Department of Pediatrics News

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

Hsieh Awarded 2020 Lupus Innovation Funding

Elena Hsieh, MD (Assistant Professor, Section of Allergy & Immunology) has received a 2020 Lupus Innovation Award from the Lupus Research Alliance. Dr. Hsieh is among seven investigators nationally who have been awarded a $150,000 grant to support early stage investigators conducting highly innovative approaches to major challenges in lupus research. Dr. Hsieh’s funding will support her project focusing on the kidney cells of children with lupus. The project will examine how the structure of lupus kidneys differs from healthy kidneys and how this architecture drives kidney disease in pediatric lupus.

 

Levin Leads COVID-19 ENSEMBLE Study

Myron Levin, MD (Professor, Section of Infectious Diseases) is the CU Anschutz campus site principal investigator for the nation-wide clinical research study aimed at determining the safety and efficacy of an investigational vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19. The study, “A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Phase 3 Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Ad26.COV2.S for the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2-mediated COVID-19” (ENSEMBLE) is being evaluated in people 18 years of age or older.

Under Dr. Levin’s direction, the study provides access to one of the investigational COVID-19 vaccines being tested by the national COVID vaccine program.  Like all such (randomized) trials, half of the participants will receive the investigational vaccine and the other half will receive a placebo (an inactive substitute). Each participant will receive a single dose of the investigational vaccine or placebo. Participation includes up to 8 study visits (or more depending on events occurring during the trial) over a 2-year period. Every participant will have blood drawn up to 8 times during the trial and will be nasal swab tested at entry for COVID-19. If you are at least 18 years of age and interested in participating in this important study, please send an email to JanssenENSEMBLE.COVIDStudy@cuanschutz.edu or call 720-777-4496.

 

Delaney Advances Pulmonary Hypertension Research

Cassidy Delaney, MD (Associate Professor, Section of Neonatology) has been awarded $400,000 in funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) as a project leader on the research Program Project Grant (P01-HL152961) titled, “Complement-Driven Platelet Activation in Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling and Pulmonary Hypertension.” Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive and often fatal disease driven by inflammatory mediated vascular remodeling. Dr. Delaney’s project examines the mechanisms by which complement activated platelets drive endothelial activation and monocyte/macrophage proinflammatory differentiation and recruitment, promoting vascular remodeling in pulmonary hypertension. These results will set the stage for future studies targeting the platelet immune response in patients with pulmonary hypertension with novel currently available therapies.

Dr. Delaney is one of many examples of “home grown” talent in the Department as she has successfully transitioned from fellow, to K-funded junior faculty and now to having and independently funded basic science research lab. Congratulations, Dr. Delaney!

 

2020 Instructor and Senior Instructor Awardees

On October 30 at the end of the annual State of the Department address, Dr. Stephen Daniels (Professor and Chair) and Tracy Price-Johnson (Senior Instructor, JFK Partners) named the honorees of the 2020 Instructor and Senior Instructor Awards.

Sarah Mundt, DNP, C-PNP (Instructor, Section of Hospital Medicine) and Bridget Raleigh, MSN, FNP (Senior Instructor, Section of Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine) were named the Dalice Miller Hertzberg awardees. This award recognizes these Instructors for their contributions to community outreach and community support in volunteer capacities outside of the workplace.

Katherine Michalek, PA-C, MPAS (Senior Instructor, Section of Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine) was named the Barbara A. Quarantillo awardee. This award honors an outstanding Senior Instructor with five or more years of service for contributions and recognition in their field.

   

Karen Dodd, NP, PNP (Senior Instructor, Section of General Pediatrics), Alicia Grenolds, MSN, CPNP (Senior Instructor, Section of Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine), Janell Kierstein, MS, CGC (Senior Instructor, Section of Genetics & Metabolism), and Stephanie Shea, PA-C, MPAS (Senior Instructor, Section of Neurology) were named the Senior Instructors with Distinction.

 

2020 Career Teaching Scholars Announced

  

Congratulations to Patricia Braun, MD, MPH (Professor of Pediatrics), Renée Cousins King, MD (Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics), Jay Rabinowitz, MD (Clinical Professor of Pediatrics), and Philip Zeitler, MD, PhD (Professor & Section Head, Section of Endocrinology) on being named the 2020 Career Teaching Scholar award winners. All four are being honored for their outstanding contributions to pediatric education throughout their careers.

Please join the virtual Pediatric Grand Rounds on December 11, 2020 from 12:30 - 1:30 PM (Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/293160798) as we celebrate this year’s Career Teaching Scholars.

 

Sussel Named Associate Vice Chancellor for Basic Science Research

Lori Sussel, PhD (Professor, Barbara Davis Center), has been appointed as the inaugural Associate Vice Chancellor for Basic Science Research (AVCBSR) for CU Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Sussel is a Professor of Pediatrics and Cell & Developmental Biology at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Her current roles include Director of the Basic and Translational Research Division at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, and Director of the University of Colorado National Diabetes Research Center. In this new role, Dr. Sussel will have a part-time appointment in the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research (OVCR). As the AVCBSR, her focus will be dedicated to the needs and perspectives of basic science researchers, including facilitating the coordination of collaborative research.