2023 Department of Pediatrics Academic Annual Report

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND COLLABORATIVES

CYSTIC FIBROSIS Dr. Gutierrez is the PI of the CFF-funded CF Training Network: Latin America (CFTN-LA), a quality-improvement initiative. This project aims to train multidisciplinary CF teams in Latin America in three critical aspects: delivery of evidence-based CF care adapted to local healthcare settings, establishment of a CF patient registry and data infrastructure to support such care, and engagement and education of the local CF patient community and stakeholders. The network is developing and implementing a structured, sustainable training program for CF centers in Latin America, starting with teams from Chile, Argentina and Mexico. Teams from other Latin American countries have started collaborative work with CFTN-LA member centers. The methodology used in the CFTN-LA to train CF teams was the basis for establishing the International Mentoring Training Initiative (IMTI), an endeavor developed by Dr. Gutierrez and funded by the CFF. IMTI aims to prepare high-performing US-based CF teams to serve as coaches of LMIC based CF teams, thus increasing the number of trained US coaching teams to rapidly expand the number of LMIC-based CF teams possessing the necessary skills for providing high-quality multidisciplinary care to people with CF in the developing world. Currently, IMTI includes teams from Baylor, Stanford, Harvard and Columbia. Dr. Gutierrez is a member of the CF Registry International Collaboration, which has published global observational studies on the impact of COVID-19 on cystic fibrosis. The collaborative is beginning a new project to characterize the worldwide prevalence and typification of rare CF mutations not currently amenable to medications. Dr. Fowler leads the Southeastern Clinical Research Cooperative, which is funded by the CFF Therapeutics Development Network, to coordinate all recruitment efforts among 15 different CF research and clinical centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, and promote the referral of patients between centers to ensure the successful completion of pivotal therapeutic trials. This cooperative has been instrumental in significantly increasing the referral of potential research patients to our center and to other centers doing pivotal CF research. Dr. Fowler and Kyle Bliton, M.D., have also produced educational materials regarding smoking, drug and alcohol use in CF patients for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that will be shared with CF providers around the country and CF patients and families. SLEEP MEDICINE Dr. Nourani is conducting a QI project focused on Multiple Sleep Latency Test/Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MSLT/MWT). He is following deviations from recommended sleep guidelines by patients and whether sleep diaries are being completed and their responses accurately and consistently reported. 2023 PUBLICATIONS HIGH-IMPACT PUBLICATIONS Clinical and Translational Science. 2023. Apr;16(4):662-672. Pharmacogenomics variants impact on response to drugs in patients with cystic fibrosis. Anderson, JD, Giang, SG, Lee C, Limdi, N, Guimbellot JS. EXTRAMURAL AWARDS, RECOGNITION & LEADERSHIP ROLES Ammar Saadoon Alishlash, M.D., was elected to the Society for Pediatric Research, Editorial Board of the Pediatrics Review and Education Program (PREP) Pulmonology at the American Academy of Pediatrics, the NIH CSR CounterACT study section, and UAB Social Science and Justice Research center. Miles Fowler, M.D., leads the Southeast Clinical Research for the CFF Therapeutics Development Network and is a member of the TDN Protocol Review Committee. He was also selected to be the physician leader of the Southeastern CF Research Consortium. Hector Gutierrez, M.D., is co-chair of the CF Foundation Global Care Initiative and a member of the CF Registry International Collaboration. Isabel Lowell, M.D., is a member of the steering committee for Cystic Fibrosis Therapeutics Development Network and a member of the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference Planning Committee. She is a quality-improvement coach for the CFF Therapeutics Development Network’s QI initiative—eQuip. Gabriela Oates, Ph.D., is a member of the Steering Committee of the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation’s Success with Therapies Research Consortium (STRC); member of the CF Foundation Equity, Racial Justice, Diversity & Inclusion (ERJDI) Implementation Advisory Group; and a permanent member of the Publications and Dissemination Committee of the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations (RADx-UP). Click here for the full list of publications from the division faculty in 2023.

2023 Academic Annual Report

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