Society News
Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova, APS Member of 6 Years, Leading Study to Identify If Gene Mutations Explain Coronavirus Cases in Young Patients
Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova, an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute at The Rockefeller University, is leading a study to identify genetic mutations that make some younger people at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Read more about Dr. Casanova and his team’s efforts.
Dr. David Kimberlin, APS Member of 5 years, on Pregnant Women With COVID-19
Dr. David Kimberlin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama, discusses three small and preliminary studies from China on COVID-19 being transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy. Read what Dr. Kimberlin had to say here.
Dr. Mark Denison, APS Member of 9 years, Presents at Coronavirus Virtual Webinar Series
On April 2, 2020, Dr. Mark Denison, Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Craig-Weaver Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, at Vanderbilt University, shared a presentation on SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19: Emergence, Biology, and Countermeasures). Register for on-demand viewing for this first event in a free webinar series.
Dr. Harvey Levy, 35-Year APS Member, Receives 2020 David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award in Medical Genetics
Dr. Harvey Levy, senior physician in medicine and genetics at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, is being honored by the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine for his many years of groundbreaking work with patients who have genetic metabolic diseases. Read more about Dr. Levy’s exceptional medical career spanning more than 60 years.
Dr. Diana Bianchi, APS Member of 17 Years, and the Value of Connections
NICHD Director, Diana Bianchi, MD, saw the need for the institute to take a fresh look at its portfolio and chart potential research directions and activities. The resulting NICHD Strategic Plan outlines the institute’s ambitious research goals for the next five years. Read more in NICHD News.
APS Member Making News: Dr. Stephanie Davis, Elected as SPR’s 2020 President-Elect
The Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) recently announced APS Member Stephanie D. Davis, MD, as the society’s incoming president-elect, commencing her role in May 2020. Dr. Davis is chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine, physician-in-chief of UNC Children’s Hospital, and Charles Everett and Katherine M. Brewer Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Davis, your APS community salutes you, congratulations!
Dr. Karin Nielsen-Saines, APS Member of 7 Years, Suggests Options for Pregnant Women Navigating the Coronavirus Outbreak
In these anxiety-ridden times, Dr. Karin Nielsen-Saines, professor of clinical pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCLA Children’s Hospital, suggests women reach out to their doctors to see if routine labs or physical assessments can be done without a visit to clinics or hospitals to limit their risk of exposure. Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
APS John Howland Awardee Dr. Kathryn Edwards Expresses Importance of Caution When Pushing for Coronavirus Vaccine
Kathryn Edwards, a Vanderbilt University pediatrician and APS John Howland Awardee for 2020, has helped test various vaccines and said while there is hope for a COVID-19 vaccine, there should also be caution. Read more in Politico.
2020 APS SPR Journeys & Frontiers in Pediatric Research Program announces selected participants
2020 APS SPR Journeys & Frontiers in Pediatric Research Program announces selected participants.
Q&A with Dr. Randy Cron, APS Member of 5 Years, on Cytokine Storm Syndrome
Randy Cron, MD, PhD, is an expert in a dangerous immune reaction to some infections, called cytokine storm syndrome (CSS). Dr. Cron explains that cytokines fight off infections and ward off cancers, but they can make you very ill when they are out of control. Read more about CSS and how it may be impacting the COVID-19 pandemic in UAB News.
Dr. R. Rodney Howell, APS Member of 50 Years, Receives Michael S. Watson Genetic/Genomic Medicine Innovation Award
Rodney Howell, MD, FAAP, FACMG, emeritus professor and chairman of pediatrics, as well as emeritus member of the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is the inaugural recipient of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine’s Dr. Michael S. Watson Genetic and Genomic Medicine Innovation Award. Read more in the ACMG’s press release.
4-Year APS Member Dr. Peter Hotez: New Data Shows Why Young People Must Take COVID-19 Spread Seriously
Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, emphasized the need for young people and college students to be aware that COVID-19 puts their health directly at risk; this is according to a new CDC study stating, “a third of the hospitalized patients are 20-44 years of age.” Read more in FOX News.
11-Year APS Member Dr. Steven Zeichner and 2-Year APS Member Dr. Adam Ratner Discuss Study on Coronavirus in Children
Drs. Steve Zeichner and Andrea Cruz’s commentary to a study in the journal Pediatrics on the spread of coronavirus in children suggests that “children may play a major role in community-based viral transmission.” Pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Adam Ratner said he and other pediatric doctors in the U.S. were “taking the idea of COVID-19 in children very seriously.” Read more in The Washington Post.
Every Child Counts Day – March 25, 2020
We were honored to have President Robin Steinhorn represent APS at a kick-off event at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio to raise awareness on the 2020 Census and the importance of counting young children. Read more here.
Pediatric Research Journal COVID-19 Resources
PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
Official Journal of the Society for Pediatric Research, the American Pediatric Society and the European Society for Paediatric Research
COVID-19 Resources
The situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing with an ever-expanding medical literature. In this quickly changing environment we encourage any input or suggestions that can be supported by the journal to provide resources for the healthcare community and families.
We invite you to share your experience with COVID-19 whether in your personal or professional life. Our goal is to share this information rapidly with our readership and will expedite getting this information out. We are looking for both shorter anecdotes to share on our website and longer “correspondence” pieces to be published in the journal. All page charges will be waived, and we will be setting these articles as freely accessible on our website.
Please find below international resources below from the World Health Organization, BMJ, Don’t Forget the Bubbles, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health UK and USA, etc.
- Don’t Forget the Bubbles (An International Social Media led Community of Practice) :
- World Health Organization:
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics: “Epidemiological Characteristics of 2143 Pediatric Patients with 2019 Coronavirus Disease in China”
- Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
- Updates from Italy
Regards,
Cynthia F. Bearer
Editor-in-Chief
cynthia.bearer@pedres.org
Eleanor Molloy
Associate Editor-in-Chief
eleanor.molloy@pedres.org
Pediatric Research Editorial Office
Email: info@pedres.org
www.nature.com/pr
Dr. Peter Hotez, APS Member of 4 Years, Testifies Before Congress on the Coronavirus
In his congressional testimony, Dr. Peter Hotez shared how the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine makes the fight against this virus difficult. Watch his interview with CNN and read opening statements here. Dr. Hotez also shared his perspective with various news outlets, including NBC News, FOX News, Reuters, The New York Times, MSNBC, and Houston Chronicle. On March 26, Dr. Hotez will participate in a live interview with The Texas Tribune to discuss coronavirus in Texas and the search for a vaccine.
Dr. Melissa Stockwell, APS Member of 1 Year, to Lead Child and Adolescent Health at Columbia, NewYork-Presbyterian
Dr. Melissa Stockwell, an internationally recognized leader in the use of digital technologies to improve children’s health, has been named chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Health in the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of the child and adolescent health clinical service at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Read Columbia’s press release here.
Dr. Steven Joffe, APS Member of 8 Years, on Doctors Working While Sick
Healthcare professionals’ tendency to work while sick will pose a threat to the health of patients and the general community as COVID-19 hits hospitals. Read Dr. Joffe’s article in STAT here.
Dr. Lewis First, APS Member of 22 Years, Discusses the Alarming Rate of Teen Nicotine Use
Since becoming chief of the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital 25 years ago, I, along with the pediatricians and staff at our hospital have dedicated our professional lives to keeping children healthy… Unfortunately, the most recent findings in the Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) suggest that our efforts to prevent middle and high school students from the adverse consequences of nicotine addiction are being hampered by the pervasive use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices by youth in our state. Read more in VTDigger.
Dr. Joseph St. Geme, APS Member of 16 Years, on CHOP’s David N. Pincus Endowed Global Health Fellowship Program
“For more than a decade, the Pincus family has been a vital partner to CHOP in training future leaders in pediatric global health through clinical, teaching, research and advocacy experiences in our partner countries,” said Dr. Joseph St. Geme, physician-in-chief and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Read CHOP’s press release here.
Dr. Stanley Plotkin, APS Member of 45 Years, Discusses Tetanus and Diphtheria
Speaking in general terms about tetanus and diphtheria, Stanley Plotkin, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and a veteran vaccine researcher, cautioned that “diphtheria incidence is low because the organism no longer circulates in the U.S., even if the vaccine is not boosted; and that tetanus antibodies persist well but the [levels] decrease with time and there are plenty of reports of tetanus in vaccinated people long after immunization, so that low [levels] may not always be protective.” Read more in STAT.