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
Dr. Paul Szabolcs trained at Semmelweis University School of Medicine in Budapest. He completed his residency at Bellevue Hospital/NYU Medical Center and was Chief Fellow at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Molecular Biology and at Rockefeller University in Physiology and Cellular Immunology. He has been Chief of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies division at the UPMC Children’s Hospital ...
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
Dr. Linda McAllister-Lucas is an NIH-funded physician-scientist who investigates how dysregulated intracellular signaling contributes to inflammatory disease and cancer. She co-directs a research laboratory with her husband Dr. Peter Lucas, a member of the faculty in the Department of Pathology. Their joint Lucas / McAllister Laboratory comprises ten scientists at varying stages of training. Learn more about Dr. McAllister’s research.
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
The central focus of the Kane Lab is understanding the genetic and immunological basis for protective antiviral immune responses, as well as the molecular details underlying the direct inhibition of retroviral replication by restriction factors. Dr. Kane’s lab utilizes both in vitro and in vivo tools to investigate intrinsic, innate, and adaptive immune responses to retroviral infection. The research is centered around three questions: What allows some individuals to restrict or control retrovir...
Jul 22, 2024•17 min
Liza Konnikova, MD, PhD, FAAP, is a neonatologist at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and an assistant professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Developmental Biology and Immunology in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Her lab focuses on the develop of neonatal immunity at mucosal surfaces and its role in the pathogenesis of diverse diseases such as sepsis, preterm labor, necrotizing enterocolitis, and very-early onset IBD (VEO-IBD). She has pioneered the application of ma...
Jul 22, 2024•18 min
Dr. Nischal joined UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh as chief of the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Strabismus, and Adult Motility in 2011. He directs pediatric program development at the UPMC Eye Center and is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Nischal has pioneered the use of new surgical techniques, previously used only in adults, in children with corneal disorders. He is one of the world’s foremost pediatric eye specialists and an ...
Jul 22, 2024•25 min
John Alcorn, PhD is a scientist at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and an associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The Alcorn lab is focused on T cell immunity, host defense, epithelial cell biology, and lung physiology. A primary lab focus is on Influenza infection and the host defense mechanisms of T helper 17 cells. His lab has recently shown that the TH17 effector cytokines IL-17 and IL-22 are required for host defense against a variety of extracellular ...
Jul 22, 2024•23 min
Dr. Bailey is a pediatric oncologist with an interest in pediatric sarcomas. She is also a physician-scientist in the Lucas/ McAllister Lab in the Rangos Research Center of the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Currently, Dr. Bailey's research focus is on Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone malignancy in children.
Jul 22, 2024•16 min
Dr. Panigrahy is board certified in both Pediatric Radiology and Neuroradiology. He is a Professor of Radiology, Radiologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Imaging Research at UPMC. He has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2009 including both a K23 and current multi-center Ro1. He also has active funding from the Department of Defense, Society for Pediatric Radiology and private foundations. Dr. Panigrahy’s research focuses on a...
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
Lots of people have a personal connection to their work and Kishore Vellody, MD, medical director of the Down Syndrome Center, credits his motivation to his older brother, who has Down syndrome. Dr. Vellody discusses his career, the thriving Down syndrome community in Pittsburgh, and starting his own podcast, the Down Syndrome Center of Western Pennsylvania podcast. The National Down Syndrome Convention will be held in Pittsburgh at the end of June.
Jul 22, 2024•19 min
Dr. Daniel Weiner is the Medical Director at the Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Co-Director at The Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Cystic Fibrosis Center and Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Andrew Feranchak is the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Learn about their research on Cystic Fibrosis
Jul 22, 2024•18 min
Sylvia Owusu-Ansah MD, MPH, FAAP is a board-certified pediatrician, pediatric emergency medicine, and emergency medical services (EMS) physician who is currently an attending at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Director of Pre-hospital and EMS. Dr. Owusu-Ansah has been extremely involved in pediatric advocacy and education of EMS providers at all levels, locally, regionally and nationally. She currently sits on the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Advocacy and EMS Committees with the Ameri...
Jul 22, 2024•17 min
Dr. Andrew Nowalk is Associate Professor and Clinical Director in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics, both at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.He maintains a clinical practice and an active research program in Lyme disease, examining the epidemic of Lyme disease in Western Pennsylvania and searching to improve treatment and testing for pediatric Lyme disease cases. In addition to his research interests, Dr...
Jul 22, 2024•23 min
Carlton Bates, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, has been caring for children with pediatric kidney disease for many years, but he often finds another organ on his mind: the bladder and the role it plays in the health of a kidney. Dr. Bates discusses his well-recognized research program in Pittsburgh focused on the genetic regulation of kidney and bladder development.
Jul 22, 2024•25 min
Dr. McElroy's research interests include studying the interactions that occur between the host immune system and emerging viral pathogens. To do this, animal model systems, clinical specimens from cases of human disease, and in vitro models are used. Previous work has focused on the Hantaviruses, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, and Ebola virus. Current studies are utilizing the mouse model to elucidate the role of T cells in immunity to RVFV.
Jul 22, 2024•17 min
The Silva Lab studies chikungunya virus, a reemerging arbovirus that has recently caused explosive epidemics of febrile arthritis throughout many parts of the world. Dr. Silva’s research interests are focused on virus-host interactions that dictate chikungunya virus entry, tropism, replication compartment formation, and pathogenesis. By understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern viral and host determinants of viral replication, Dr. Silva aims to contribute to a better understanding of ac...
Jul 19, 2024•19 min
Dr. Chong is the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Immunology. At the Center for Rare Disease Therapy at UPMC Children’s, Dr. Chong’s role often involves evaluating patients with immune disorders to determine whether they are candidates for a bone marrow transplant.
Jul 19, 2024•21 min
Dr. Allyson Larkin is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and is part of the Allergy and Immunology Division here at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She joined the Department of Pediatrics in July of 2011 after completing her fellowship program here at Children’s. She currently serves as the Fellowship Program Director, the Co-Director of the Difficult to Treat Asthma Clinic and the Course Director for medical students and resident allergy and immunology rotations.
Jul 19, 2024•21 min
