Inside Pediatrics Winter 2019

$6.38M GRANT TO STUDY BLOOD CANCERS, BLOOD MARROW TRANSPLANTATION IMPACT

UAB researchers have been awarded a $6.38 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to determine the long-term burden of morbidity borne by blood cancer patients treated with or without blood or marrow transplantation or BMT. In 2018, an estimated 175,000 individuals were diagnosed with a hematologic malignancy — or blood cancer, such as leukemia, myeloma or lymphoma — in the United States. Such cancers are typically managed through high-intensity chemotherapy with or without radiation. Patients with progressive disease or high risk of relapse are treated with even higher-intensity chemotherapy/radiation and BMT. “Survival rates after BMT are improving at the rate of 10%per decade — steady improvements in outcome have resulted in a growing number of BMT survivors, a population uniquely vulnerable to long-term life-threatening chronic morbidity,” said Smita Bhatia, M.D. , Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, principal investigator of the study, director of the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship, and senior scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. “A better understanding of post-BMT health care needs could result in the deployment of targeted strategies that yield better quality of survival and reduced utilization of health care resources.” The study will construct a cohort of more than 10,000 patients treated with BMT between 1974 and 2014 at three transplant sites — UAB, University of Minnesota and City of Hope — as well as a cohort of 3,000 patients treated with conventional therapy without BMT, which will amount to the largest cohort ever studied. COHEN ELECTED CHAIR OF AAP SOGHN Mitch Cohen, M.D. , Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, was elected to serve as the Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (SOGHN). He will serve his term beginning November 1, 2019 through October 31, 2021. BEBIN, KONG NAMED AMONG 2019 YELLOWHAMMER WOMEN OF IMPACT Martina Bebin, M.D. , Neurology, and Michele Kong, M.D. , Pediatric Critical Care were both a 2019 Yellowhammer Woman of Impact by Yellowhammer News. Bebin is a professor and pediatric neurologist at North Alabama Children’s Specialists in Huntsville. Most recently, Bebin collaborated with HudsonAlpha to pinpoint a previously unknown case of a serious seizure disorder most common in babies, potentially opening the door to new diagnostic and treatment options for infants who show signs of epilepsy. Kong, an associate professor, is also co-founder of KultureCity®, an impact-driven nonprofit founded in 2013 in Birmingham with the mission to create a world where all individuals with autism and their families can be accepted and treated equally. KultureCity fundamentally believes that these children are not limited by their diagnosis and deserve a future without limits. The impact of the organization can be seen well beyond Alabama. In 2019, KultureCity was ranked fourth on Fast Company’s list of the most innovative companies in the world. PINNINTI RECEIVES NATIONAL CMV FOUNDATION AWARD Swetha Pinninti, M.D. , Pediatric Infectious Diseases, was selected as one of two recipients of the 2019 Early Career Research Awards from the National CMV Foundation. The goal of this award is to encourage early career researchers to pursue research on maternal or congenital CMV infections. The award can fund or be applied to projects in areas including public health, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, basic science or vaccine development. GOWEY SELECTED FOR UAB DIABETES RESEARCH AWARD Marissa Gowey, Ph.D. , Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, has received a Pilot and Feasibility Program Award from the UAB Diabetes Research Center and UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center for her proposal titled “Identifying Cardiometabolic Biomarkers of Executive Dysfunction in Children.” The one-year award totals $50,000.

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