Dear Yale Pediatrics Family,
I hope you're enjoying the start of Fall and have some time to enjoy this weather in New Haven! I'll keep it brief since there's so much to see in this month's Pulse. Keep reading for some great news across media, education, and research.
Warmly,
Cliff
The Psychiatry, Child Study Center, and Pediatrics IBO has a new clinical trial manager position that will report to Joanna Hoyt but is a shared resource between the three departments. Elizabeth Robles has been hired into the position. She comes to the IBO from the Cardiology department at Yale School of Medicine with over six years of experience managing industry-sponsored clinical trials for that group. She began work October 1. Robles will serve as the IBO point person for all industry-sponsored clinical trials and work with faculty, YCCI, and OSP on:
Dr. Marietta Vazquez presented at this year's CT-AAP annual meeting. Thanks to everyone from the section of General Pediatrics who came out to learn and support her!
Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH), the top-ranked children’s hospital in Connecticut, has been ranked among the best children’s hospitals in the nation for five out of 11 pediatric subspecialties in the 2024-2025 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings, published online today by U.S. News & World Report. YNHCH was nationally recognized in Urology (#18), Diabetes and Endocrinology (#29), Neonatology (#38), Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (#39) and listed among the top 50 in Behavioral Health.
Source: YNHCHRozalyn Rodwin, MD, Director of the HEROS Childhood Cancer Survivorship Clinic at Yale, accepts a $100,000 donation from Hyundai Hope on Wheels to benefit childhood cancer research at Yale.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Foley completed a pediatric residency at The Floating Hospital for Children, Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. In 2021, she joined the joint pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship program at Memorial Sloan Kettering and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College. Her clinical interests include caring for children and young adults with lymphoma and leukemias. Throughout fellowship she was involved in research in the lymphoma field, and hopes to continue clinical research at Yale.
Instructor
Deanna Nardella, MD joined the Yale community in 2022 as a National Clinician Scholar after completing her general pediatrics training at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Dr. Nardella's scholarship aims to inform health policy and healthcare delivery to promote high-quality, person-centered, and equitable healthcare across the pediatric continuum. Her research largely focuses on the design and implementation of innovative dyadic care models, treating both mother and child to better address drivers of rising U.S. maternal and infant mortality rates.
Dr. Nardella serves as the co-chairperson of the Connecticut (CT) Infant Mortality Review Committee, designated by the CT Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Michael Reisfeld is an Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine and is Board Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. After receiving his medical degree from New York Medical College, he completed pediatric residency at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine/Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Chicago, IL. He went on to complete a perinatology/neonatology fellowship at Northwestern, as well. His fellowship training included pre- and post-operative management of surgical infants, neonates with complex congenital heart disease, and neonates requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
His research interests include the developmental outcomes of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, and social determinants of health.
You are invited to join the Pediatric Community Education Series from YNHCH & Bridgeport Hospital! Please click here to download a copy of the Fall 2024 schedule. To receive weekly reminders, including login directions, email Robynne.Moran@ynhh.org.
Upcoming Sessions:
The centrality of the right to communication needs to be equated to other essential rights like the rights to education and health care.
Source: The Opinion PagesIn the latest edition of a spotlight series launched in February 2023 to feature integrated business operations (IBO) and administration staff at the Yale Child Study Center, Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Pediatrics, meet the IBO’s Human Resource Business Partner Anna DeAngelo.
4-CT is collaborating with Connecticut hospitals on violence intervention programs to help victims of violent crime rebuild their lives and reduce the risk of re-victimization through financial support and community collaboration.
Source: Yale Daily NewsEight YCSC pediatric psychologists are now embedded in a wide range of primary care and medical subspecialities at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, offering targeted behavioral health care to medically complex youth.
Banned in Canada for 20 years, baby walkers send thousands of U.S. children to hospital emergency rooms every year.
Source: CBS NewsNewborns undergoing withdrawal after opioid exposure in the womb were more likely than non-opioid-exposed infants to be readmitted to the hospital within 90 days of discharge, according to a study funded in part by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Source: NICHDNationally, there have been 14,569 cases of whooping cough in 2024, compared to 3,475 last year.
Source: PatchDr. Cece Calhoun, medical director of the sickle cell program at Yale Cancer Center, provides insight on sickle cell disease research and what patients should know during sickle cell disease awareness month.
Hematologist Cece Calhoun on romantic relationships with someone who has sickle cell disease.
Source: EssenceWith Yale School of Medicine as a founding member, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is taking the lead in launching the IGNITE Consortium—the first national, pediatric hematology-oncology health equity research consortium.
A Yale Medicine patient shares her experience with the Family Inherited Arrhythmia Program, which focuses on rare disorders that affect the heart’s rhythm.
Source: Yale Medicine#ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth spotlight on: Aron Flagg, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplantation
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a huge uptick in research across disciplines. In the first six months after the pandemic hit, 35,000 publications were indexed in PubMed; by the end of the year that number reached 90,000.
"Levels of pertussis dropped dramatically when we were all masking, and now this huge increase is getting us back to pre-pandemic levels, and probably a little above that," Dr. Thomas Murray, a Yale Medicine pediatric infectious disease specialist, said in a news release. "It's a contagious respiratory virus that can spread fairly quickly through the population."
Source: PatchWhooping cough is surging in the U.S., with four times as many cases reported so far this year, compared to all of 2023.
Source: Web MD#ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth Spotlight on: Vidya Puthenpura, MD, MHS, FAAP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology and Oncology
Ania Jastreboff, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine (endocrinology) at Yale School of Medicine, discusses the range of diseases treated by novel weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy.
Source: Yale InsightsStephanie Massaro, MD, MPH, participates in a Q&A in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Every parent's worst nightmare is the loss of their child. There may be exceptions, but right now, I'm going to focus on those parents who would do anything for their children, yet sometimes face the devastating reality of loss.
Gene and cell therapies bring fresh hope to people with genetic disorders, but recovery can be complex and long-term support remains sparse.
Source: NatureThe 2024 submission deadline for the Child Care Subsidy Program application reimbursement requests is Friday, December 6, 2024. It is not too early to submit the childcare subsidy application and receipts for benefit-eligible faculty, managerial and professional staff, postdoctoral associates, and postdoctoral fellows for 2024. The submission deadline will be here in no time, so do not delay.
Parent/guardians can submit more than once during the calendar year. As a reminder, 2024 reimbursement applications and receipts submitted after this year's deadline will not be considered for payment. If you will incur charges for childcare between December 6, 2024 – December 31, 2024, and plan to submit a request for subsidy reimbursement, payment receipts must be submitted no later than Friday, December 6, 2024. Visit the Child Care Subsidy Program page for additional information, including eligibility requirements, frequently asked questions, and to apply for reimbursement.
In a recent email to the university, Chief Campus Health Officer Madeline Wilson, MD, stressed the importance of getting an annual influenza (flu) vaccine, both to lessen your risk of contracting flu and to reduce the chance of serious complications if infection does occur. The flu vaccine is especially important for those of us who work in health care, as it significantly reduces the risk of transmission to patients and each other.
To help keep our care environment as safe as possible, we are once again requiring flu vaccination for all Yale School of Medicine (YSM) faculty and staff working in patient-facing and human research subject-facing positions, including per diem staff. The deadline to receive and register your flu vaccine is Dec. 1, 2024.
Schedule a Free Flu Vaccine
You can schedule your free flu vaccine using Yale’s Flu and COVID Vaccine Scheduler. Multiple dates and locations across campus are available. If you need assistance, please call 203- 432-8797.Vaccination clinics will be held in the Harkness lounge/ballroom on the YSM campus on Sept. 25 (flu only) and Oct. 17 (flu/COVID), from 9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Free COVID Vaccine Available Too
With the likelihood of a fall/winter surge of COVID cases and with the emergence of new variants, members of the university community also are advised to get updated COVID vaccines this fall. The Yale Flu and COVID Vaccine Program is again offering a free COVID vaccine to Yale faculty, staff, students, and Yale Health members once vaccine is available.
The pediatric infusion room at L&M Hospital in New London is began operations on October 1, 2024. The facility will provide pediatric treatments, including infusions of biological treatments, iron, and IVIg for children weighing over 40 kilograms. Additionally, the services will encompass various intramuscular treatments such as lupron depot, testosterone, adalimumab teaching, and more. Furthermore, there are plans for the future expansion of pediatric services in the next year. Please direct inquires via email to Arik.alper@yale.edu.
The Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs of NYC are set to host an event with the Tony winning musical Suffs and would love to invite you to join: "Join us for a performance of the Tony-winning Broadway show Suffs, followed by a panel discussion featuring leading experts in children’s well-being. Together, we will explore how we can use our voices to champion children in public policy discussions. Additionally, we will explore how to build a pipeline of pediatricians to continue to care for what we treasure most, our kids. Your $75 donation will support AMSPDC’s important workforce development initiative to champion health equity and bolster the pediatric workforce."
Learn more and buy tickets here.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Here are 10 actions from the AAP you can take to prepare to vote and encourage others to vote.
Applications to utilize Medical Staff funds for financial support of programs are now being accepted. If you are interested in requesting support of a program, please complete the attached application and return to Marissa.Sherwood@ynhh.org by email no later than November 4, 2024. Incomplete applications or applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Please review the “Guidelines for Project Funding” on the last page of the application to ensure your program meets all expectations. Decisions regarding funding will be announced in January 2025.
The YNHH Medical Staff funds are used toward the following:
These applications are evaluated once per year by the Medical Executive Committee’s (MEC) Finance Committee. The Finance Committee will make a recommendation to the MEC regarding meritorious requests and the MEC will determine final allocations of funding. The Finance Committee hopes to be able to grant as many requests as possible in this process.
Attention: 2025 Application to Utilize Medical Staff Funds for Financial Support of Programs
All requests for funding by the Medical Staff must submit a new request for consideration. Programs that have received previous funding are not guaranteed to receive continued support and must submit a new application.
Paw Prints works to connect with and strengthen our community through the power of storytelling. The blog hopes to highlight blog posts from a diverse array of people, perspectives, and experiences with a focus on social justice and advocacy topics. Long or short form writing, drawings, poems, photos, and different media are welcome. To submit, please email molly.markowitz@yale.edu. Read the latest submissions here.
Managing a COVID infection
As a reminder, the revised CDC guidelines issued in the spring apply to ANY respiratory infection and are two-fold:
Yale BOX service will now end at Yale in February of 2026. This is six months later than originally communicated. More details regarding this service can be found here.
Summary from Yale Information Technology Services:
ITS is phasing out Box @ Yale as an available service offering to support the community with better service and simplified storage options.
By February 2026 Box will be eliminated as a storage option for all of the Yale community. Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint) is available as a cloud storage solution with larger quotas and no cost to you. If you require capacity or file sizes beyond what is supported in OneDrive or SharePoint, Dropbox may be a suitable option for a fee. Consult our Collaboration Counts site to learn more about ITS recommended alternatives to Box as a storage option.
Microsoft OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint are recommended as robust and efficient alternatives, offering superior collaboration features with no cost to you.
You can use the Mover tool to easily transfer your Box files to Microsoft OneDrive (and later SharePoint if necessary). Use the directions from ITS here to easily grant permission to both your Box and OneDrive accounts to begin transferring your files. The files should continue to transfer in the background should your computer go to sleep.
Please contact Yale ITS with any questions, troubleshooting, or issues with your file transfers. You can connect over the phone, by chat, or schedule an in-person meeting. Start here to get in touch with ITS.
If OneDrive and/or SharePoint are new to you or you need to brush up, there are 2 available trainings via LinkedIn Learning.
Print or save this flyer if you need assistance on campus during an emergency, to get support or make a report about misconduct, reach mental health counseling, or report other concerns.
Are you interested in sharing your expertise with community pediatricians, advanced practice providers, and school-based nurses? It’s a great way to promote your clinic/program and increase your reach. If so, fill out this short Qualtrics survey to let us know what you want to talk about.
The Pediatric Medical Education Research Collaborative (P-MERC) can be found here. P-MERC provides resources and support to members of the Department of Pediatrics who are interested in engaging in educational research and scholars. If you have suggestions for the site, please reach out to Melissa Langhan, MD, MHS at Melissa.Langhan@yale.edu.
Scan the QR code on any of the posted signs around the Department or text “Peds1” to (831) 222-2333 to send a Hylite. You can also send a Hylite HERE anytime from a web browser. Happy Hyliting!