GEN’s Sarah Tilyou spoke with senior author Glenn T. Furuta, a professor of pediatrics [, The Arnold Silverman, MD Endowed Chair in Digestive Health and head, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology] at University of Colorado School of Medicine and the section chief of pediatric gastroenterology at Children’s Hospital Colorado, in Aurora, about the guideline and its implications for GI practice.
A grant proposal from the Department of Pediatrics recently received a President’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Grant – one of 10 awarded across the four-campus CU system. The project, NICU Health Equity Rounds, is led by neonatal-perinatal fellow Paula Dias Maia, MD, and pediatric resident and incoming neonatology fellow Mariana Niño de Guzman, MD, with mentorship by Sunah Susan Hwang, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics and Lula O. Lubchenco Chair in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine in the Section of Neonatology and Jeanne Zenge, MD, associate professor of clinical practice and Neonatology Fellowship Program Director, Department of Pediatrics.
Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, MPH, [professor and L. Joseph Butterfield Chair in Pediatrics], is corresponding author of a commentary published June 3 in Pediatrics on a study that reinforces the clinical utility of body mass index, particularly in identifying increased adiposity in the obesity range of 8- to 19-year-olds. Jaime M. Moore, MD, MPH '19, assistant professor of pediatrics, is co-author.
Nicolle F. Dyess, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, is corresponding author of research published June 6 by BMC Medical Education that identifies knowledge gaps in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (NPM) fellows’ understanding of how to find, prepare for, and negotiate their first post-training job. The authors conclude that these knowledge gaps are not unique to NPM fellows and that all graduate medical education trainees would benefit from an easy-to-implement, no-cost job search series like the one they created for NPM fellows during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Halden F. Scott, MD, MSCS '19, associate professor of pediatrics, and Justin M. Lockwood, MD, MSCS '18, assistant professor of pediatrics, are co-authors of an original investigation published June 5 by JAMA Network Open that describes findings indicating long delays in antibiotic therapy are associated with increased risk of mortality among children with sepsis. The cohort study included 19,515 pediatric patients at 51 U.S. children’s hospitals from Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2021.
Christian Mosimann, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, is corresponding author of a research article published June 5 by Science Advances that describes a new state-of-the-art in creating transgenic zebrafish for biomedical research. Robert L. Lalonde, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in Christian’s lab, is first author, and Alexa Burger, PhD, research associate professor of pediatrics, is an expert in zebrafish genome editing contributing to this decade-spanning effort. Four colleagues from our school are co-authors. The lab contributed the cover art for the issue.
Lori Sussel, PhD, professor of pediatrics and director of basic and translational research at the Barbara Davis Center of Diabetes, has been awarded Albert Renold Prize by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). The award recognizes Lori for outstanding contributions to better understand the function of the pancreas. The prize will formally be awarded in September 2024 at the annual meeting of the EASD in Madrid, where Lori will deliver the 18th Albert Renold Lecture.
Research Press Coverage Alumni
It was a school day afternoon when Blaise learned his diagnosis. He came to find out that his parents had received a call from the doctor that day. Soon after, the family had a telehealth appointment with Teri Schreiner, a pediatric neurologist who specializes in neuroimmunology [associate professor of pediatrics at CU School of Medicine] and the study’s lead pediatric researcher.
University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Program to Advance Physician Scientists and Translational Research has selected five Translational Research Scholars for 2024. The program aims to foster translational research among early career faculty who are within the first four years of their assistant professor appointment. Each scholar receives up to $300,000 over four years to support their research. Congratulations to Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Genetics and Metabolism and 2022 Boettcher Investigator Martin Breuss, PhD.
Stacey L. Simon, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, Section of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine is first author of a review published in late March by The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health that presents prevalence rates, screening tools and treatment recommendations for polycystic ovary syndrome-related conditions. Jaime Moore, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, Section of Nutrition and senior author Melanie Cree, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, Section of Endocrinology and director of the Multi-Disciplinary PCOS Clinic are among six colleagues from our campus who are contributors.
Priya S. Rolfes, MD, a fellow in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition program, is corresponding author of an original article published April 29 in The Journal of Pediatrics that identifies neonate-specific prognostic variables for survival with native liver in neonatal acute liver failure. The findings may help early risk stratification to guide medical decision-making and consideration for liver transplantation. Co-authors from our Department of Pediatrics are Professor Shikha S. Sundaram, MD, MSCI, Distinguished Professor Ronald J. Sokol, MD and Visiting Associate Professor Sarah A. Taylor, MD.
Theresa Grover, MD, professor of pediatrics, [Section of Neonatology] and Michael Cookson, MD '18, MHS, fellow in neonatal-perinatal medicine in pediatrics, are co-authors of an article published April 16 by the Journal of Perinatology that offers a consensus evidence-based framework for meeting the nutritional challenges faced by infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Stacey L. Simon, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, [Section of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine] and Janet Snell-Bergeon, PhD, MPH, professor of pediatrics, [Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes] are shared first authors of an original article published April 8 by Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism that examines associations between sleep and cardiometabolic health in adolescents and adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). “Sleep may be an important and novel target for improving cardiometabolic health in individuals with T1D,” the authors write. Nine colleagues from our campus are co-authors, including Kristen Nadeau, MD, MS, professor [and vice chair for clinical and translational research] of pediatrics, and Irene E. Schauer, MD, PhD, clinical professor of medicine, who are shared senior authors.
Shanlee M. Davis, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, [Section of Endocrinology, University of Colorado School of Medicine], is corresponding author of an original investigation published March 29 by JAMA Network Open that considers the prevalence of an additional X or Y chromosome among men who served in the U.S. military. Davis and her co- authors conducted a cross-sectional study of 595,612 men in the VA’s Million Veteran Program, finding that 1 in 370 men had a sex chromosome aneuploidy, but only 14.2% were clinically diagnosed by the time they were 60 years old. Men with an extra X or Y chromosome have increased risk of delayed development, learning disabilities, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders.
Paula Dias Maia, MD, fellow in neonatal-perinatal medicine in the Department of Pediatrics, has received the PROSPER Diversity Award from the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR). The PRomotion of FellOwS‘ PEdiatric Research (PROSPER) Diversity Award provides material support and mentoring for a one-year pediatric research project that will facilitate an academic research-focused career trajectory for fellows from under-represented in medicine background(s). Her current research at the Colorado Pulmonary Heart Lung Center focuses on understanding the effects of antenatal inflammation on pulmonary endothelial cell diversity and cardiopulmonary sequelae.
Megan J. Turner, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, is corresponding author of an article published March 20 in the Journal of Perinatology that evaluates whether three specific urine biomarkers of acute kidney injury would predict abnormal brain MRI findings. Having earlier markers to correlate with clinically significant brain injury would help clinicians in communicating prognostic information to families. Nicholas Stence, MD, professor of radiology, and Ilana Neuberger, MD, assistant professor of radiology, are co-authors on the article.
James A. Feinstein, MD, MPH, (associate professor of pediatrics and clinical research director, Section of General Academic Pediatrics; principal investigator, Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science; pediatric director, Children's Hospital Colorado Epidermolysis Bullosa Program), is a co-author of an original investigation published March 15 in JAMA Network Open that explores recurrent intensive care episodes and mortality among children with severe neurologic impairment.
With her rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Research Program award, Dr. Elena Hsieh (associate professor of pediatrics, Section of Allergy and Immunology) will focus on the immunological determinants that drive the conversion from “at risk” rheumatoid arthritis to symptomatic RA.
Erica M. Wymore, MD, MPH (associate professor of pediatrics, Section of Neonatology), is corresponding author of an article published March 2 by the Journal of Perinatology that studies the relationship between severe hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Seven colleagues from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, including John Kinsella, MD (professor of pediatrics, Section of Neonatology), are co-authors.
Jillian M. Cotter, MD, MSCS, assistant professor of pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, is a corresponding author of a quality report published February 14 by Pediatrics that describes a quality improvement project aimed at reducing hospital-onset C. difficile infections while also eliminating unnecessary tests. The project, conducted from 2018 to 2020, included developing a clinical care pathway for testing and treatment for C. difficile, a clinical decision support tool to restrict testing, and targeted prevention efforts. Dr. Cotter and her co-authors conclude that such strategies can be used to decrease C. difficile and improve overall test utilization.
Brian H. Pitts, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, Section of Adolescent Medicine, is corresponding author of a review article published February 15 in Pediatrics that reviews and consolidates the available literature on suicide risk screening and brief intervention with youths in outpatient medical settings. Brian and his co-authors conclude that brief suicide interventions for youth in outpatient medical settings can increase identification of risk, increase access to behavioral health services, and for crisis interventions, can limit psychiatric hospitalizations. This is a critically important study because suicide is a leading cause of death in youth across the United States, with a recent survey reporting that 18.8% of students nationwide had seriously considered attempting suicide. Six colleagues from our campus are co-authors.
Research Press Coverage Publications
When the task force began its meta-analysis to find the new pediatric sepsis criteria, the team “wanted to understand the settings where this work was done,” explained Halden Scott, MD, MSCS, an associate professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Colorado, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, in Aurora, and a task force member. “We looked at whether the countries were classified as lower income, lower middle income, upper middle income or high income following the World Bank classification system.”
Diagnostic stewardship, along with targeted prevention efforts and a testing and treatment clinical care pathway, reduced hospital-onset cases of Clostridioides difficile by more than 50% in a children’s hospital, researchers reported.
Source: Cotter JM, et al. Pediatrics. 2024;doi:10.1542/peds.2023-061981.
Suchitra Rao, MD, associate professor of pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, is the corresponding author of a state-of-the-art review published February 7 by Pediatrics that provides a summary of current knowledge about long COVID in children. The article is a comprehensive discussion of the prevalence and epidemiology, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and outcomes. The article also seeks to inform future treatment and prevention efforts. Listed as co-authors are 21 colleagues from major academic medical centers across the country. The New York Times also quotes Suchitra in an article about the review.
Kevin Messacar, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics in the Section of Infectious Diseases, is the corresponding author of the main article in the March 2024 Emerging Infectious Diseases, a monthly journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Messacar and his co-authors report on lessons learned from developing a multimodal surveillance program for enterovirus D68 and how they could be applicable to other emerging pathogens and their associated diseases. Messacar and his 12 co-authors are from University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
John “Fred” Thomas, PhD, professor of pediatrics and public health and executive director of the Peer Mentored Care Collaborative (PMCC) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is senior author of an article published by Telemedicine and e-Health about the environmental benefits using econsults to deliver care. The authors, six members of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, reviewed 15,499 econsults between July 2018 and December 2022 from PMCC. Among the benefits they tally are a reduction of 310,858 miles of in-state travel distance, 5,491 hours of saved travel time, fuel reduction of 13,575 gallons, and a reduction of 77 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Join the Department of Pediatrics for "Tribute to the Legacy of Michael Hambidge, MD, ScD," during pediatrics grand rounds on Friday, February 2, from 12:30–1:30 p.m.in Mt. Oxford, second floor conference center in Children's Hospital Colorado. Erick Boy, MD, PhD, chief nutritionist, HarvestPlus Nutrition, International Food Policy and Research Institute, will present "Biofortification – Reaching Millions of Rural Farming Households with Micronutrient-Rich Staple Crops Sustainably," with a reception to follow at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby.
Steven H. Abman, MD, professor of pediatrics in the Section of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, is a co-author of an article published January 13 in the Journal of Perinatology finding that transpyloric feeding is associated with adverse in-hospital outcomes in infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia affects 10,000 preterm infants annually in the United States and is the most common complication of preterm birth.
James A. Feinstein, MD, MPH/MSPH, associate professor of pediatrics in the Section of General Academic Pediatrics, is co-author of an article published January 4 in Pediatrics that considers drug-drug interaction exposure in pediatric outpatient settings. Using a database of Medicaid beneficiaries, the authors reviewed cases involving more than 780,000 children and found that 21.4% experienced major exposures, putting children at risk for negative health outcomes and adverse drug events.
Research Education Alumni Accolades
The CU Anschutz School of Medicine’s Program to Advance Physician Scientists & Translational Research recently announced the scholars in its Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) Program, which is funded by an award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Lauren Maloney, MD, resident in pediatrics, is one of four scholars selected. Her project is studying age-specific differences in the immune response to obstructive cholestasis, with Sarah Taylor, MD, visiting associate professor of pediatrics, as her mentor.
“Our study confirms that time in range, as well as time in tight target range, is associated with incident diabetic retinopathy,” Viral N. Shah, MD, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics in the adult clinic of the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, told Healio. “We only evaluated diabetic retinopathy in our study, but I am confident to extrapolate this finding to other microvascular complications such as nephropathy risk as well.”
Lilliam Ambroggio, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, Christina M. Osborne, MD, instructor of pediatrics, and Brandie D. Wagner, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics and informatics in the Colorado School of Public Health, are co-authors of an article published January 2 in Nature Communications that adds information about antimicrobial resistance in the lung microbiome. The authors performed an observational study of children and adults with acute respiratory failure. Their findings of higher resistance in adults compared to children could have implications for clinical management and public health.
Stephanie W. Waldrop, MD, instructor of pediatrics, is corresponding author of a comment published January 3 by Nature Medicine that addresses inequities in access to medications for weight loss. Barriers to access for the medications known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists include high list prices, variable insurance coverage, and bias in prescribing. Stephanie and her co-authors conclude: “Health is a social good, and thus society has an obligation to provide health services that address the needs of all. GLP-1 agonists are effective treatments for weight management, and although regulatory bodies and medical providers are on the right path, we have a long way to go.”
A grant entitled, “Living Donor Liver Transplant: Is It a Cost-Effective Option for Children in Need of Transplantation,” from Amy Feldman, MD (Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition), was given a Mid-Level Career Development Award from the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Foundation. Over the last five years, Children’s Hospital Colorado (working in partnership with Dr. Elizabeth Pomfret and the liver transplant team at the Department of Surgery) has been the leading center for pediatric living donor liver transplant and the leading center for pediatric non-directed living donor liver transplant across the country.
The poster, Surgical Co-Management (SHARe), highlights the benefits of comprehensive hospitalist co-management of surgical patients. Studies show that co-management of surgical patients by hospitalists can significantly enhance the quality, safety and efficiency of care.
Dr. Kevin Ess has been an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Cell and Developmental Biology, the Gerald M. Fenichel Chair in Neurology, and Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Vanderbilt University. As Division Director, he also served as the Neurologist-in-Chief at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Dr. Ess has been at Vanderbilt since joining their faculty as Assistant Professor in 2006. Kevin received his PhD in developmental biology (1996) and his medical degree (1998) from the University of Cincinnati. He completed a one-year pediatric internship at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado in 1999.
Research Education Alumni Announcements
Stephanie Bourque MD, MSCS, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Neonatology and Associate Medical Director, Children’s Hospital Colorado Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, has been appointed the first recipient of the Niermeyer Family Distinguished Professorship in Neonatology.
A research team at University of Colorado School of Medicine, JFK Partners, led by Judy Reaven, Ph.D., has been approved for a $2,780,297 million funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study A Comparison of Two School-Based Interventions to Manage Anxiety in Autistic Students.
Ihuoma Eneli, MD, MS, will begin her tenure as the new Section Head of Nutrition on October 1. Dr. Eneli is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at the Ohio State University and Director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
The Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center has been awarded two NIH UG3/UH3 grants as participating cohort sites in the national ECHO consortium, which aims to understand the effects of a wide range of environmental exposures on child health and development. The award period is 2023-2030.
The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is pleased to announce that the 2023 Global Team Science Award (GTSA) has been granted to an exceptional multidisciplinary research team of experts in immunology, pediatric rheumatology and nephrology, genetics, and data analysis to identify drivers of lupus nephritis in children with the aim of improving its diagnosis and treatment. The 2023 GTSA project will be headed by corresponding investigator Elena Hsieh, M.D., Associate Professor of Immunology & Microbiology and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado, Anschutz School of Medicine.
Susan L. Johnson, PhD, (Professor, Section of Nutrition) has been selected by The Obesity Society and the Pediatric Obesity Section as the recipient of the 2023 Oded Bar-Or Award for Excellence in Pediatric Obesity Research. This prestigious award was founded in 2007 to recognize significant contributions to basic and applied pediatric obesity research that have resulted in major advances in scientific understanding of etiology, prevention, and treatment.
Charles G. Sagerstrom, PhD (Professor, Section of Developmental Biology) has been selected as Vice Chair for Basic Science Research. Dr. Sagerstrom will officially start in this role on March 1, 2023 and will be connecting with basic science research leaders within the Department, the School of Medicine, and the Child Health Research Enterprise.
MedPage Today
July 23, 2024
“The pediatric recommendations have often seemed to be merely an extension of adult-focused recommendations, which may be confusing for those in pediatric practice. It is also likely that prevention of cardiovascular disease that occurs in adulthood is not top of mind for pediatric clinicians,” according to Stephen Daniels, [professor and chair, Department of Pediatrics] of University of Colorado School of Medicine and [pediatrician-in-chief and L. Joseph Butterfield Chair of Pediatrics] Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora.
Colorado Biz
July 19, 2024
Lula Lubchenco, MD, was a pioneering pediatrician in Colorado, where she developed protocols and tools used in delivery rooms around the world to categorize newborns and determine the risk of health complications. Dr. Lubchenco’s research insights and the use of her Lulagram chart helped shape the field of neonatology. She began publishing her research on the relationship between birth weight and gestational age in newborns. In this research, she developed a chart that allowed clinicians to plot a baby’s birth weight against its gestational age – this chart became known as the “Lulagram.” Additionally, one of her essential research studies was the follow-up of infants born prematurely due to mothers with Rh incompatibility. Her work helped obstetricians develop protocols that led to the prevention of Rh sensitization in mothers.
Associated Press
July 18, 2024
Proceeds from the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show support the important work of GLOBAL and GLOBAL’s affiliates, including a team of over 400 scientists working on breakthrough life-saving research at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the CU Alzheimer’s & Cognition Center, and a dream team of medical professionals providing excellent medical care to over 2,500 patients from 33 states and 10 countries at the Anna and John J. Sie Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
CBS News
July 16, 2024
Marisa Stahl, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Colorado School of Medicine is first author on new research finding solid evidence backing the need for universal screening for celiac disease in all children nationwide, to protect their health and safety. Seven additional faculty from the Department of Pediatrics contributed to the study.
Gastroenterology & Endoscopy
