Society News
APS 2021 Council Election Results
Dr. Lisa R. Young Announced as the 2021 Norman J. Siegel Outstanding Science Award Recipient
The American Pediatric Society (APS) is pleased to announce Lisa R. Young, MD, as the recipient of the 2021 Norman J. Siegel Outstanding Science Award for her considerable contributions to pediatric science. The award will be presented to Dr. Young on May 3 during the APS Presidential Plenary at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2021 Virtual Meeting. Read More.
Dr. Sherin U. Devaskar Announced as the 2021 John Howland Award Recipient
The American Pediatric Society (APS) is pleased to announce Sherin U. Devaskar, MD, as the 2021 APS John Howland Award recipient, the highest honor bestowed by the APS. The prestigious award signifies the society’s recognition of Dr. Devaskar for her significant contributions to advancing child health and the profession of pediatrics. The award will be presented to Dr. Devaskar on May 3 during the APS Presidential Plenary at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2021 Virtual Meeting. Read more.
Accidental Discovery That Lead to Parkinson’s Disease Cure in Mice
While attempting to better understand the function of a protein in connective tissue cells, UC San Diego School of Medicine scientists found a way to transform multiple types of cells into neurons. This discovery has led to the development of a treatment that eliminates symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in mice. Read study co-authored by 23-year APS Member, Dr. William Mobley here..
Q&A: Journal Retractions ‘Due to a Rush to Publish’ Information on COVID-19
As researchers work rapidly to publish research on COVID-19, major medical journals have retracted articles because of issues regarding data transparency and methodology. 26-Year APS Member, Dr. Eugene Shapiro, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, discussed the flaws with the peer-review process, as well as possible solutions. Read the interview with Dr. Shapiro here.
Texas’ Early Reopening and Surge in Coronavirus Cases
In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, 4-year APS Member, Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, comments on why companies and civic leaders should delay reopenings and keep workers at home until the surge in coronavirus trends down. Read Dr. Hotez’s remarks here.
Expectation of Coronavirus Surge in D.C. Region
APS CODI Committee Co-Chair, Dr. Joseph Wright, Interim President and CEO, and Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Capital Region Health within the University of Maryland Medical System, and new member Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Hospital, comment in The Washington Post article about areas opening and the expectation of a coronavirus surge in D.C. Read Drs. Wright and DeBiasi’s comments here.
12-Year APS Member, Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH, Named to Maryville University Board of Trustees
Congratulations to Dr. Michael DeBaun! He is founding director of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Center for Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease and has been named to the Maryville University Board of Trustee. “Dr. DeBaun . . . has dedicated [his career] to ensuring young people are able to reach their full potential, especially young people of color and young people from underrepresented groups,” the president of Maryville University said in a statement. Read more about Dr. DeBaun’s career and selection here.
APS Past President and 12-Year APS Member, Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, Announced as Home Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine
Chair of Pediatrics at UCSF, Chief of Pediatrics at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Medicine, has been appointed as Home Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Read more about the NAM and Dr. Fuentes-Afflick’s service to the NAM here. Congratulations Dr. Fuentes-Afflick!
Kathryn Edwards, APS 2020 John Howland Awardee and Member of 18 Years, and Paul Offit, MD, 8-Year APS Member, Share Optimism in Search for COVID-19 Vaccine
Dr. Edwards, scientific director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, shared her thoughts on the research pace and safety of these vaccines. Dr. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, discussed the number of vaccines and dosage. Read more of their comments here.
Maria Trent, MD, MPH, APS Member of 3 Years: How to Talk to Your Children About the Protests
As protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police continue, parents are talking with their children about the demonstrations and the precipitating events. Dr. Trent, a professor of pediatrics at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, shared her advice on explaining the violence and ways to recognize when children are struggling. Read Dr. Trent’s advice here.
4-Year APS Member Jason Newland, MD, MEd, and 2-Year APS Member, Kristina Bryant, MD, Editorial: Children in the Eye of the Pandemic Storm
Dr. Jason Newland, a professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, and Dr. Kristina Bryant, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, co-authored an editorial on the need for more research on the multisystem inflammatory syndrome linked to COVID-19 and the causes of racial disparities in infections and outcomes. Read their editorial here.
APS Member of 9 Years, Joseph Flynn, MD, MS, Named Co-Editor of the Journal Pediatric Nephrology
The International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA) has selected Dr. Joseph Flynn, the Dr. Robert O. Hickman Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nephrology, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington, and Chief, Division of Nephrology, Seattle Children’s Hospital, as the next co-editor of the journal Pediatric Nephrology, which is the ‘home journal’ for pediatric nephrologists worldwide. Dr. Flynn’s term will begin on January 1, 2021. Congratulations! Read more about Dr. Flynn and his career here.
6-Year APS Member, Gary Shaw, PhD, Discusses Research on Potential Link Between Residential Proximity to Oil/Gas Wells and Preterm Birth
Dr. Gary Shaw is a professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author of the study focused on how exposure to oil and gas wells may affect spontaneous preterm births. Read more about the results of this study that was published in Environmental Epidemiology.
Dr. Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, APS CODI Committee Member and Senior Author on Self-Swabbing COVID-19 Tests Study
Fourteen-year APS member Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, MD, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author of study on self-swabbing COVID-19 tests, discusses the testing accuracy and advantages. Read more about this COVID-19 testing here.
Philip Ozuah, MD, PhD, APS Member of 14 Years, New York Times Opinion Piece: I Fought Two Plaques and Only Beat One
As president and chief executive of Montefiore Medicine, Dr. Philip Ozuah penned an opinion piece sharing his experiences with two of the nation’s crises, COVID-19 and racism. Read Dr. Ozuah’s letter: I Fought Two Plagues and Only Beat One here.
Waldemar “Wally” Carlo, MD, APS Council Member and Member of 24 Years, on One-Dose Antibiotic for Prevention of Maternal and Infant Sepsis
Professor and Co-Director of the Division of Neonatology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Carlo is the lead investigator on a study to test a low-cost intervention that would reduce the death toll of pregnancy-related infections worldwide. Read Dr. Carlo’s remarks here.
2-Year APS Member, Dr. Sallie Permar’s Opinion Piece: Children Are Key to the Coronavirus Response
Sallie Permar, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics, immunology, and molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine, wrote an opinion piece on the reasons why the role of children in this pandemic is critical to overcoming it. Read Dr. Permar’s opinion contribution here.
1-Year APS Member, Huda Zoghbi MD, Co-Awardee of the Lundbeck Foundation’s 2020 Brain Prize
Huda Zoghbi, MD, professor of genetics at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Professor Sir Adrian Bird have been awarded The Brain Prize 2020 for their groundbreaking work to map and understand epigenetic regulation of the brain and for identifying the gene that causes Rett syndrome. Read more about Dr. Zoghbi’s work here.
11-Year APS Member, Tina L. Cheng, MD, MPH, Selected for New Roles at Cincinnati Children’s
Dr. Tina L. Cheng will be the new chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the new chief medical officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation. She will succeed the retiring Margaret Hostetter, MD, also an APS Member, and become the ninth B.K. Rachford Memorial Chair in Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s. Congratulations! Read more about Dr. Cheng’s career here.
Sally Permar, MD, MPH, APS Member of 2 Years, Comments on Research at Warp Speed
As a professor of pediatrics, immunology, and molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Permar comments on the current state of medical research: “The thing I worry the most about is the loss, potentially, of a generation of researchers who are facing major obstacles in productivity and being able to develop independent [research] programs that are outside of SARS-COV-2.” Read more from Dr. Permar here.
4-Year APS Member, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Discusses COVID-19 Vaccine Developers Search for Antibodies That First Do No Harm
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine remarks on developing a vaccine that elicits the right antibodies against COVID-19 without provoking severe immune reactions. Read more of Dr. Hotez’s comments on this topic here.
Dr. David Kimberlin, MD, 5-Year APS Member: How Moms With COVID-19 Might Pass Coronavirus to Babies
As coronavirus cases continue to climb, pregnant women around the globe worry about becoming infected with the virus and passing it their newborns. Dr. Kimberlin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama, discusses the possibility of vertical transmission. Read more of Dr. Kimberlin’s remarks here.
New APS Member, Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, on Food Allergy Being Underdiagnosed in Children on Medicaid
Senior author on the study analyzing Medicaid claims to estimate prevalence of food allergy diagnosis, Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a pediatrician and food allergy researcher at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses the potential under-diagnosis of food allergy in children enrolled in Medicaid compared to the general population. Read more on Dr. Gupta’s study here.
James Crowe, MD, APS Member for 10 Years, Among Vanderbilt University Researchers Joining Worldwide Fight Against COVID-19
Dr. James Crowe, Jr. directs the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center and is the Ann Scott Carrell Professor of Pediatrics and professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology, and is among the researchers working to identify and analyze antibodies to be used against COVID-19. Read more about Dr. Crowe and his colleague’s efforts here.
New Member Roberta DeBiasi, MD, MS, and Past President and 15-Year APS Member, Robin Steinhorn, MD: Latest Research Showing Significant Number of Children Become Seriously Ill with COVID-19
In an article recently published online in The Journal of Pediatrics, Drs. DeBiasi and Steinhorn are among those who authored the study “Severe COVID-19 in Children and Young Adults in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Region.” Study leader Dr. DeBiasi, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Hospital, shares the institution’s experience with an influx of children infected with COVID-19. Read more of Dr. DeBiasi’s comments here.