That's Pediatrics

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.

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.

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 pediatr...

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 ca...

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.

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.

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.

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 crea...

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 Studi...

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 m...

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 catheterizat...

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 a...

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-l...

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...

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 abou...

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 he...

"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.

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...

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.

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 underst...

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.

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 N...

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.

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....

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 refle...