We are thrilled to welcome Dr. McGuinn to Birmingham and are very excited about what this means for the children of Alabama.
The 2018 UAB Perinatal Conference will be held Friday, August 17 at the Bradley Lecture Center. This year’s conference is titled "No Guts Still Glory.” This one-day conference will begin at 7:30 a.m. with registration and breakfast and conclude at 5:00 p.m. Click here for the informational brochure and to register.
The UAB Department of Pediatrics welcomes eleven new faculty members during the month of July. Please join us in making them feel at home!
Matthew Digman, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Emily Gantz, D.O., Instructor in Pediatric Neurology
Samuel Gentle, M.D., Assistant Professor in Neonatology
Emily Johnston, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Claire Keith, M.D., Instructor in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Michael Lopez, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Neurology
Adolfo Molina, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Swetha Pinninti, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Infectious Disease
Erinn Schmit, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Carter Wallace, M.D., Instructor in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Mark Anthony Zanni, M.D., Instructor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Matthew Digman, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, earned his medical degree from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Digman completed his pediatric residency and Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. His research/clinical interests include procalcitonin and its role in pediatric sepsis.
Emily Gantz, D.O., Instructor in Pediatric Neurology, earned her medical degree from University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Gantz completed her child neurology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She will be joining the Movement Disorders Program led by Dr. Dure.
Samuel Gentle, M.D., Assistant Professor in Neonatology, earned his medical degree from University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Gentle completed his pediatric residency at Mount Sinai in New York, New York and a Neonatology fellowship at UAB. Areas of interest include both local and statewide quality improvement initiatives, education specifically curriculum development, and a research interest in the relationship between nitrate metabolism and co-morbidities of prematurity.
Emily Johnston, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship, earned her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Johnston completed her pediatric residency and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship as well as her Masters in Health Service Research at Stanford. In addition, she is working on a Master’s in Health Services Research. She will be joining the solid tumor team in oncology and will continue her research on health disparities in end-of-life care for children. In particular, she is interested in how we determine what good end-of-life care is for children with chronic conditions and how we can ensure everyone has access to the end-of-life care they deserve.
Claire Keith, M.D., Instructor in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nurition, earned her medical degree from University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Keith completed her pediatric residency at UAB. Her research/clinical interests include: inflammatory bowel disease, constipation and quality improvement.
Michael A. Lopez, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Neurology, earned his medical degree from University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Lopez completed his child neurology residency at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas and a pediatric neuromuscular fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California. In addition, he received his Ph.D. in Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics from Baylor College of Medicine. His research focus is on childhood-onset neuromuscular disease with particular interest in muscular dystrophies. His prior research involved understanding the role of mechanical signal transduction in skeletal muscle and uncovering its dysregulation in several mouse models of muscular dystrophy. Presently, he is working with Drs. Matt Alexander and Peter King on the role of aberrantly regulated muscle-enriched microRNAs in promoting inflammation in muscular dystrophy. In addition to muscular dystrophies, his clinical interests include congenital myopathies, neuromuscular junction disorders, spinal muscular atrophy, and acquired/inherited polyneuropathies.
Adolfo Molina, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, earned his medical degree from University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Molina completed his pediatric residency and Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellowship at UAB. He served as Chief Resident for the UAB Pediatric Residency Program between his residency and fellowship. His research/clinical interests include: pediatric asthma readmissions and health disparities as well as the care of children who are internationally adopted or in foster care.
Swetha Pinninti, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Infectious Disease, earned her medical degree from Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad, India. Dr. Pinninti completed her pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey and a Pediatric Infectious Disease fellowship at UAB. Dr. Pinninti previously served as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at UAB and then as an Assistant Professor in the Divisions of Urgent Care and General Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska. Her clinical interests include perinatal infections, vaccine advocacy and pediatric osteoarticular infections. Her research interests include defining the extent of vestibular dysfunction in infants with congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) and determining the association between sexually transmitted infections and Cytomegalovirus in pregnancy.
Erinn Schmit, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, earned her medical degree from University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Schmit completed her pediatric residency and Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellowship at UAB. She served as Chief Resident for the UAB Pediatric Residency Program between her residency and fellowship. Her research/clinical interests include: graduate medical education, specifically faculty evaluation of medical students and procedural competence in pediatric residents, as well as infant safe sleep education.
Mark Anthony Zanni, M.D., Instructor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, earned his medical degree from University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Zanni completed his pediatric residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. Previously he worked as a neonatal hospitalist at Children’s Specialty Group in Norfolk, Virginia.
Congratulations to the Pediatric and Medicine/Pediatric residents selected for the honor of being mentors within the UAB School of Medicine Housestaff Learning Community. This program is an outstanding opportunity for residents who have a passion for working with students to gain experience in medical education. The residents who were selected are listed below.
Pediatrics
Emily Foreman, M.D., PGY-3
Spandana Induru, M.D., PGY-3
Nathan Menaker, M.D., PGY-3
Andrew Watson, M.D., PGY-2
Med-Peds
Emily Bufkin, M.D., PGY-3
Madeline Eckenrode, M.D., PGY-4
David Windler, M.D., PGY-4
Congratulations to Randy Cron, M.D., Pediatric Rheumatology, on being selected to chair the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF) Pediatric Rheumatology Visiting Professorship Selection Committee. The commitee matches up selected pediatric rheumatologists with pediatric programs across the United States that do not have a pediatric rheumatology prescence for a three to four day educational visit. Dr. Cron will serve a three year term.
Please join us in congratulating Nazia Kabani, M.D., Combined Peds ID and Neonatology Fellow, on receiving the 2017-2018 Spring CHIF/Fellow Core Conference Attendance Award. This allows her to attend a scientific meeting of her choice, within the continental United States.
Our next award will be presented at the end of December 2018 for the fellow with the highest attendance at Fellows’ Research Roundtable and Fellow Core Conferences from July – December 2018.
Thank you to all of the fellows who have been dedicated to attending these conferences!!
More great news for fellows! The Child Health Investigative Forum (CHIF) will be replaced by the Fellows’ Round Table. The Fellows’ Round Table will be an interactive session for pediatric fellows from all divisions to present their scholarly work (either planned, ongoing, or completed) and receive feedback from other fellows and faculty, in order to improve research proposals, develop presentation skills, and promote cross-divisional interactions and collaborations.
The Round Table will be held in the Bradley Center from 12-1 p.m. two Fridays per month (usually the first and third Fridays). All fellows are expected to attend the Round Table, unless they are post-call or in alternate essential clinical or academic activities, if permitted by their Fellowship Program Director. Round Table sessions will be structured to include two brief fellow platform presentations, each followed by group discussions focused on strengths, areas needing improvement and future directions/opportunities for collaboration.
As with CHIF, one fellow will be selected annually for the Fellow Core Conference Attendance Award. This allows the fellow to attend a scientific meeting of their choice, within the continental United States. The Department will reimburse expenses for registration, airfare, food and lodging up to a maximum of $1500.
The UAB Pediatric Residency Program is hosting a reunion for residency alumni and friends of the program. The reunion will be on Saturday, August 25 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Bradley Lecture Center. Click here to RSVP for the reunion!
Children’s of Alabama and the Kaul Pediatric Research Institute (KPRI) have released the announcement and guidelines for the 2019 KPRI grant application process. This year there are two grant categories that will be funded: Established Investigator Awards and New Investigator Awards. A new round of Quality/Safety/Educational Awards will be announced at a later date. The major goal of the New and Established Investigator grant program is to allow investigators to obtain data that will advantage applications for additional extramural funding. This will bring new knowledge to the care of children, leverage the investment of the KPRI and allow projects to be competitive for the very best science on the national stage. Awards are open to all faculty in pediatric disciplines and all employees at Children’s of Alabama.
Established Investigator Awards: Up to two awards will be funded, one named in honor of Dr. Sergio Stagno and one named in memory of Dr. Rud Polhill, each at an amount of $50,000 per year for a maximum of two years.
New Investigator Awards: Up to five awards will be funded, each at an amount of $35,000 per year for a maximum of two years.
To ensure accuracy, completeness, and proper processing through UAB OSP – all KPRI applications from Department of Pediatrics faculty (ONLY) should be submitted to Carla Parrish for internal review on or before Wednesday, September 9. Investigators must submit final applications by email to Mary Aiken by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 28.
The PRO is available to assist all investigators with application development. Please do not hesitate to contact Cheryl Perry, Melissa McBrayer or David Ingram with questions.
Application guidelines and forms, along with an FAQ section, can be found on the Pediatric Research Office (PRO) website or download FAQ here.