News | Page 18 | Pediatrics

Dr. William Ambler Selected as NIH Metzger Scholar in Translational Research

February 14, 2022

Pediatric Rheumatology Fellow, Dr. William Ambler was selected as an NIH Metzger Scholar in Translational Research for his project, “Role of sex hormones in neutrophil sex differences in health and systemic lupus erythematosus.”

Neutrophils are a type of white blood cells, called leukocytes, that act as your immune system's first line of defense. They’re also known to display sexual differences in phenotype and function in healthy individuals. Female neutrophils are more mature, have a heightened response to type 1 interferon, and have reduced mitochondrial respiration. These differences are likely related to sex hormone exposure. In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a disease with significant female bias, neutrophils play an important role in disease pathogenesis and disease-related tissue injury. In this study, Dr. Ambler will investigate the mechanism of sex hormonal impact on neutrophils in murine models and evaluate neutrophil sex differences in SLE patients.

By understanding the mechanisms of sex differences in neutrophils, Dr. Ambler's study will provide insight into sex differences in the immune response in SLE disease pathogenesis as well as in many other diseases.

Dr. Kalliope Tsirilakis Appointed Director of Quality and Patient Safety Ambulatory Care

February 14, 2022

The Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the appointment of Kalliope Tsirilakis, MD as Director of Quality and Patient Safety Ambulatory Care at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.

In this role, Dr. Tsirilakis will work closely the Vice Chair of Quality and Patient Safety, Medical Director, and Department Leadership to enhance the safety and quality programs in the ambulatory setting as it relates to patient access, health equity, telehealth visit safety, and the implementation of new programs. Guided by Weill Cornell Medicine’s mission of health equity, Dr. Tsirilakis will align the quality and safety practices across NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens

Dr. Kalliope Tsirilakis is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and an assistant attending pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital. She is also the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Asthma Programs at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.

Dr. Tiffany Schumaker Appointed as Medical Director of the Pediatric Specialty Practice

February 14, 2022

The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the appointment of Tiffany Schumaker, DO as Medical Director of the Pediatric Specialty Practice at Weill Cornell Medicine. In this role, Dr. Schumaker will work with the Vice Chair for Ambulatory Care Services ‐ Access and Strategy (ACSAS) and Departmental Leadership on overseeing clinical, educational, and operational activities of physicians, advanced practice providers, and pediatric residents and specialty fellows in the Pediatric Specialty Practice.

Dr. Schumaker is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and an assistant attending pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital. She received her medical degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine where she was also awarded membership to the Psi Sigma Alpha National Osteopathic Honor Society. She completed her residency in Pediatrics as Chief Resident at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center, Long Island Jewish Hospital and her fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric endocrinology.

Neonatology Fellow Dr. Sean Cullen Awarded NIH K12 Grant

February 2, 2022

Neonatology Fellow, Sean Cullen, MD, PhD, received an NIH K12 award for his study, “Regulation of Germ Cell Small RNAs and Epigenetically-Inherited Disease by Khdc3” as the 2021 March of Dimes Scholar for the Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP). Dr. Cullen will be co-mentored in this project by Matthew Smith-Raska, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and Andrea Ventura MD, PhD, Full Member of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Childhood obesity and its metabolic sequelae are among the most pressing current global health issues. Obesity and metabolic diseases are strongly heritable, yet our understanding of its inheritance is incomplete, as only a small percentage of gene-focused approaches have identified causative factors. For this study, Dr. Cullen will investigate the transmission of obesity and metabolic disease through the germ line by small RNAs in the sperm and oocyte. His work will focus on the role played by the Khdc3 gene in altering the small RNA component of germ cells in a murine model, particularly after exposure to a high fat diet, a known risk factor in the transmission of obesity.

Dr. Elizabeth Fiorino Promoted to Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

February 1, 2022

The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the promotion of Elizabeth K. Fiorino, MD to Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, effective January 1, 2022.

Dr. Elizabeth Fiorino graduated from Williams College in 1998, where she earned a BA in English and a concentration in neuroscience. She went on to receive her MD from New York Medical College in 2002 and completed her pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, where she also became Chief Resident. Dr. Fiorino completed her pulmonary fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2020, she earned a Master of Science in Health Professions Education from Hofstra University. Dr. Fiorino’s clinical interest is in children with rare lung disease, with a special focus on those with pulmonary complications due to treatment for childhood cancer and stem cell transplant.

Dr. Fiorino is a long-standing member of the Children’s Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease Research Network and is the site Principal Investigator for the National Registry at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is also a board member of the Children’s Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease Foundation (chILD).

Pediatric Pulmonary Fellow Dr. Zenna Solomon Awarded Research T32 Trainee Grant

January 26, 2022

Zenna Solomon, MD, a pulmonary fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, received funding for her study "Disbalance of Sphingolipids in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia" as part of the Weill Cornell Medicine Multidisciplinary Approach Training in Respiratory Research T32 Trainee Grant.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), the lung disease associated with premature birth, often leads to long term consequences such as impaired lung growth, asthma, and early development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The mechanisms for the development of lung disease need to be better understood. Given the emerging role of sphingolipids in lung growth, asthma and COPD, there is a gap in knowledge on these lipids in neonates. Dr. Solomon aims to understand if and how sphingolipids in premature infants are related to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and its pulmonary consequences. She will study sphingolipid composition in airways of premature infants and its functional consequences on the development of obstructive airway disease.

The overall goal of Dr. Solomon’s studies is to identify markers for the development of lung disease in premature infants that may help in the development of novel therapies.

Postdoctoral Associate Dr. Fanny Vatter Receives CTSC TL1 Education Award

January 24, 2022

Fanny Vatter, PhD, MSc received funding for her study, “The role of exercise-induced exosomes in breast cancer prevention” as part of the Weill Cornell Medicine CTSC TL1 Education Award.

Epidemiological evidence suggests a high correlation between physical activity and cancer protection and survival. However, the underlying cellular mechanisms remain elusive. Exosomes are small vesicles released by all cell types and efficient messengers in tissue crosstalk. For this study, Dr. Vatter will investigate how exosomes mediate tissue crosstalk during exercise and may be responsible for the benefits of exercise in cancer prevention and survival. She will characterize the source and unique cargo of exosomes mediating cancer prevention and determine the mechanisms by which these exosomes prevent cancer growth and metastasis using murine models of exercise. Finally, in collaboration with Lee Jones, PhD, MSc, Professor of Physiology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, she will identify the exosome cargo from patients undergoing controlled exercise programs responsible for the beneficial effects of exercise, that can represent the basis of novel preventive or therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Shipra Kaicker Promoted to Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

January 19, 2022

The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the promotion of Shipra Kaicker, MD to Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, effective January 1, 2022.

Dr. Shipra Kaicker earned her medical school degree (MBBS) from the University of Delhi, New Delhi India in 1991. She then completed her first pediatric residency at Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi in 1995. This was followed by a second pediatric residency in the U.S at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, New York Medical College, New York. Dr. Kaicker completed her Pediatric Hematology Oncology fellowship from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2003. Upon completion of her fellowship, Dr. Kaicker joined the Maimonides Infant’s and Children’s Hospital in Brooklyn, New York as an attending physician and full-time faculty, where she mentored and trained numerous pediatric residents and medical students.

Research Illuminates How Melanoma Readies Lymph Nodes for Tumor Spread

January 18, 2022

This article was originally posted on WCM Newsroom.

Melanoma cells release small extracellular packages containing the protein nerve growth factor receptor, which primes nearby lymph nodes for tumor metastases, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

The study results, published on Nov. 25 in Nature Cancer, may one day help doctors determine which patients need more aggressive treatment and could help with the development of new therapies, said senior author, Dr. David Lyden, the Stavros S. Niarchos Professor in Pediatric Cardiology and a professor of pediatrics and of cell and developmental biology at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Traditionally, scientists have had a tumor-centric view of melanoma in which cells from the tumor break off and travel to nearby lymph nodes, as cancer metastasizes. “What our study shows is that the lymph node functionally prepares for future metastases,” said Dr. Lyden, who is also a member of the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children’s Health and the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. “There are many changes taking place in the lymph node even before the tumor cell gets there. We call it a pre-metastatic lymph node.”

Dr. Adin Nelson Receives Department of Pediatrics 2022 Pilot Award

January 13, 2022

Congratulations to Adin Nelson, MD, MHPE, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, on receiving the Department of Pediatrics 2022 Pilot Award for his study, What Can One Practice Question a Day Do For Pediatrics Residents?

Dr. Nelson’s project is a national prospective study that will examine how answering daily multiple-choice practice questions can improve residents’ learning. There is a growing body of literature on the strategy of studying with review questions - called retrieval practice, but it’s never been tested on a large scale in the real world. Dr. Nelson is partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Pediatrics Program Directors to study this technique, making it one of the largest prospective studies ever done in medical education.