Assistant Professor Of Pediatrics Research Articles

Editorial introductions.

Editorial introductions.

What Is Causing the Ongoing Youth MH Crisis?

What Is Causing the Ongoing Youth MH Crisis?

2022 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest: First-Place Medical Student Essay: The Light.

2022 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest: First-Place Medical Student Essay: The Light.

Editorial introductions.

Current Opinion in Gastroenterology was launched in 1985. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of gastroenterology is divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Jocelyn A. SilvesterJocelyn A. SilvesterDr Jocelyn A. Silvester, MD PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, USA, and Director of Research for the Celiac Disease Program at Children's Hospital (BCH) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She also maintains a general pediatrics practice in Northern Manitoba and Nunavut through the Ongomiizwin Health Services JA Hildes Northern Medical Unit. Dr Silvester completed her PhD in Biology at the University of Cambridge in England, UK, where she studied mitochondrial ATP synthase under the supervision of Professor Sir John E. Walker. She earned her medical degree from Dalhousie University in Canada and completed her residency in general pediatrics at the University of Manitoba, Canada. She came to the United States for pediatric gastroenterology fellowship training at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr Silvester is co-Chair of the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Celiac Disease Special Interest Group and serves on the American Gastroenterological Association Council for section for basic and clinical intestinal disorders. Her research interests include the diagnosis and management of celiac disease with a particular interest in what happens after the diagnosis of celiac disease is made. She is co-Investigator on the Manitoba Celiac Disease Cohort Study, involved in clinical trials for alternative therapies to a gluten-free diet and is leading a consortium of pediatric celiac centers across the United States to develop tools to improve follow-up care. Tilak U. ShahTilak U. ShahDr Shah is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health Science Center, USA, as well as Director of Endoscopy and Interventional Endoscopy at the Central Virginia VA Healthcare system in Richmond, VA, USA. He serves as Associate GI Fellowship Program Director at VCU, and is a member of the Development and Therapeutics section of VCU Massey Cancer Center. Dr Shah graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, USA, in 1997, and UNC School of Medicine in 2006. He completed internal medicine residency and fellowship training in gastroenterology at Duke University Medical Center, USA. Dr Shah also obtained a master's degree in clinical research from the Duke-NIH Clinical Research Training Program, and underwent formal training in Advanced Endoscopy at Emory University Medical Center, USA. He joined the medical faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2014. Dr Shah has served on American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), and Veterans Administration (VA) Committees. He has served as a reviewer for several journals including American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Digestive Diseases and Sciences, World Journal of Gastroenterology, and Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews, and is section editor for Current Opinion in Gastroenterology. Dr Shah's research interests involve endoscopic approaches to diagnose and treat esophageal and colorectal neoplasia, including advanced imaging, artificial intelligence, endoscopic resection, and cryotherapy. Dr Shah is the recipient of research awards from the ASGE and McGuire Research Institute, and is site investigator for VA Co-Operative and Merit studies. He is an author on over 30 original papers, and has authored two board preparation textbooks, “NMS Medicine Casebook,” and “Acing the Pancreaticobiliary Questions on the GI Boards.”

2022 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest: Second-Place Nursing Student Essay: A Song for the Dying.

2022 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest: Second-Place Nursing Student Essay: A Song for the Dying.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions.

Editorial introductions.

Myocardial Infarction at Mid-Term Follow-Up in a Teenager With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children After COVID-19.

HomeCirculation: Cardiovascular ImagingVol. 15, No. 5Myocardial Infarction at Mid-Term Follow-Up in a Teenager With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children After COVID-19 No AccessCase ReportRequest AccessFull TextAboutView Full TextView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissionsDownload Articles + Supplements ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toSupplementary MaterialsNo AccessCase ReportRequest AccessFull TextMyocardial Infarction at Mid-Term Follow-Up in a Teenager With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children After COVID-19 Anthony Merlocco, MD, Ranjit Philip, MD, Gary Beasley, MD, Kaitlin Ryan, MD, Samir Shah, MD, Shyam Sathanandam, MD, Karthik Ramakrishnan, MD and Jason N. Johnson, MD, MHS Anthony MerloccoAnthony Merlocco Correspondence to: Anthony Merlocco, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Radiology, Co-Director Cardiac MRI Research, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital & St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 51 North Dunlap Street, Faculty Office Building, 3rd floor, Memphis, TN 38105. Email E-mail Address: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6228-0229 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology (A.M., J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author , Ranjit PhilipRanjit Philip https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3748-0215 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author , Gary BeasleyGary Beasley https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6137-6114 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author , Kaitlin RyanKaitlin Ryan Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author , Samir ShahSamir Shah Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (S. Shah), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author , Shyam SathanandamShyam Sathanandam https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8639-0852 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author , Karthik RamakrishnanKarthik Ramakrishnan Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Department of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery (K.R.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author and Jason N. JohnsonJason N. Johnson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0712-1123 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology (A.M., R.P., G.B., K.R., S. Sathanandam, J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology (A.M., J.N.J.), The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Search for more papers by this author Originally published28 Apr 2022https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.122.014010Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. 2022;15FootnotesSupplemental Material is available at https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/suppl/10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.122.014010.For Sources of Funding and Disclosures, see page 342.Correspondence to: Anthony Merlocco, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Radiology, Co-Director Cardiac MRI Research, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital & St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 51 North Dunlap Street, Faculty Office Building, 3rd floor, Memphis, TN 38105. Email [email protected]edu

COVID-19’s Impact on Development Remains Unclear

COVID-19’s Impact on Development Remains Unclear

Patients discharged after opioid overdose may not always get prescriptions for naloxone or buprenorphine

Patients discharged after opioid overdose may not always get prescriptions for naloxone or buprenorphine

Editorial introductions.

Current Opinion in Gastroenterology was launched in 1985. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of gastroenterology is divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Jocelyn A. SilvesterJocelyn A. SilvesterDr Jocelyn A. Silvester, MD PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, USA, and Director of Research for the Celiac Disease Program at Children's Hospital (BCH) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She also maintains a general pediatrics practice in Northern Manitoba and Nunavut through the Ongomiizwin Health Services JA Hildes Northern Medical Unit. Dr Silvester completed her PhD in Biology at the University of Cambridge in England, UK, where she studied mitochondrial ATP synthase under the supervision of Professor Sir John E. Walker. She earned her medical degree from Dalhousie University in Canada and completed her residency in general pediatrics at the University of Manitoba, Canada. She came to the United States for pediatric gastroenterology fellowship training at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr Silvester is co-Chair of the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Celiac Disease Special Interest Group and serves on the American Gastroenterological Association Council for section for basic and clinical intestinal disorders. Her research interests include the diagnosis and management of celiac disease with a particular interest in what happens after the diagnosis of celiac disease is made. She is co-Investigator on the Manitoba Celiac Disease Cohort Study, involved in clinical trials for alternative therapies to a gluten-free diet and is leading a consortium of pediatric celiac centers across the United States to develop tools to improve follow-up care. Tilak U. ShahTilak U. ShahDr Shah is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health Science Center, USA, as well as Director of Endoscopy and Interventional Endoscopy at the Central Virginia VA Healthcare system in Richmond, VA, USA. He serves as Associate GI Fellowship Program Director at VCU, and is a member of the Development and Therapeutics section of VCU Massey Cancer Center. Dr Shah graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, USA, in 1997, and UNC School of Medicine in 2006. He completed internal medicine residency and fellowship training in gastroenterology at Duke University Medical Center, USA. Dr Shah also obtained a master's degree in clinical research from the Duke-NIH Clinical Research Training Program, and underwent formal training in Advanced Endoscopy at Emory University Medical Center, USA. He joined the medical faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2014. Dr Shah has served on American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), and Veterans Administration (VA) Committees. He has served as a reviewer for several journals including American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Digestive Diseases and Sciences, World Journal of Gastroenterology, and Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews, and is section editor for Current Opinion in Gastroenterology. Dr Shah's research interests involve endoscopic approaches to diagnose and treat esophageal and colorectal neoplasia, including advanced imaging, artificial intelligence, endoscopic resection, and cryotherapy. Dr Shah is the recipient of research awards from the ASGE and McGuire Research Institute, and is site investigator for VA Co-Operative and Merit studies. He is an author on over 30 original papers, and has authored two board preparation textbooks, “NMS Medicine Casebook,” and “Acing the Pancreaticobiliary Questions on the GI Boards.”

A2As or stimulants: which is better for treatment of ADHD in young children?

The use of α2-adrenergic agonists (A2As), like guanfacine and clonidine, in preschool-aged children with ADHD has been on the rise, even though little data support safety and effectiveness for these medications in this patient population. A May 2021 study conducted by Harstad and colleagues and published in JAMA compared the use of A2As with stimulants in childhood ADHD. Similar to other studies, the research team found that both A2As and stimulants were associated with improvement in ADHD symptoms for most children between approximately 4 and 6 years in whom they were initiated, with clinical improvement in 66% and 78% of young children, respectively. The study highlights the potential role that A2As could play in treating young children with ADHD, said Elizabeth Harstad, MD, MPH, a physician at Boston Children's Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (SDBP), firstline therapy for ADHD is behavioral intervention, followed by stimulant treatment with methylphenidate (Ritalin) at the lowest effective dose if behavioral interventions are not sufficient. In general, AAP recommends behavioral therapy first then medication treatment, if necessary. Amphetamine salts (Adderall) are FDA-approved for children as young as 3 years because they were grandfathered in, not because there is stronger evidence for their use compared with methylphenidate, said Michael Ellis, DO, a child and adolescent psychologist and clinical associate professor at Mercer College of Medicine in Georgia. He said methylphenidate has more efficacy and safety data to promote its use, even though it is approved for individuals 6 years and older. “In general, I find less irritability with methylphenidate and prefer the use of that medication first, especially for those with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder,” Ellis said. The NIH's Preschool ADHD Treatment study, a randomized, placebo-controlled study, found that children between the ages of 3 and 5.5 years who were treated with methylphenidate had a significant reduction in ADHD symptoms, but often experienced adverse effects like irritability and depressive symptoms, like crying and sadness. The retrospective, medical records study in JAMA examined 497 preschool-age children younger than 6 years with ADHD. They came from seven academic developmental behavioral pediatric programs located in diverse geographical locations across the United States. “We found that developmental behavioral pediatricians use A2As when initiating medication treatment and use stimulant medication about two-thirds of the time,” said Harstad. “Children who were younger, or had a coexisting autism or sleep disorder, were more likely to be initiated on A2As.” Since stimulants are associated with more adverse effects than A2As—like moodiness/irritability (50% vs. 29%, respectively), appetite suppression (38% vs. 7%, respectively), and sleep difficulties (21% vs. 11%, respectively)—some providers prefer to prescribe A2As for their patients. “But these are not as effective for focus [compared with stimulants], and there can be a good deal of somnolence or hypotension,” said Ellis. Daytime sleepiness was the only adverse effect that was more common when young children with ADHD took A2As versus stimulants (38% vs. 3%, respectively), according to the study. A limitation of the study is its retrospective nature, which resulted in the collection of non-randomized and non-controlled data regarding the level of improvement over time, severity of baseline ADHD symptoms, and severity of adverse effects, said Harstad. “Medication may have been influenced by confounding factors [such as coexisting conditions]. Therefore, it is clinically imperative to conduct a prospective clinical study to assess effectiveness,” said Harstad. Preschool-aged children are being diagnosed with ADHD at higher rates than ever before. According to a 2018 article published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, preschool ADHD rates have risen from 1.0% in 2007 to 2.4% in 2016. Since delay in early detection can lead to expulsion from preschool, future underachievement in school, and undue family stress, it is important for parents to have their child evaluated early on. “Preschoolers especially with severe ADHD likely need treatment right away,” said Ellis. While there are benefits and risks to treatments with both A2As and stimulants, options should be assessed with a patient-centered approach to optimize individual needs. Future randomized, controlled studies are also needed to assess efficacy and safety with both medication classes to determine more conclusive results.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Nicole Salazar-Austin: emerging tuberculosis–HIV research leader

“I love clinical work in the US, but my heart is in tuberculosis research in sub-Saharan Africa”, says Nicole Salazar-Austin, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. It is the quality and originality of her research that saw Salazar-Austin become the 2020 winner of the annual Stephen Lawn TB–HIV Research Leadership Prize for promising work in reducing the disease burden of tuberculosis and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. She is also affiliated with the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research. Although her clinical work in paediatric infectious diseases is limited to about 8 weeks a year, she is in much demand and consults as a tuberculosis expert for Baltimore City Health and Maryland state health departments and for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Early breast cancer screening in childhood cancer survivors treated with chest radiation may reduce deaths by more than 50.

The early initiation of annual breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) among survivors of childhood cancer who have been treated with chest radiation may reduce their breast cancer mortality risk by at least 50% according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.1 Girls who receive chest radiation for childhood cancer are at increased risk for breast cancer. Indeed, research suggests that as many as 30% develop the disease by the age of 50 years. Nonetheless, there are various schools of thought regarding how and when to monitor for the disease in these survivors. In an effort to determine the best screening strategies for this population, investigators used modeling to compare the results of different strategies. Corresponding author Jennifer Yeh, PhD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an associate scientific researcher in the Division of General Pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital, and colleagues across the country used 2 breast cancer simulation models that were developed to guide screening recommendations for non–breast cancer survivors. The models are part of the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network and were adapted with information from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, a cohort study following outcomes in more than 24,000 survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers. One study limitation was that the data came from childhood cancer survivors diagnosed between 1970 and 1986. Cancer treatment has evolved since then to incorporate decreased doses and improved delivery of radiation as well as digital mammography screening. Nonetheless, results show that early screening can save lives, Dr. Yeh says.

Marquita Genies

Marquita Genies has a passion for mentoring. “I think throughout life we are touched by people in different ways and I wouldn't be the person I am today without the people who took me under their wing, taught me about medicine, and mentored me through school”, she said. Now that she is a paediatric hospitalist at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA), Genies is eager to ensure that the next generation of medics receive the same advice and encouragement she did.

COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions and the Use of Technology for Pediatric Palliative Care in the Acute Care Setting.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused health care facilities to restrict visitors for patients in all care settings. Most pediatric care facilities have restricted visitation to one parent at a time, unfortunately even if the child is in critical condition or is terminally ill. These situations have necessitated the use of technology such as the Zoom platform to have difficult conversations concerning complex medical decision-making and goals of care. In cases where the child is deemed at immediate end of life, many facilities will allow both parents to be at the bedside, but no other family or friends that may be integral support to the parents or child. These situations have compelled the use of FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype technology to facilitate real-time support at end of life for these young patients and their caregivers. This article presents a case where technologies such as these were utilized to assist a family in goals-of-care discussions and at end of life for an infant in the intensive care unit at a large urban pediatric care facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

IUD Use in Adolescents With Disabilities.

* Abbreviation: IUD — : intrauterine device Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are safe, highly effective, and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as a first-line contraceptive option for adolescents.1,2 In this month’s Pediatrics , Schwartz et al3 examine the use of IUDs among adolescents with disabilities, providing further evidence that IUDs are safe for menstrual management and contraception in this population. In their work, Schwartz et al3 raise 3 important issues in IUD use and contraceptive decisions among adolescents with disabilities: recognition of the adolescent’s sexuality and rights to sexual and reproductive health; the need to incorporate quality of life into risk/benefit decisions; and the use of shared and supported decision-making approaches to maximize autonomy and dignity. Sexuality is an intrinsic aspect of human nature, and, like all adolescents, those with disabilities experience sexual development, romantic and sexual … Address correspondence to Cynthia Robbins, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 410 West 10th St, HS 1001, Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: cyrobbin{at}iu.edu

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Low Prenatal Choline, Maternal Infection Linked to Attention Problems

Low Prenatal Choline, Maternal Infection Linked to Attention Problems