Inside Pediatrics Spring 2023

PEDIATRICS

Spring 2023

NOT RATTLED! New Snakebite Clinic Offers Comprehensive, Multidisciplinary Care

ALSO INSIDE: • Ventilation for Nano-Preemies • Urology & Robotic Surgery • Food is Medicine • A Novel Pathway in DMD

A t Children’s of Alabama, we take pride in treating our patients with exceptional care no matter the circumstances. In many cases, we use innovative strategies to help children and solve problems. In this issue of Inside Pediatrics, you’ll read about some of the ways we’re achieving those goals. Our method for treating snakebites provides a great example. Snakebites present unique challenges for patients and doctors. That’s why Children’s and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) worked together to create our Comprehensive Snakebite Program. A first-of-its-kind concept, it offers a multidisciplinary approach to snakebite care, including one of the nation’s first dedicated snakebite follow-up clinics, where patients have access to wound care experts, toxicologists, pharmacists and physical therapists. Our nephrology team is attacking another challenge— building the proper diet for children with kidney failure. It’s a tricky diet to manage, but our Food is Medicine program introduces parents to the safest foods, teaches them how to cook with them and even provides the ingredients for families in need. Our researchers are always working to discover more effective ways to treat patients. Neurologist Michael Lopez, M.D., Ph.D., is studying a novel pathway involved in the development and progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He recently received a Career Development Award worth nearly $1 million from the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke to fund his research.

Meanwhile, the research done by neonatologists Charitharth Vivek Lal, M.D., and Vivek Shukla, M.D., is providing a better

perspective on how to care for extremely premature infants.

We’re also providing better care through technology, including our urology team’s da Vinci

surgical robot, which arrived in December.

With the robot, our surgeons can offer minimally invasive surgery that results in a quicker recovery time. Its arrival makes the entire hospital better—other surgery teams in addition to urology are already using it.

In everything we do, our team is committed to excellence. It’s one of the defining characteristics of the great people who work here. You’ll see it highlighted throughout this issue of Inside Pediatrics.

Children’s of Alabama 1600 7th Avenue South Birmingham, Alabama 35233

(205) 638-9100 childrensal.org

2

When a snake bites 04 07

ADMINISTRATION Tom Shufflebarger, President and CEO Garland Stansell, Chief Communication Officer EDITORIAL

Treatment options for the tiniest babies

Conan Gasque, Editor Trent Graves, Design

Amy Dabbs, Digital Content Denise McGill, Photography Eric Gray, Photography Patrick Deavours, Photography CONTRIBUTORS

Andre Green Jeff Hansen Tachana Johnson Scott LeBlanc Rhonda Lee Lother Matt Windsor

10 13 15 17

Surgical robot offers next-level care

PHYSICIAN MARKETING Leslie Edmondson

Food is Medicine

MEDICAL LEADERSHIP Mitchell Cohen, M.D. Katharine Reynolds Ireland Chair of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham Physician-in-Chief, Children’s of Alabama Mike Chen, M.D. Joseph M. Farley Chair in Pediatric Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham Chief of Pediatric Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief, Children’s of Alabama James Cullinan, D.O. Associate Professor Director, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Chief of Service, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Children’s of Alabama For questions or additional information or to share feedback, please contact us at insidepediatrics@childrensal.org. An online version of the magazine is available at childrensal.org/insidepediatrics.

A promising pathway in DMD teatment

News, Honors and Awards

CONTENTS

3

WHEN A SNAKE BITES NEW CLINIC NOT RATTLED BY SNAKEBITE CHALLENGES

I n the immediate aftermath of a snakebite, a natural question is, “Will I die?” The answer is very likely no, even if the snake is venomous. Only about five people die per year from snakebites in America. So once the initial shock has passed, there is a better question to ask: “Will I be maimed for life?” “So many people—in the Southeastern United States, especially—have persistent wounds, bad swelling and morbidity issues after snake envenomation (injection of the snake venom into a person’s bosy), and there was no good place to send them for follow-up,” said William Rushton, M.D., associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Emergency Medicine in the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. Rushton is a medical toxicologist and the medical director of the Alabama Poison Information Center (APIC), the state’s poison control center, based at Children’s of Alabama. Nearly all snakebites in Alabama trigger a call to APIC. In the heart of snakebite season, Rushton and fellow medical toxicologist Sukhshant Atti, M.D., average one or two snakebite consults every day with providers throughout the state. In 2021, Rushton and wound care expert Dag Shapshak, M.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Emergency Medicine, launched the first-of-its-kind Children’s of Alabama and UAB Comprehensive Snakebite Program, including one of the nation’s first dedicated snakebite follow-up clinics, which treats patients in the hospital, provides follow-up

4

and studies new approaches and protocols in snakebite. They and their team are pioneering new methods that have resulted in greater peace of mind for patients and doctors alike.

“This is the nation’s very first comprehensive snakebite program,” said Shapshak, who also runs the UAB Comprehensive Wound Care Clinic, where he specializes in treating persistent wounds and swelling, using techniques that he says can make the difference between lifelong complications and a full recovery. The snakebite clinic provided follow-up treatment after snake envenomation to 17 patients in 2021. The Comprehensive Snakebite Program uses lower doses of antivenom and has shorter patient stays than many other hospitals, typically discharging patients in less than 24 hours. Follow-up visits to the snakebite clinic are now offered to any patient whose care triggers a call to APIC, regardless of insurance status.

COMPREHENSIVE SNAKEBITE PROGRAM

C

d

p

a

c

L

n

r

E

i

a

I

s

e

u

T

N

r

t

h

I

s

o

e

t

I

B

w

a l

e

C

E

x

c

p e r

K

T

s i

E

a

i

g

r

s

h

S N A

m

o

t

p

l

s

y

a

o

A M

t

c

c

h

s

i

i

p

s

x

t

o

s

t

The Comprehensive Snakebite Program is staffed by toxicologists, wound-care experts, pharmacists and physical therapists. It cares for adults and children as young as 5 years old.

“We will keep seeing people as long as they have persistent wounds and swelling,” Rushton said. “What we’re doing is cutting-edge. No one else is thinking this deeply about snakebites and follow-up.”

“Leaving the hospital after a snake envenomation experience can create a sense of ‘now what?’” Atti said. “Many patients find their questions unanswered, including, ‘Do I elevate my limb? Do I do physical therapy? How long will the swelling last?’ and ‘When can I get back to work?’ I believe that having a place to follow up with snake envenomation experts provides comfort to patients that they are not on their own when they leave the hospital.”

5

The most common complications from envenomation are local wound damage, swelling of extremities and severely painful blood blisters. When a snake envenomates a person, often on the foot, the tissues fill up with blood. “For someone with little experience of snakebite, that swollen leg can look like dead, necrotic tissue that needs to be removed to avoid wider damage,” Rushton said. “That’s a hallmark of our program, to keep people away from unnecessary or harmful procedures. These large blood blisters are cared for by a wound care specialist who has specific training of the mechanisms of envenomation. What we don’t want is someone trying to cut away that tissue, at least early on during active envenomation.” The program’s multidisciplinary approach is what truly sets it apart, Rushton says. While patients are in the hospital, physical therapists emphasize early range of-motion exercises and getting patients out of bed. Rushton says UAB pharmacy expertise has been crucial with the timing of the antivenom. Patients then get follow-up care in the snakebite clinic and the benefit of the program’s research efforts. The Comprehensive Snakebite Program is an innovator in the use of thromboelastography (TEG), a method of precisely studying blood coagulation, clot strength and clot stability. TEG can provide a more rapid answer than traditional tests, such as prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time tests. Because the UAB Department of Emergency Medicine is a national leader in research, access to TEG is widespread enough that every snakebite patient admitted to UAB can receive the benefit of this technology and have their antivenom titrated appropriately, Rushton notes. Although the evidence is still out on whether TEGs are better than traditional labs, Rushton says the team can predict rattlesnake bites on the thromboelastogram earlier than from traditional coagulation markers. “Snakebites can be intimidating to treat given all of the various scenarios in which patients can present,” Atti said. “Many community hospitals in the state of Alabama don’t have enough antivenom for more than one loading dose nor the means to care for a critically ill patient from a snake envenomation. This can create a lot of uncertainty for a community physician in trying to decide whether a patient needs to be transferred to another hospital for further care. We’re able to guide physicians in such scenarios, allowing them to make sound decisions.”

The team can predict rattlesnake bites on the thromboelastogram (TEG) earlier than from traditional coagulation markers.

6

TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR THE TINIEST BABIES A LOOK AT INVASIVE VS. NONINVASIVE VENTILATION FOR NANO-PRETERM INFANTS

Nano-preterm infants are those born at gestational age 22 weeks–0 days to 23 weeks–6 days.

E xtremely premature infants still face daunting risks of sickness or death, even though advances in neonatal-perinatal care have improved infant survival at progressively lower gestational ages. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia—a serious condition of undeveloped lungs—is a leading morbidity in these tiny infants. Studies have shown that noninvasive respiratory support at birth—rather than immediate intubation and delivery of lung surfactant—improves short-term respiratory outcomes in premature infants born at gestational age 24 weeks–0 days to 27 weeks–6 days. So, clinicians at Children’s of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), led by neonatologists Charitharth Vivek Lal, M.D., and Vivek Shukla, M.D., asked whether the same was true for the tiny newborns at the limits of viability, whom they categorize as “nano-preterm” infants—those born at gestational age 22 weeks–0 days to 23 weeks–6 days. These nano-preterms compose a highly specialized niche subgroup that is considerably more immature and has much higher risks of mortality and morbidity than the 24- through 27-week gestational age preterms, Lal says.

7

In one of the largest studies of this population, Children’s and UAB researchers did a retrospective analysis of 230 consecutively born, eligible nano-preterm infants born from January 2014 through June 2021 at the UAB level IV neonatal intensive care unit. Eighty-eight infants in the noninvasive group were those whose first intubation attempt was more than 10 minutes after birth, and 142 infants in invasive respiratory support at birth were those intubated within 10 minutes after birth. Unlike several previous studies of slightly older preterm infants, Lal and colleagues found no benefits for the noninvasive respiratory support of those nano-preterm infants, as measured by the composite outcome of bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death by 36 weeks postmenstrual age.

Charitharth Vivek Lal, M.D.

Vivek Shukla, M.D.

Some 94.3% of the noninvasive group and 90.9% of the invasive group had bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death by 36 weeks, which was not a significant difference. The clinicians did see that severe intraventricular hemorrhage or death by 36 weeks was lower in the invasive respiratory support group, a trend that will require a larger number of infants to confirm. “This cohort study’s findings suggest that noninvasive respiratory support in the first 10 minutes after birth is feasible but may not be associated with a decrease in the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death compared with intubation and early surfactant delivery in nano-preterm infants,” Lal said.

The study, “Hospital and neurodevelopmental outcomes in nano-preterm infants receiving invasive vs. noninvasive ventilation at birth,” published in the journal JAMA Network Open, in August 2022.

SEVERE INTRAVENTRICULAR HEMORRAGE OR DEATH BY 36 WEEKS WAS LOWER IN THE INVASIVE VENTILATION GROUP

88 noninvasive ventilation intubated more than 10 minutes after birth 142 invasive ventilation intubated within 10 minutes after birth

94.3 %

230 nano-preterm

had bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death by 36 weeks

infants studied

90.9 %

had bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death by 36 weeks

8

PEDSCAST Podcast

PICAN, NICKS, Neonatal Dialysis Featured Speaker: David Askenazi, M.D., MPH

Food is Medicine Featured Speaker: Daniel Feig, M.D., Ph.D., MS

U.S. Cancer Outcomes Network Featured Speaker: Smita Bhatia, M.D., MPH

Sensory Awareness Featured Speaker: Michele Kong, M.D.

Neonatal Research Network, the Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit Network, and the Global Network Featured Speaker: Waldemar Carlo, M.D.

COA’s Neurology Division and the NIH Study for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Featured Speaker: Michael Lopez, M.D., Ph.D.

The Children’s of Alabama PedsCast is a pediatric sub-specialist peer-to-peer podcast focused on research, innovative programs and advances in pediatric health care at Children’s of Alabama. Featured speakers include physicians, surgeons, clinical specialists and other experts in the field of pediatrics.

197

Carmen Tong, D.O., director of robotic surgery at Children’s of Alabama, with the team’s new da Vinci surgical robot.

10

NEXT-LEVEL CARE WITH NEW SURGICAL ROBOT, UROLOGY TEAM CAN BETTER SERVE PATIENTS

W hen Stacy Tanaka, M.D., arrived at Children’s of Alabama as the chief of pediatric urology, she resolved to bring in more technology. “I don’t want families of patients who need our services to go out of state because they think we can’t provide it,” she said at the time. That was in January 2022. By the end of her first year, one big piece of the puzzle—the da Vinci surgical robot— was in place. In the past, Children’s relied on the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) for access to a surgical robot. The arrangement worked, but because UAB is an adult hospital, the environment wasn’t ideal for kids. Children’s, on the other hand, has nurses, anesthesiologists and other medical professionals who are trained to care for kids. The hospital also offers child life services designed to minimize stress on children and their families. A surgical robot, Tanaka says, was the missing piece. “Our overall level of care was already great. Now, the technology has caught up with it,” she said. The da Vinci robot arrived at Children’s in December 2022, and surgeons began using it in February 2023. It has generated a lot of enthusiasm among the surgical team. When Carmen Tong, D.O., the director of robotic surgery at Children’s, performed her first surgery with it, the procedure drew a lot of “spectators”—other surgeons and nurses who wanted to see the robot in use. “The energy is palpable,” Tong said. “Everyone is extremely excited.” And urology isn’t the only team benefitting from it. Other surgery teams have already used it, and for Tong, that’s proof that the robot makes the entire hospital better. “Everyone thought that this would just be a urology thing, and then we weren’t even the first ones to end up using it,” she said. “And I think that shows just how much more is open to Alabama kids now that the robot is here.” Tong says extensive training and preparation ensured that staff would be able to use the robot safely and effectively. Nurses, surgical technologists and anesthesiologists were all involved. “The surgical staff put in many, many hours to learn the technology,” she said. Administration also provided support, and the facilities team rearranged the operating room to provide adequate space for the robot.

The da Vinci robot provides an alternative to laparoscopic surgery, in which instruments are inserted through two or three small incisions. Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive, but the technique is not optimal. “The instruments don’t articulate at the wrist, so they don’t mimic actual hands in the body,” Tong said. This makes certain maneuvers, such as internal suturing, quite challenging. “It’s as though you’re using chopsticks,” she said. There is also a steep learning curve. The robot, however, “completely changed the landscape of minimally invasive surgery,” according to Tong. It provides a three-dimensional view with improved depth perception.

Stacy Tanaka, M.D., became the chief of pediatric urology at Children’s of Alabama in January 2022.

11

In addition, the instruments enable much more refined movements—mimicking hands and fingers—and are gentler, which is particularly important when operating on babies, who have very delicate tissue. Overall, robotic surgery is less invasive, less disfiguring and results in quicker recovery than the traditional open technique. One major advantage is the three-dimensional, magnified view of the surgical field through the console, which isn’t available with the tiny cameras used in laparoscopic procedures. “It’s fabulous,” Tong said. “You’re able to see exactly what you’re picking up and what you’re cutting and stopping the bleeding on. From a safety standpoint, it’s a superior product.”

The robot completely

changed the landscape of minimally invasive surgery.

12

FOOD IS MEDICINE HOW DIET CAN HELP PATIENTS WITH KIDNEY FAILURE F or children with kidney failure, the proper diet is crucial. Eating the wrong type or amount of food can be devastating or even deadly. To make matters worse, the diet these children need is difficult to curate. That’s why Children’s of Alabama nephrologists Daniel Feig, M.D., Ph.D, and Sahar Fathallah-Shaykh, M.D., started the Food is Medicine program.

13

“When the kidneys aren’t working very well, the children are in a situation where they have to dramatically restrict their sodium intake, their potassium intake, their phosphorous intake and frequently have to restrict how much water they take in per day in order to maintain their health,” said Feig, the director of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology at Children’s and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The restrictions can make it difficult for a child to get enough calories and nutrients, and it leaves them with few options that taste good. But effectively managing their diet is vital; the margin for error is slim.

“Too much water or sodium can result in extremely high blood pressure, and poor control of calcium and phosphorous metabolism can irreversibly damage their bones and predispose them to early, severe cardiovascular disease,” Feig said. “Consequently, it’s critically important to get this under control.” For the patient and their family, the transition to the proper diet is tough, but the Food is Medicine program exists to help with that process. Nutritionists and renal dietitians teach the families about choosing the right foods and how they can cook them. Then they help them put together a shopping list. “It’s trying to help families learn to use unfamiliar ingredients that are safe for their children, trying to make meals that are on the diet and agree with the palates of young children,” Feig said.

But the diet can be very expensive. Leaders didn’t expect that when they started the program, but they’re addressing it by providing biweekly care packages filled with shopping list ingredients to families who qualify based on income and expenses.

To help cover these expenses, program leaders worked with the Children’s of Alabama Foundation to develop an annual culinary event featuring celebrity chefs from around the Southeast. The event raises money for the program, and several of the chefs have also volunteered some of their staff to help teach cooking classes with the dialysis unit. Both opportunities have been on hold since the pandemic began, but Feig hopes they will soon be possible again.

The Food is Medicine program has led to improvements for patients in both bone health and control of serum potassium. Feig says their quarterly quality-of-life scores also have increased.

“The importance of a holistic approach to the management of disease that includes diet, quality of life, as well as their medications and their high-tech procedures is really what is allowing us to be particularly successful in the management of these patients and helping them grow up to be healthy, active citizens, who can then go to college, go into the workforce and really be happy adults,” he said.

Daniel Feig, M.D., Ph.D., helped develop the Food is Medicine Program.

14

A PROMISING PATHWAY STUDYING A NEW APPROACH TO DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

DMD is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes for the dystrophin protein.

Michael Lopez, M.D., Ph.D., is using a nearly $1 million grant to study a novel pathway in the development and progression of DMD.

W hat happens when you knock out a ubiquitous protein in muscle that appears to be involved in numerous neuromuscular diseases, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)? That’s the question Children’s of Alabama pediatric neurologist Michael Lopez, M.D., Ph.D., and his mentors, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) professor Peter King, M.D., and associate professor Matthew Alexander, Ph.D., are trying to answer.

Lopez recently received a Career Development Award worth nearly $1 million from the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke to better understand a novel pathway involved in the development and progression of DMD.

The disease, which primarily affects males, is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes for the dystrophin protein, which is critical for musculoskeletal health. Without this protein, muscles degrade over time, resulting in a severe paralysis that affects breathing and eventually causes the heart to fail. Patients typically die in their early 20s or 30s. There is no satisfactory treatment for DMD. A multidisciplinary approach involving neurology, cardiology, pulmonary care and rehabilitation—among other specialties—helps patients manage the disease. Immune-dampening corticosteroids are the primary medical therapy.

15

Lopez and his team identified a new pathway involved in the sustained inflammation that underlies the disease. While chronic inflammation is driven, in part, by elevated levels of the cytokine transforming growth factor β (TGF β 1), clinical studies using drugs to inhibit TGF β 1 have been, by and large, unsuccessful. Lopez thinks that’s because the TGF signaling is more complicated, so any attempt to reduce levels must account for downstream signaling via transcription factors, called Smads, that receive instructions from TGF β . While it’s been known for some time that the Smad2 and Smad3 factors are important players in the TGF β pathway, Lopez’s research identified Smad8 that is not only turned on in a cellular model of DMD but is 48 times higher than other Smad factors. His findings were published in the International Journal of Molecular Science in July 2022. “It appears to be a previously unrecognized pathway that could cause larger dysregulation of gene expression within the muscle,” he said. When the researchers silenced Smad8 in cultured muscle cells, they found the cells differentiated into muscle fibers more successfully. “That’s a key experiment, because it shows that too much of Smad8 was likely doing the opposite: preventing the muscle cells from differentiating into myofibers,” Lopez said. The grant provides the funds to breed transgenic mouse lines in which the gene that encodes for Smad8 is deleted in cells destined to become muscle cells. “That way, we can answer the question, ‘Is it necessary for the normal function of muscle, and does it make DMD less severe in the mouse?’” Lopez said. “The premise is that we can intervene on this pathway and reverse these impairments.”

16

News, Honors and Awards

Dr. Kimberlin receives 2022 Walter T. Hughes Distinguished Physician Award David Kimberlin, M.D. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, was named the recipient of the 2022 Walter T. Hughes Distinguished Physician Award. This award is given by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) to a pediatrician who has made significant contributions to the field of pediatric infectious diseases and is the society’s highest recognition. Dr. Kimberlin NIH Advisory Committee to the Deputy Director for Intramural Research (AC DDIR) David Kimberlin, M.D. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, has been appointed to the NIH Advisory Committee to the Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR). Five faculty members accepted into Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) Congratulations to the following pediatric faculty on being elected to the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) membership! Ammar Saadoon Alishlash, M.D. , assistant professor, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine Ahmed Asfari, M.D. , assistant professor, Division of Pediatric Cardiology

Scott James, M.D. , assocaiate professor, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Colm Travers, M.D. , assistant professor, Division of Neonatology

Kent Willis, M.D. , assistant professor, Division of Neonatology

Drs. Dhall and Feig elected to membership in the American Pediatric Society Congratulations to Girish Dhall, M.D. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, and Daniel Feig, M.D., Ph.D., M.S. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, on their recent election to membership in the American Pediatric Society (APS).

17

Drs. Ladinsky and Latif receive the Courage Award from the National Center for Lesbian Rights The 2022 Courage Awards honored Morissa Ladinsky M.D. and Hussein Abdul-Latif M.D. and Cameron Wright. Dr. Ladinsky co-leads the Youth Multidisciplinary Gender Team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, while Dr. Abdul-Latif is a pediatric endocrinologist in Birmingham, Alabama. Both doctors have been providing medically necessary care for transgender youth in the South and have been at the forefront of fighting against a bill in Alabama that would criminalize that care and charge parents and doctors with a felony for providing the care that these youth need to survive and thrive as their authentic selves.

Dr. Wadhwa receives American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy New Investigator Award Aman Wadhwa, M.D. , assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology, has received the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy New Investigator Award. Dr. Wadhwa has been awarded $50,000 per year for two years.

Drs. Huls and Hodges receive award from Center for Countering Human Trafficking On January 31, 2023, Kara Huls, M.D. , assistant professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine, and Ashley Hodges, Ph.D., CRNP , professor in the School of Nursing, received the inaugural Outstanding Victim Protection in Countering Human Trafficking Award by the Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Three pediatric faculty appointed to Pediatrics Review and Education Program Editorial Boards Giovanna Beauchamp, M.D. , assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Ammar Saadoon Alishlash, M.D. , assistant professor, and Guillermo Jose Beltran Ale, M.D. , assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, have been appointed to the American Academy of Pediatrics Review and Education Program (PREP) Editorial Boards for their subspecialties.

18

Dr. Kong receives Charles C. Shepard Science Award Michele Kong, M.D. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care, has received the Charles C. Shepard Science Award.

Four faculty appointed to CCTS Center Membership Hussein Abdul-Latif, M.D. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Timothy Beukelman, M.D. , professor in the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, and Viral Jain, M.D. , assistant professor and Ariel Salas, M.D. , associate professor, in the Division of Neonatology, have been accepted to membership in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) as an Associate Scientist.

Five members of the Department of Pediatrics elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Meghan Harrison, M.D., fellow in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, Paul Scalici, M.D., associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine,

Samantha Hill, M.D. , assistant professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Terry Wall, M.D. , professor in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics, and

Stephenie Wallace, M.D. , professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, were elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society.

19

1600 7th Avenue South Birmingham, Alabama 35233

INTERNATIONAL NEONATAL NEPHROLOGY SYMPOSIUM BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

INAUGURAL SYMPOSIUM

Visit ChildrensAL.org/INNS for information. SEPT. 11–15, 2024