What's New in Pediatrics

Grand Rounds

 

Department News

Coming Soon: Doctor Radio on Sirius

NYU Medical Center has partnered with Sirius Satellite Radio to create Doctor Radio, a new health and wellness channel available to their 8.3 million subscribers nationwide.

Doctor Radio on Sirius channel 114 will feature four original two-hour live programs each weekday, replayed throughout the day — a total of 40 hours of live programming per week. Topics will extend beyond medicine to such areas as nutrition, fitness and exercise, parenting, and integrative medicine.

Every week on Doctor Radio, you can hear from more than two dozen respected doctors, plus special guest host physicians and medical experts from around the world. Experts from every field will give you the straight story on breaking medical news and how everyday people can use it in their daily lives.

You can ask how to know if you are at risk for a heart attack and high blood pressure, talk directly with doctors about how what really goes on inside the emergency room compares to television shows like ER and House, or even open up about what it's like coping with children suffering from ADD.

A free three-day online trial is available so you can preview this exciting new service, Doctor Radio, Powered by NYU Medical Center.

 

2008 Pediatric Academix Society Meeting

All attendees of the 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies’ meeting in Hawaii are cordially invited to attend the Department of Pediatrics reception on Sunday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m.

Mid-Pacific Conference Center
South Pacific Ballroom #3
Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel
2005 Kalia Road
Honolulu, HI 96815
Phone: 808-949-4321

More details wil be posted as they are established.

 

New Facility for Pediatric Audiology Services Opens in the Fink Children's Ambulatory Center

The Division of Audiology in the Department of Otolaryngology at NYU Medical Center is pleased to announce the opening of a new facility and the recruitment of new personnel dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss in the pediatric population.

This state-of-the-art facility, located in the new Laurence D. Fink and Lori Weider Fink Children’s Ambulatory Center on 32nd Street, will provide comprehensive diagnostic testing using the state of the art equipment, including:

• Complete Audiologic Evaluations
• Immittance Testing to measure the integrity of the middle ear
• Otoacoustic Emissions Testing to assess hair cell function
• Auditory Brainstem Response Testing to assess the integrity of central auditory pathways, using equipment that no longer requires sedation

For the first time at NYUMC, advanced digital hearing aids will also be dispensed to children. The Center will have specialized equipment to make sure that the hearing aids are fitted properly without requiring feedback from the child.

To address the special needs of children, Zhanneta Shapiro, M.S., a full-time pediatric audiologist has been recruited. She will coordinate the care of hearing impaired children with experts in speech pathology, rehabilitation services and other disciplines to meet their multidisciplinary needs.

The new facility complements the adult audiologic services provided within the Center for Hearing Health at Schwartz HCC 3C including objective and behavioral testing, diagnostic testing, vestibular testing and fitting of state-of-the-art digital hearing aids.

The Audiology Division staff, including Parika Engineer, M.A., Theresa Shaw, M.Ed., and William Shapiro, Au.D.work closely with the NYU Cochlear Implant Center—one of the largest and most respected clinical and research implant centers in the world—to provide tailored treatment and interventions to children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.

To make an appointment, call 212-263-7349.

For more information, please contact William H. Shapiro, Au.D. CCC-A, Chief, Division of Audiology at 212-263-7567.

 

NYU Pediatrics Faculty Named to Best Doctors List

Eighteen members of the NYU Medical Center Department of Pediatrics faculty were named Best Doctors for 2007 in the tri-state area by New York Magazine.

Recipients of the Top Doctors designation are selected by a peer-review survey conducted by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., a New York City research and information company.

Castle Connolly publishes an annual guidebook, Top Doctors: New York Metro Area, which lists those whom Castle Connolly has determined to be the top 10 percent of the region’s physicians.

Those doctors included in the New York Magazine Best Doctors list represent the top quarter of these 6,000 physicians.

This year, 18 members of the NYU Department of Pediatrics faculty were named:

• Dr. Jeffrey Allen (Pediatric Neuro-Oncology)
• Dr. William Borkowsky (Pediatric Infectious Diseases)
• Dr. Harris Burstin (General Pediatrics)
• Dr. William Carroll (Pediatric Hematology-Oncology)
• Dr. Court Cutting (Pediatric Plastic Surgery)
• Dr. David Feldman (Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery)
• Dr. Howard Ginsburg (Pediatric Surgery)
• Dr. Karen Hendricks-Muñoz (Neonatology)
• Dr. Max Kahn (General Pediatrics)
• Dr. Brenda Kohn (Pediatric Endocrinology)
• Dr. Keith Krasinski (Pediatric Infectious Diseases)
• Dr. Alan Langser (Pediatric Cardiology)
• Dr. Herbert Lazarus (Pediatric Rheumatology)
• Dr. Joseph Levy (Pediatric Gastroenterology)
• Dr. Harry Ostrer (Human Genetics)
• Dr. Seth Orlow (Pediatric Dermatology)
• Dr. Aaron Rausen (Pediatric Hematology-Oncology)
• Dr. Sol Zimmerman (General Pediatrics)

Congratulations to our outstanding faculty.

 

William Carroll, M.D., named Director of NYU Cancer Institute
From: Robert I. Grossman, M.D., Dean and CEO, NYU Medical Center

William L. Carroll, M.D., the Julie and Edward J. Minskoff Professor of Pediatrics, has accepted the position of Director of the NYU Cancer Institute after a brief tenure as Acting Director.

In this capacity, he will oversee all aspects of cancer research and treatment on the NYU campus.

Since coming here in 2001, Bill has repeatedly demonstrated just the qualities we seek in this crucial position: a passionate devotion to patients, a tireless and fruitful quest for new answers, and an inspiring and inclusive manner with colleagues at all levels.

Under his leadership as Chief, the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology has grown significantly, with increased volume, greater access to clinical trials and phase I protocols, and an expanded research program.

This past year saw the opening of the superb new home of the Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, of which he is Medical Director, offering patients and their families premises shining with hope and focused on wellness and interdisciplinary care.

Bill Carroll has attained international recognition for his role in developing new treatments for children with cancer, especially the most common form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

As Chair of the Children’s Oncology Group ALL Committee, he directs the largest clinical trials network for children with cancer worldwide and has used the field of genomics to understand the underlying biological pathways that drive leukemia progression and drug resistance.

He has served as both a Member and Chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Subcommittee A for Cancer Centers, giving him intimate knowledge of the components required of a world-class program.

 

Cynthia Osman, M.D., and Suzy Tomopoulos, M.D. Named Ambulatory Pediatric Association Region Chairs

Cynthia Osman, M.D., and Suzy Tomopoulos, M.D., have been named co-chairs of the Ambulatory Pediatric Assocation, Region II. Drs. Osman and Tomopoulos are faculty of the Division of General Pediatrics.

The Ambulatory Pediatric Association fosters the health of children, adolescents, and families by promoting generalism in academic pediatrics and academics in general pediatrics.

The APA Region II serves New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, PA, and Delaware.

Benard Dreyer, M.D., Chairman (Interim) of the Department of Pediatrics, is the APA Research Committee Chair. Arthur Fierman, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics, serves as the APA Treasurer.

 

Felicia Axelrod, M.D., featured in New York Times Parenting article

Felicia Axelrod, M.D., Director of the Dysautonomia Treatment and Evaluation Center, was featured as part of a recent article in the New York Times.

The article, "Mission Impossible: A Routine Childhood," highlighted the experience of a 10-year-old girl born with familial dysautonomia and who received care from Dr. Axelrod.

Familial dysautonomia is a rare genetic disorder in Ashkenazi Jewish families causing dysfunction of the autonomic and sensory nervous systems. The defective gene has been documented in just 626 patients worldwide.

 

NYU Pediatrics resident featured in American Academy of Pediatrics News

Former NYU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics resident Elizabeth Schneider, M.D., was recently featured in the American Academy of Pediatrics News.

The article focused on the experiences of AAP International Resident Travel Grant recipients in 2006. Dr. Schneider spent four weeks as an AAP Resident Fellow in Mombasa, Kenya, studying pediatric infectious disease and international health.

 

Benard Dreyer, M.D., named Interim Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics

From: Robert I. Grossman, M.D., Dean and CEO

Benard P. Dreyer, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, has been named Interim Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, continuing a record of generous service and outstanding leadership, most recently as the Department’s Vice Chair.

An alumnus of NYU School of Medicine and member of our faculty since 1976, Dr. Dreyer is a nationally known researcher whose investigations have focused on poor cognitive and language development in disadvantaged children. He is currently co-principal investigator on a multi-year randomized controlled trial of an intervention to improve language development in high-risk young children.

His research interests also include the effect of television and other media on child behavior and development, as well as the impact of low health literacy on health outcomes. A highly respected leader in his field, Dr. Dreyer is on the board of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, the major national association of academic general pediatrics, where he chairs the Research Committee and is involved in the oversight of both the multicenter clinical research programs and the Pediatric Academic Societies Educational Scholars Program.

A member of the editorial board of Ambulatory Pediatrics and a reviewer for all the major pediatric journals, he is also the President of New York Chapter 3 of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a member of several national AAP committees, and Co-Chair of the AAP Health Literacy Project Advisory Committee.

Dr. Dreyer has been Director of General Pediatrics and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at our Medical Center since 1997. He is active in educational initiatives for medical students at NYU, including co-directing the Physician, Patient and Society Course and the Primary Care/Public Health Scholars Program., and is presently Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee for the School of Medicine.

A valued educator, he has earned teaching awards at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition to his responsibilities at Tisch Hospital, he holds several positions at Bellevue Hospital Center, including Chief of Pediatrics and Vice President of the Medical Board.

Dr. Dreyer also has a practice in developmental-behavioral pediatrics at the newly opened Lawrence D. and Lori Weider Fink Children’s Ambulatory Care Center that is part of the NYU Children’s Hospital, where he evaluates and cares for children with developmental, behavioral, and learning problems, including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Robert I. Grossman, M.D.
Dean and CEO

 

Rinn Song, M.D., to join CDC TB Prevention and Control Program

NYU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics resident Rinn Song, M.D., has been named Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Song will contribute to five critical areas of global Tuberculosis prevention and control:

• management and prevention of MDR-TB and XDR-TB
• prevention of TB among foreign-born persons in the U.S.
• expansion of the World Health Organization global Stop TB strategy
• understanding, management and prevention of TB/HIV co-infection in countries with high HIV burdern
• management and prevention of TB among children.

These projects will take place in Botswana, Brazil, the Baltic countries, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Lesotho, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru, the Philippenes, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, India and Vietnam.