News | Page 14 | Pediatrics

Preclinical Study Suggests Gut Bacteria May Influence Viral Entry, Immune Response and Coagulation in COVID-19

August 18, 2022

This article was originally posted in the WCM Newsroom.

A new preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators found that certain bacteria in the gut may reduce susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, improve the immune response and prevent blood clots that can occur in severe COVID-19 illness. The study, published Aug. 1 in Gut Microbes, suggests that dietary choices may also have the potential to enhance efforts to combat COVID-19 and its complications in humans.

The composition of the gut microbiome has previously been linked to varying outcomes for health conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, COPD and influenza. The investigators, led by senior author Dr. Melody Zeng, assistant professor of immunology in pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics and a member of the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children’s Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, believed that the same might be true for COVID-19.

UnitedHealthcare Donates $1 Million to Nonprofits in New York

August 10, 2022

NEW YORK (Aug. 10, 2022) — UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, is awarding $1 million in Empowering Health grants to six community-based organizations in New York state to expand access to care and address the social determinants of health for uninsured individuals and underserved communities.

In total, UnitedHealthcare is donating $11 million in grants through its Empowering Health program across 11 states. The grants will assist individuals and families experiencing challenges from food insecurity, social isolation and behavioral health issues, and support local health promotion and health literacy efforts.

Grant recipients in New York state include:

Dr. Marianne Nellis to Serve as Director of Fellows’ Research in Pediatrics

August 5, 2022

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Marianne Nellis, M.D. M.S., as Director of Fellows’ Research in Pediatrics. In this role, together with the Vice-Chair of Education in Pediatrics, Dr. Nellis will oversee the quality of fellow research training and academic scholarly work within the department. She will collaborate with the Director of Clinical Research Mentoring and the Department’s Vice Chairs of Research to facilitate and oversee the development of fellows’ scholarly activity, the scholarship oversight committee and research-in-progress processes and mentor-mentee relationships. She will also lead the Fellows’ Research Curriculum, developing and maintaining a core content of educational activities to facilitate the fellows’ scholarly activity success.

Dr. Duncan Hau Named Associate Medical Director of the Newborn Nursery at NYP Lower Manhattan

August 4, 2022

The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the appointment of Duncan Hau, M.D., Director of the Pediatric Hospitalist Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital (NYP/LMH), as Associate Medical Director of the Well Newborn Nursery. In this role, Dr, Hau will continue to lead the pediatric hospitalist program and will work closely with Abieyuwa Iyare, M.D, Medical Director of the Well Newborn Nurseries, in ensuring quality equitable care for the babies and families at NYP/LMH.

Dr. Hau is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and is board certified in general pediatrics and board eligible in pediatric hospital medicine. After completing medical school at Tufts University, he completed a pediatric residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center before spending two years in Tanzania with the Baylor Pediatric AIDS Corp. Dr. Hau returned to Weill Cornell Medicine in 2014 where his focus has been on pediatric hospitalist medicine and global health. He has published on pediatric post hospital outcomes in Tanzania as well as on global health education. Dr. Hau received a department of pediatrics pilot award in 2016 to support his scholarly work in Tanzania and is the rotation director of the global health elective for pediatric residents.

Dr. Abieyuwa Iyare Appointed as Medical Director of the Well Newborn Nurseries

August 4, 2022

The Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the appointment of Abieyuwa Iyare, M.D. as Medical Director of the Well Newborn Nurseries as of July 5, 2022. In this new role, Dr. Iyare will work closely with nursing leadership to ensure high quality equitable care for newborns in the well nurseries at Alexandra Cohen (ACH) and Lower Manhattan (LMH) campuses. We would like to thank Jennifer DiPace, M.D. for her outstanding service and dedication as Medical Director for the newborn nurseries, where among many other accomplishments she oversaw a very successful move to ACH and the integration of the LMH nursery.

Dr. Iyare was recruited from Montefiore Medical Center where she had been the director of the newborn nursery of the Weiler Campus to Weill Cornell in 2020 as Associate Director of the newborn nurseries at NYP/ACH and NYP/WC. She has been very involved in quality initiatives, including updating the newborn toxicology protocols, use of dextrose gel in newborns with hypoglycemia and others, and teaching as the leader for the medical students’ experience in the nursery.

Dr. Erika Abramson Named Associate Vice Chair of Health Equity and Medical Education Research in Pediatrics

July 29, 2022

The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the appointment of Erika Abramson, M.D., M.Sc. as Associate Vice Chair of Health Equity and Medical Education Research in Pediatrics.

New Clues To How Maternal Antibodies Can Protect Babies From Cytomegalovirus

July 26, 2022

This article was originally posted in the WCM Newsroom.

Antibodies that summon virus-engulfing white blood cells may play an important role in protecting infants from potentially serious congenital infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), according to a study led by an investigator at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

The study, which appeared June 28 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, was the most comprehensive analysis of its kind to date in HCMV research. The researchers examined antibodies in the blood of 81 mothers infected with HCMV, comparing the properties of the antibodies in mothers who had transmitted versus hadn’t transmitted HCMV to their infants. A key finding was that women in the non-transmission group tended to show higher levels of the white blood cell-summoning mechanism, known as antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis, against HCMV.

Dr. Melanie Wilson-Taylor Appointed Director of Pediatric Residency Program

July 14, 2022

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Melanie Wilson-Taylor M.D. as Director of Pediatric Residency Program as of August 8, 2022. In this new role, Dr. Wilson-Taylor will lead the pediatric residency program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center working closely with the associate program directors, the chief residents, and department leadership.

Dr. Wilson-Taylor is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and an assistant attending pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and previously the associate pediatric residency director at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Scientists Identify a Key Molecular Protector of Gut Health

July 13, 2022

This article was originally published in WCM Newsroom.

A protein called Zbtb46, expressed by specialized immune cells, has a major role in protecting the gastrointestinal tract from excessive inflammation, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.

The finding, which appears July 13 in Nature, is a significant advance in the understanding of how the gut maintains health and regulates inflammation, which could lead to better strategies for treating diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Department Awards Celebration

June 30, 2022

The Department of Pediatrics Awards Celebration was held on June 22nd to recognize honorees for their dedication and commitment to advancing children's healthcare across various aspects of the department, including administration, patient care, education, and research. Individuals were nominated by leadership and peers, with recipients selected by award committee.