Dr. Timothy Hand, associate professor of pediatrics and immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses his research into the vertical transmission of immunity from mothers to their infants through breast milk and the importance of maternal antibodies in preventing necrotizing enteritis in preemies.
May 27, 2025•24 min
George K. Gittes, MD, Benjamin R. Fisher Chair of Pediatric Surgery, chief of pediatric general and thoracic surgery, scientific co-director of research at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, discusses the Institute’s role in supporting research and academic work across Children’s Hospital.
Apr 29, 2025•17 min
Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, MCCM, distinguished professor of Critical Care Medicine, the Ake N. Grenvik professor and vice chair of Critical Care Medicine; director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research; and professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, discusses the future for studying and treating pediatric head trauma at the Safar Center.
Apr 15, 2025•20 min
Adelaide L. Eichman, MD, associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the Division of Child Advocacy and assistant medical director of the Allegheny County Child Healthy Evaluation and Coordination Services (CHECS) Program, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses how Child Advocacy Centers work and the future goals for broadening the scope of care within this critical specialty.
Mar 18, 2025•19 min
Megan Culler Freeman, MD, PhD, pediatric infectious disease physician at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, discusses her recent studies on acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) and enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), performed at The Freeman Laboratory, which she heads.
Feb 18, 2025•17 min
Matthew Ford, MS, CCC-SLP, clinical coordinator, Cleft-Craniofacial Center, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses the journey of new parents learning their child will have a cleft or birth anomaly. He describes the breadth of treatment options available for kids with craniofacial differences who remain patients of the center until adulthood.
Jan 21, 2025•18 min
Dr. Hoda Abdel-Hamid, director of the Pediatric Neuromuscular Program, Pediatric EMG Lab, and Pediatric MDA Clinic at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, discusses the care of children with chronic neuromuscular diseases and the coordination of subspecialists needed to treat them and their families.
Jan 07, 2025•22 min
Dr. Christopher Horvat, director of Health Informatics for Clinical Effectiveness at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and our hosts discuss the emergence of electronic health records (EHRs) and their potential to deliver efficiencies and equities in care. Dr. Horvat describes how evidence-based medicine has informed the training of new physicians and how clinical trials help evolve and create new standards of care.
Dec 24, 2024•26 min
Stephanie Colaberardino, director of Child Life Volunteer Services and Family Resource Center, and Alanna Kanawalsky, Child Life lead adaptive care team specialist, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, discuss the important role of child life specialists in the lives of hospitalized children. They describe the many unique offerings of UPMC Children’s Child Life, including the Dream Big TV Studio, Matt’s Maker Space, and STEAM programming.
Dec 10, 2024•25 min
Tim Shope, MD, professor of Pediatrics at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, has lived in many places, but common pediatric infections, including urinary tract infections (UTIs) are everywhere. His team created the UTICalc, available at uticalc.ptt.edu. This user-friendly tool prompts the clinician with five questions, providing an estimated risk of UTI to help reduce unnecessary catheterization and improve outcomes. Also, learn about Dr. Shope’s time with the U.S. Navy, and his famous fami...
Jul 22, 2024•23 min
When an infant is born, their first introduction is to a new immune system and new bacteria. Tim Hand, PhD, assistant professor with the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, takes samples from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, to look at how antibodies in a mother’s breast milk may shape the relationship between an infant and their microbiome. Listen in as Dr. Hand discusses the unique microbiome of premature infants, necrotizing e...
Jul 22, 2024•18 min
When our young patients are hurting, we can only guess what's causing their pain since they cannot speak for themselves. Rachel Berger, MD, chief of the Child Advocacy Center at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and her team want to ensure one possibility isn’t left off the table: a brain injury. Dr. Berger talks with hosts Stephanie Dewar, MD, and John Williams, MD, about a blood test to help physicians identify infants who may have bleeding of the brain as a result of abusive head trauma...
Jul 22, 2024•24 min
There are so many types of germs that cause illness, but so little we know about them. Terence Dermody, MD, physician-in-chief and scientific director at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, is motivated by the endless opportunities in Infectious Diseases to discover more about these little mysteries that affect our patients. Hosts Carolyn Coyne, PhD, and Brian Martin, DMD, ask Dr. Dermody about what drew him to Virology and Infectious Diseases and how he balances his research and clinical wo...
Jul 22, 2024•20 min
This special episode of That’s Pediatrics tackles a subject currently on the minds of pediatricians and parents alike: Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). This is a rare childhood neurological disorder that causes weakness in the arms or legs — sometimes even paralysis. John Williams, MD, our division chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, talks about the recent outbreak of AFM with enterovirus virologist Carolyn Coyne, PhD, and Brian Martin, DMD, VP of Medica...
Jul 22, 2024•21 min
When George Gittes, MD, and his research team came across an outcome they weren't expecting, Dr. Gittes’ surgical background helped identify an amazing discovery — using gene therapy to reverse autoimmune type I diabetes without immunosuppression. Hosts Stephanie Dewar, MD, and John Williams, MD, discuss the details of this fascinating study and more with Dr. Gittes. Dr. Gittes has recently been appointed the director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research and co-...
Jul 22, 2024•21 min
A family history, working with children, and a love of math motivated Radhika Muzumdar, MD, chief of Pediatric Endocrinology, to choose a career focused on diabetes. Her research and clinical care aim to meet the short- and long-term goals of treatment and management of diabetes. In this episode, Dr. Muzumdar covers her career beginning with her earlier work on growth hormones and IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1), to her upcoming studies on the hypothalamus and the humanin peptide. Other cur...
Jul 22, 2024•21 min
"That's Pediatrics" will explore the latest discoveries and innovations in pediatric medicine and research at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Learn about what to expect from “That’s Pediatrics” and meet two of the hosts, Stephanie Dewar, MD, and John Williams, MD.
Jul 22, 2024•5 min
In the late ’80s, a young George Mazariegos, MD, had a one-month rotation with transplant pioneer Thomas E. Starzl, MD. Today, he is chief of Pediatric Transplantation at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and director of Pediatric Transplantation at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. Our hosts cover all things pediatric liver transplantation in Pittsburgh: What conditions require a transplant, what our center has accomplished, growing our transplant network, improving care afte...
Jul 22, 2024•23 min
Can you name a disease where inflammation is not one of the major drivers? Scott Canna, MD, rheumatologist at UPMC Children’s Hospital and a Mellon Scholar with the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, asks our hosts this question and talks about modulating our immune system in both rare and common diseases. Dr. Canna has been actively researching ways to better understand and treat inflammatory disorders for over a decade.
Jul 22, 2024•24 min
The cells in our body work together as a system to help us function and Amanda Poholek, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Immunology, is interested in what happens when these cell interactions “go wrong” and result in diseases. Dr. Poholek discusses transcription factors, the proteins that help direct our genetic information, and the breakthrough technology of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS or NextGen), which provides rapid and accurate genome analysis.
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
Kathryn “Cassie” Torok, MD, director of the Pediatric Scleroderma Clinic at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, is one of the few doctors in the nation that is considered an expert on pediatric scleroderma and patients will travel from other cities to meet with her. Learn about this uncommon condition and the clinical work and research coming from the Pediatric Scleroderma Clinic.
Jul 22, 2024•24 min
In this special episode, learn all about measles, the most infectious human virus on the planet, and the recent outbreak in the U.S. Our two guests are Paul Duprex, PhD, director of Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and John Williams, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UPMC Children’s and fellow podcast host.
Jul 22, 2024•21 min
Michael Morowitz, MD, is an associate professor of Surgery and an attending physician in the Division of Pediatric and General Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Morowitz’s research focuses on Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), a mysterious disorder of intestinal inflammation in premature newborn infants. His lab studies the microbiome, the vast collection of microorganisms that cover our bodies, inside and out.
Jul 22, 2024•23 min
After six years of medical school in Romania, Mioara Manole, MD, came to the U.S. and discovered her passion for pediatric emergency medicine and the unique challenges it can bring. In addition to seeing patients in our emergency department, she is also the director of Basic and Translational Research in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Learn about Dr. Manole’s journey to emergency medicine and how her research translates to her clinical work, including the creation of the FLO2 Neur...
Jul 22, 2024•20 min
Alejandro Hoberman, MD, chief of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics and president of Children’s Community Pediatrics, has contributed research on urinary tract infections and acute otitis media, and in this episode, the focus is on the ears. He discusses the role of antibiotics, duration of treatment, resistance, adverse outcomes, allergies, and more. Dr. Hoberman also talks about the role that new technologies and multimedia tools play in treatment and discussions with parents.
Jul 22, 2024•22 min
Thomas Diacovo, MD, is chief of the UPMC Newborn Medicine Program and director of Neonatal Cardiovascular Research at the Heart Institute. Dr. Diacovo discusses how he became interested in Thrombosis research, his journey to Pittsburgh, and his research testing new drugs for neonatal intensive care patients, particularly those with congenital heart disease who are at high risk for forming blood clots. Dr. Diacovo also credits the parents of our patients for the success of his clinical trials.
Jul 22, 2024•21 min
A family’s access to specialty pediatric care can sometimes depend on their home address. Kristin Ray, MD, director of Health Systems Improvements with Children’s Community Pediatrics (CCP), and a Mellon Scholar with the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, aims to improve the pediatric health care delivery system to make quality care more readily available to all. Dr. Ray discusses two interventions that can help with these challenges, telemedicine and electronic con...
Jul 22, 2024•24 min
Bernhard Kühn, MD, is the director of research in Cardiology and an associate director for the Richard King Mellon Institute for Pediatric Research. The Kühn Lab focuses on cardiomyocytes and creating therapies that can help the heart muscle heal itself to recover from a heart attack or to help it restore a congenital heart defect to normal cardiac function without requiring surgery. He also reflects on the helpful collaboration with the cardiac surgery team here at UPMC Children’s Hospital of P...
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
Dr. DePas's lab is focused on developing a clear picture of the biogeography of infection sites, determining how the spatial structure impacts bacterial activity and interactions with host cells, and recapitulating important aspects of the infection environment in vitro in order to gain an in-depth understanding of cellular processes that are relevant to pathogenesis. To achieve these goals, they utilize MiPACT-HCR, a tissue-clearing and cellular visualization technique that allows for 3D imagin...
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
Dean Yimlamai, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and is trained as a clinical gastroenterologist. He specializes in gastroenterology with an interest in pediatric liver diseases and liver tumors. His research group uses mouse models to understand the fundamental mechanisms of liver growth during development, its restoration from injury and changes that lead to cancer. His group specializes in the Hippo Signaling Pathway, a relatively recently recognized ...
Jul 22, 2024•21 min
