual Learning Institute (VLI). This initiative aims to highlight our institution’s eLearning offerings and strengthen access to Weill Cornell education for international partners and individuals. Our doctors have contributed to the project and now have their lectures accessible to a global audience. For more information about the VLI, please visit our webpage.

Dr. Oleh Akchurin delivered a workshop titled “Anemia Management in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease: Focus on Iron” to a global audience of pediatric nephrologists and trainees at the International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA) Congress in Cape Town, South Africa.

Dr. Diane Liu was invited by NYPQ Community Health Initiatives and World Journal newspaper to present to the Chinese community – “Hematuria in Children” in January 2025. Watch full presentation here!

Check out our amazing team representing at the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs Annual Meeting in San Diego! This was a fantastic opportunity for them to present on the Physician Scientist Training Program and participate in rich educational content by a plethora of distinguished speakers.

Weill Cornell Medical College student, Eirene Fithian, and Drs. Perdita Permaul and Priya Katari presented their poster titled, "Factors Associated with Oral Immunotherapy-Related Reactions in Food Allergy Management: Insights from Clinical Practice" at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting held in San Diego, California. 

Dr. Susan Bostwick led a workshop on mentoring at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand for a series of faculty development efforts for the Faculty of Medicine Teaching Academy where Dr. TJ Jirasevijinda serves as a consultant to the medical education program.

In a Protect Their Future podcast, Dr. Sallie Permar talked about the things parents should know about CMV. Listen here!

NYP/Weill Cornell is a NORD-designated rare disease center of excellence! The division of Medical Genetics celebrated Rare Disease Day on February 28, 2025. Dr. Omar Abdul-Rahman and his team worked to help raise awareness about rare diseases in the US.

Drs. Jane Chang and Lisa Ipp delivered an oral presentation at the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine conference in Baltimore on Endocrine and Psychological Variability in the Initial Post-Menarcheal Years.

Dr. Michelle Loy gave an oral presentation at the 2025 International Congress on "Breaking the Cycle : Exploring the Feasibility of a 'Dopamine Reset' Online Shared Medical Appointment for Behavioral Addiction." 

In a recent textbook titled The Foundational Importance of Arts and Humanities in Medical Professionalism, Dr. Rachel Kowalsky authored a chapter.


Additionally, she gave a lecture at the Department of Emergency Medicine Health Humanities Program at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School titled "I See You: Personhood at the Crossroads."

Our Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellows, faculty, and a WCM medical student presented a workshop on Paging Tomorrow's Pediatricians: Early Strategies to Combat the Workforce Crisis at the Regional Academic Pediatric Association at the Albert Einstein Medical College of Medicine. 

In honor of this month's Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy awareness, Blakely Rice shared some of the accomplishments and outstanding care that our team of Licensed Creative Arts Therapists and Certified Child Life Specialists offered to our patients and families across our institution in 2024.


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.

Upcoming Events

Guidance of Nature's Benefits in the Development of Children and Adolescents


Date: April 22, 2025

Location: Zoom

Time: 10-11AM


More details here!

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting


Date: April 24-28, 2025

Location: Honolulu, Hawaii


More details here!

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!

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

Shout Outs

A parent expresses gratitude to Dr. Denis Donovan for his exceptional treatment of their 16-month-old child during a new medication trial. Their child appears to be doing much better and has not experienced any recent episodes.


An emergency room physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia would like to express gratitude to Dr. Eric Ogden Wolgemuth for his skillful and kind treatment of their patients. To acknowledge his exceptional professional skills and compassionate care, he wanted to give him a shout out. 


Drs. Miriam Samstein, Jennifer Bassetti and Andrea Heras were among the top pediatric physicians with stellar Google review ratings!


Share your appreciation for colleagues by submitting a shout-out for inclusion in the department newsletter here!