University of Colorado Department of Pediatrics

Dear Faculty and Friends,

Happy New Year and welcome to the January edition of the Department of Pediatrics Newsletter. Here you will find a sampling of all the amazing activity happening within the Department of Pediatrics and at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Thanks to all our talented faculty, trainees, and staff who make this the best Pediatrics Department in the country!

Marshall and Middle Fork Wildfire Emergency Fund

Colleagues within the Department of Pediatrics, the Anschutz Medical Campus, and our sister campuses in Denver and Boulder were adversely impacted by the devasting fires that swept across Boulder County on December 30. The Marshall and Middle Fork Wildfire Emergency Fund has been created to provide support for University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and CU Denver Campus staff, researchers, and faculty who are experiencing financial emergency due to these fires. Employees in need of assistance may apply for a grant of up to $2,500 on the Emergency Fund website. Donations are continuing to be accepted for members of our community impacted by the wildfire and the campus is matching donations. Personal donations can be made to the CU Anschutz Emergency Relief Fund.

Furuta Receives Shwachman Award 

Glenn Furuta, MD (Professor, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition) has received the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) 2021 Harry Shwachman Award. This prestigious award is made in recognition of outstanding achievements in the field of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition. Dr. Furuta, who is Director of Research for the Section and the CHCO Digestive Health Institute as well as Director of the Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program, was recognized for his lifelong work in the field of eosinophilic and allergic GI disorders. Congratulations, Dr. Furuta!

Vibhakar Awarded NIH Research Project Funding 

Rajeev Vibhakar, MD, PhD (Professor, Section of Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation) has been awarded a 5-year, $2.1 million competitive renewal research project award (R01-NS091219) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for his project titled, “Mechanisms of resistance to WEE1 inhibition in Myc driven medulloblastoma.” Medulloblastoma, a small blue cell malignancy of the cerebellum, is the most common malignant brain tumor in children and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatric oncology. Unfortunately, current therapies are infective and highly toxic. Dr. Vibhakar and his research team have identified WEE1 as a therapeutic target in medulloblastoma and now propose to examine resistance mechanisms to WEE1 inhibitors. The results of this work are expected to yield important insights into what could be used to inhibit MYC function in high-risk medulloblastoma and provide a rationale the treatment of MYC driven medulloblastoma.

Abdoo Named Magnet Nurse of the Year

Denise Abdoo, PhD, CPNP (Assistant Professor, Section of Child Abuse and Neglect) has been named a 2021 National Magnet Nurse of the Year by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Dr. Abdoo’s award was in the “Structural Empowerment Magnet® Model” component category that recognizes outstanding contributions of clinical nurses to innovation, structural empowerment, leadership and professional risk-taking. Dr. Abdoo was specifically recognized for her contributions to improving the identification and treatment of sexually exploited and assaulted children not only in Colorado but around the world. Congratulation, Dr. Abdoo!

Children’s Hospital Colorado Red, White and Blue Club

Team members at Children’s Hospital Colorado who have at least 20 years of service are recognized with inclusion in the “Red, White and Blue Club.” Department of Pediatrics faculty who were inducted into the Club in 2021 include the following: Shawna Abbey, MD (Senior Instructor, Section of Emergency Medicine, pictured top row left), Emily Barr, PhD, MSN, PNP (Assistant Professor, Section of Infectious Diseases, pictured top row right), Karen Dodd, PPCNP (Senior Instructor, Section of General Pediatrics, not pictured), Ellen Elias, MD (Professor, Section of General Pediatrics, pictured middle row left), Monica Federico, MD (Associate Professor, Section of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, pictured middle row right), Timothy Garrington, MD (Professor, Section of Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, pictured bottom row left), Jennifer Soep, MD (Professor, Section of Rheumatology, pictured bottom row middle), and Rachel Workman, MD (Assistant Professor, Section of General Pediatrics pictured bottom row right). Congratulations to each of these new Red, White and Blue Club members on this outstanding milestone and dedicated years of service.

10-Year Milestone for Rotbart Publication 

Harley Rotbart, MD (Professor and Vice Chair Emeritus, Department of Pediatrics) has announced the updated and expanded edition of his book, “No Regrets Parenting: Turning Long Days and Short Years into Cherished Moments with Your Kids.” The first edition, published 10 years ago, was a national bestseller, and the new edition is completely updated, including brand new sections on parenting older kids and on grandparenting. Dr. Rotbart retired from the Department of Pediatrics after more than 30 years on our faculty and continues to lecture around the country on issues of relevance to kids, parents, and pediatric providers.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

To improve the accuracy and completeness of our faculty data about race and ethnicity, we ask you to review your profile for accuracy around this (and other demographic information). Accurate data about the demographic characteristics of our faculty will allow us to better monitor our progress toward the goal of inclusive excellence through increased diversity of our faculty, while identifying our shortcomings. We can all agree that this is more important than ever.  If you have questions about the process or the need for the information, please feel free to contact Brandi Freeman or Shanta Zimmer, Associate Dean for Diversity, and Inclusion.

Please take a moment to update this today. Instructions and the link to do so are here:  

1. Please log on to the Employee Portal at https://my.cu.edu/
2. If you are not taken there by default, navigate to “CU Resources” screen
3. Under the “CU Resources Home” menu, choose “My Info and Pay”
4. Click on the “My Info” tile
5. To update your race/ethnicity information, click on “Ethnic Groups”
6. To update your disability status, click on “Disability”
7. To update your veteran status, click on “Veteran Status”
8. To verify your gender information, click on “Additional Information” and complete the second level of authentication
9. If the information listed for “Gender” is incorrect or missing, contact your department or school Human Resources representative to update the information.

Faculty Working Groups Events Calendar

Sustaining Purpose and Navigating Transitions in Academic Medicine

All faculty are invited to join us for a career-development event sponsored by the Senior-career Faculty Working Group that will review different paths of the arch of a career in academic medicine beyond promotion, identify ways to sustain meaningful contributions in academic medicine over the course of a career, and understand best practices in planning for clinical and academic transitions through networking and mentoring across your department and institution. Philip Pizzo, MD, David and Susan Heckerman Professor and Director of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute at the Stanford University School of Medicine, will be the special guest speaker. The seminar will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Attend the event via Zoom.

Participation in Career Organizations: Involvement at the National, State, and Local Levels and What that Actually Looks Like

All faculty are welcome for an interactive event that includes a panel discussion about participation in specialty and subspeciality organizations, ways to get involved in them, and how to identify and incorporate mentors outside the DOP to support your professional goals. Sponsored by the Instructor Faculty Working Group. The seminar will be held on Thursday, February 24, 2022. Attend via Zoom

DOP Mentorship Series

Please Hold Your Calendars. The DOP Faculty Working Groups in collaboration present a three-part, interactive series open to all faculty that explores mentorship best practices at all levels of one’s career. Each event includes five panelists focusing on instructors/senior instructors/APPs, PhD researchers, early career faculty, mid-career faculty, and senior-career faculty. Those who attend all three sessions of the series will receive a certificate of completion. Sponsored by the Instructor, PhD, Early Career, Mid-career, and Senior-career Faculty Working Groups.

Session 1 – Discovering Your Team: How to Approach the Mentoring Relationship as a Mentee

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, 12:00 – 1:30, Mt. Oxford, CHCO and Zoom. An interactive event that includes five panelists from various career stages discussing their experiences with being successful mentees.

Session 2 – Where to Go from Here? How to Find Your Pathway from Mentee to Mentor

Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 12:00 – 1:30, Mt. Oxford, CHCO and Zoom. An interactive event that includes five panelists from various career stages discussing their experiences transitioning from mentee to mentor.

Session 3 – You Finally Made it to Being a Mentor. Now What?

Monday, June 13, 2022, 12:00 – 1:30, Mt. Oxford, CHCO and Zoom. Learn best practices in an effective, productive, trustworthy relationship between mentor and mentee that allows both parties to advance their careers.

Faculty Affairs Corner 

2021 Performance Review in the School of Medicine (PRiSM)

As we begin a new year and near the end of the 2021 PRiSM season, we wanted to start by saying THANK YOU for attending to your annual review process. 59% of faculty have started and 31% have completed their PRiSM.

Remember that in our “less is more” approach this year, we are saying “let’s spend less time on documenting and focus more time on quality dialogue with each other.”  Focus your valuable time during review conversations on sustaining the continued meaning in your work, your personal lived values, and what enables you to show up as your best faculty self. Please share if you are struggling or know a colleague who could use more help and support.

For those in leadership roles, here is some guidance as we enter the final stage of the review season:

• If you are in a leadership role that reports directly to a faculty member who is doing your primary or secondary review, we suggest not using the leadership form since you have very likely discussed your leadership duties in other sections and in your goals. Examples here are vice chairs, section heads, or medical director roles reporting to primary/secondary reviewers or section heads.
• If you are in a leadership role that reports to someone other than your primary or secondary reviewer in PRISM, consider using the leadership form routed to that faculty supervisor. Examples here might be clinic specialty area director roles that report to the overall clinic directors for a service line or section (e.g. director of point of care imaging in ER, headache clinic) or faculty members in hospital roles with a direct report to both hospital executives and their section heads.

If you have questions or concerns not addressed by your section’s PRiSM administrator(s), business manager, or section head, please contact Faculty Affairs Coordinator and DOP PRiSM Liaison Justin Lotspeich.

Recognition Corner

Emily Barr, PhD, MSN, PNP (Assistant Professor, Section of Infectious Diseases) submitted the following “shout out.”

“As we head into year two of this pandemic, I think it’s over due to acknowledge the leadership of Betsy McFarland, MD, as the section head of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Epidemiology, and CHIP (HIV and COVID Vaccine research). Betsy has led an incredibly hard-working, creative and resilient team who have been national leaders in their field through this difficult time. She wears many hats, and I feel privileged to watch her talk to a patient living with HIV about how to disclose his HIV status to a partner, lead an impressive Pediatric Infectious Disease annual conference, work with her team to help make important decisions about how to navigate health care in the time of COVID, be on service as an attending caring for patients with a multitude of complex life threatening illnesses, and, still, whenever we need her to help us manage something or creatively problem solve or just listen to us when we are having a particularly hard day—she is always there for her team. Kudos to Betsy for leading the way through a challenging time.”

Thank you to Emily and Dr. McFarland!

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Lalit Bajaj MD, MPH (Professor, Section of Emergency Medicine and CHCO Chief Quality and Outcomes Officer) submitted the following “shout out.”

“I wanted to take a moment to send my highest praise for the incredible work of the “CoMAB” team. Drs. Juri Boguniewicz, Sam Dominguez, Donna Curtis, and Mark Abzug (pictured from left to right) have been incredible in the work they have been leading to deliver these therapies to our patients. This has been incredibly challenging work, especially as the landscape is ever changing. I am honored to be working will all of them during these rough times. It is faculty members like these that give me stamina and resilience to continue moving forward.”

Thank you to Lalit and the “CoMAB” team!

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If you would like to acknowledge a co-worker or group for their service, success and/or support, please access the DOP “shout-out” page.

As always, for these and other exciting Department of Pediatrics news stories, please visit our Pediatrics News web page.

Please continue your best efforts to remain healthy and resilient during these challenging times. Wishing everyone personal and programmatic success during the New Year.

Sincerely,

Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair
Department of Pediatrics | University of Colorado School of Medicine
Pediatrician-in-Chief | Children’s Hospital Colorado