2023 Department of Pediatrics Academic Annual Report

Pediatric Urology

PEDIATRIC FACULTY

Dr. Stacy T. Tanaka.............................Division Chief | Professor

Dr. David Joseph................................................................Professor

Dr. Tim Boswell..................................................Assistant Professor

Dr. David M. Kitchens.....................................Associate Professor

Dr. C.M. Carmen Tong......................................Assistant Professor

FEATURED RESEARCH

SPINA BIFIDA/MYELOMENINGOCELE Normally when the bladder empties, the bladder contracts and the outlet of the bladder relaxes. The reverse happens in between urination. In children with spina bifida, the spinal cord cannot get its message to the urinary tract, which can result in incontinence and kidney damage. Children’s of Alabama has a robust multidisciplinary spina bifida clinic. David Joseph, M.D., is the principal investigator for the multi-institutional CDC spina bifida patient registry that is acquiring longitudinal patient data across the lifespan. This data is now used by all participating centers assessing various aspects of patient care and management. Dr. Joseph and Stacy Tanaka, M.D., MS, are also key members of the CDC Urologic Management to Preserve Initial Renal function in infants and young children with myelomeningocele (UMPIRE) initiative. This grant supports the urologic management of the newborn with spina bifida through age 10, assessing the effect of a proactive treatment protocol with the goal of preserving renal function. Dr. Joseph is the principal investigator and a senior member of the coordinating committee. Dr. Tanaka is the scientific vice-chair. This ongoing study investigates optimal bladder management protocols for renal function preservation with multiple published manuscripts to date. Through these relationships with other institutions, the urology faculty have been able to participate in collaborative research outside the CDC studies. During the past year, Dr. Tanaka was part of a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary project looking at cause of death in patients with myelomeningocele, co-authored urologic guidelines for the Canadian Urological Association and senior authored guidelines for the International Children’s Continence Society on neurogenic bowel management. PEDIATRIC KIDNEY STONES For the past few decades, the incidence of kidney stones has been increasing. Dr. Tong is the principal investigator of the Pediatric KIDney Stone (PKIDS) care improvement network. The study completed accrual this year. From local lessons learned, Dr. Tong has continued her research with quality-improvement projects specifically focused on adherence to recommended follow-up care that could potentially affect recurrence. She has worked with medical students to submit abstracts of these recent projects to regional urology meetings. PEDIATRIC KIDNEY TRAUMA Compared to adults, children are more susceptible to renal injury following blunt abdominal trauma. Dr. Tong is the principal investigator of the Trauma Renal Injury Collaborative in Kids (TRICK). TRICK is a multi-institutional renal trauma consortium. Both Dr. Tong and David M. Kitchens, M.D., were authors on abstracts presented at the annual meeting of the Societies for Pediatric Urology in Houston in September 2023. Carmen Tong, D.O., has expanded her clinical research in spina bifida and female sexual health to include collaborative projects with the UAB School of Public Health and the University of Michigan.

2023 Academic Annual Report

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