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The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP) has invited Smita Bhatia, M.D., MPH, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, to participate in the BRP Working Group on Pediatric Cancer. Through participation, Dr. Bhatia will be filling an essential role in advising the Institute and the National Cancer Moonshot. 
 
In late January 2016, President Barack Obama announced the establishment of the National Cancer Moonshot initiative, led by Vice President Joe Biden. The initiative aims to accelerate current cancer research efforts and break down barriers to progress, making more therapies available to more patients, while also improving the ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage.
 
The National Cancer Institute has assembled a Blue Ribbon Panel, a working group of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) that is charged with providing expert advice on the vision, proposed scientific goals, and implementation of the National Cancer Moonshot. The BRP will consider how to best advance the themes proposed for the Moonshot, including an intensive examination of the opportunities and impediments in cancer research. For more information, please click here. The findings and recommendations of the BRP and its Working Groups will be reported to the NCAB later this summer. Ultimately, the NCAB will use the BRP’s findings and recommendations to provide final recommendations to the NCI Director. Congratulations to Dr. Bhatia on this great honor!

In the  UAB Magazine cover story, "The Meaning of Life: Palliative Care Makes Every Moment Count," read about Ashley Nichols, M.D., assistant professor in Internal Medicine & Pediatrics, specializing in Palliative Care at both UAB and Children's of Alabama. 

Dr. Nichols is the Medical Director of UAB's 12-bed Palliative and Comfort Care Unit. Palliative care helps patients get the most out of life, whether they’re newly diagnosed, a survivor, or nearing the end of their journey. UAB’s palliative care pioneers provide a fresh look at the fast-growing specialty and its emphasis on listening, choices, patient goals, and quality of life.
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From among only 60 physicians selected in the United States, four physicians from the UAB School of Medicine have been named to the prestigious Association of American Physicians. Among those inducted are pediatric faculty members: Smita Bhatia, M.D., professor and vice chair for Outcomes in the Department of Pediatrics and director of the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and William Britt, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics. The other two faculty members from UAB are Ravi Bhatia, M.D., and Victor Thannickal, M.D.
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An observational study of pregnant women in Brazil to further understand Zika virus and its impact on reproductive health and fetus development has been launched. William Britt, M.D., professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, leads the study, which complements his current research in Brazil on cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy. CMV infection can lead to hearing and vision impairment in babies. Suresh Boppana, M.D., and Karen Fowler, M.D., professors in the UAB Department of Pediatrics, are co-investigators on this project.
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You're invited to attend our Town Hall Meeting with Community Leaders! Learn more about Poverty Status, Education, Health Equity in Children and Adolescents with potential solutions to address these issues. This event is free and open to the public. No registration or tickets required. This two-day, mini-conference is sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics Leonard P. Rome CATCH Visiting Professorship.

Panelist Include: 
Frank Franklin, MD, MPH, PhD,  Professor Emeritus of UAB School of Public Health
John Stone, MBA, Manager of the Community Action Arm of Children's of Alabama
Kristina Scott, JD, Executive Director of Alabama Possible
Michael Ramsey, MD, Immediate Past President of Alabama Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics
Randall Woodfin, JD, Immediate Past President of Birmingham Public School’s Board of Education
Veda Johnson, MD, Director of Partners for Equity in Child & Adolescent Health at Emory University School of Medicine

To view the agenda, click here. 
To view the flyer for the Town Hall Meeting, click here. 
For more information contact Dr. Jaime McKinney.

Veronica Sanchez, PhD, Pediatric Infectious Disease, received an appointment as Associate Scientist in the Neuro-Oncology Program effective April 1, 2016. Congratulations to Dr. Sanchez on joining theUAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Colm Travers, M.D., Neonatology Fellow, was selected to join the Health Services, Outcomes, and Effectiveness Research (HSOER) T32 Fellowship Program effective July 1, 2016. In addition to a National Research Service Award (NRSA) stipend, the fellowship award also includes tuition and fees for additional didactic training, a travel stipend, and additional funds for research training related expenses. Congratulations!

Bill Britt, M.D., Pediatric Infectious Disease, received a National Institute of Health RO1 award for his study, "HCMV miRNA Regulation of Secretion and Formation of the Viral Assembly Compartment" in the amount of $779,109 per year through 2021. This award includes funds awarded for subrecipient activity with Oregon Health and Science University.

Click here to read the story in an ongoing series highlighting the 2015 Dean's Excellence Award winners.

From an early age Michele Nichols valued the privilege of education. A single mother raising two daughters, Nichols’ mother instilled one thing in her children: consider education a privilege, not an entitlement. These words still resonate with Nichols as she has dedicated nearly her entire career with the UAB Department of Pediatrics and Children’s of Alabama as not only an educator, but a leader in educating the generations of future pediatricians.... Continue reading here 

“Service is the foundation of our life, our people, our community. Service is what connects you to the next person. Service should be the core of everything we do.”

Michele Kong, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Children's of Alabama, cofounded Kulturecity with her husband in 2013 after their oldest son was diagnosed with autism. The nonprofit works to create a network for families with autism and to change the way the disorder is viewed in society.

Dr. Kong was recognized for her work in the community as a winner in the 2015 Dean's Excellence Awards, established to recognize outstanding contributions made by faculty across the School of Medicine. She was also recently selected by the UAB Commission on the Status of Women to receive the Outstanding Woman in the Community Award. Clickhere to read the story in an ongoing series highlighting the 2015 Dean's Excellence Award winners. Nominations for this year's awards are due today, April 1, 2016  by 11:59 p.m. to Heather McGuire. Click here for details. 

The UAB Department of Pediatrics recently received the competitive renewal for a National Institutes of Health grant, for which Wally Carlo, M.D., division director of Neonatology, is the principal investigator. This marks the fifth consecutive successful five-year cycle of the grant titled, "Cooperative Multi-center Neonatal Research Network-UAB," in the amount of $277,607 per year through 2020.

Due to a generous donation from the Chu family to support educational initiatives, a portion has been set aside for Pediatric Fellows. Applications remain open for the Chu Family Educational Scholarship for the Fall of 2016. There will be three scholarships given for the Fall 2016. Please see memo for details. 

Candidates are selected on a competitive basis and selection is made upon a Review Committee’s analysis of the written application. For the academic year starting in July 2016, three candidates will receive a $5,000 scholarship for their chosen educational endeavor. 

Should you have any questions, please contact Ronda Chandler or Dr. Ann Klasner. Applications should be emailed to or delivered to Ronda Chandler in the Sergio Stagno Center, 4th Floor Dearth Tower, no later than Monday, April 11, 2016.
 
Scholarship recipients will be announced in late May/early June.

Have you marked your calendar? The Spring Benevolent Fund Food Truck Festival is next Friday, April 8 outside of WIC in Limbaugh Park from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. See you there!

The 2016 Benevolent Fund Campaign runs April 1 - 30. 
Make your continuous or one-time pledge online today to support fellowemployees with emergency needs andoutreach in the community.

The first annual Pediatric Science Day was held on March 17, 2016 in the Bradley Conference Center. The organizers are pleased to announce the day was a huge success! Twenty pediatric presentations were showcased including presentations by 12 pediatric fellows, six pediatric residents, one post doc in psychology and one medical student. Additionally, eight posters were presented, five by pediatric fellows, one by a chief resident, one by a nutrition graduate student and one by a research associate. We were thrilled that Dr. Paul Spearman, Vice Chair of Research from Emory University was able to join us as the featured Grand Rounds speaker. He was an integral active participant during both the platform and poster sessions, and gave a very informative grand rounds presentation. Three fellows were highlighted with best abstracts in their section: Dr. Eric Ring and Dr. Jenny McDaniel, first and second year fellows from Hematology/Oncology, and Dr. Johanna Hall, third year fellow from Emergency Medicine. The day was even more complete as close to 70 faculty members took time to enjoy the presentations during the day. Special thanks to the six faculty who took time to review the abstracts: Drs. Tofil, Wu, Walley, Lebensburger, Whitley and McCormick.

Weily Soong, M.D., and Joe LaRussa, M.D., both longstanding members of the Allergy and Immunology teaching faculty in the Allergy and Immunology fellowship program, have been promoted to Clinical Associate Professor. Drs. Soong and LaRussa provide teaching for fellows as well as medicine and pediatric residents and medical students at their private practices in Birmingham.

More than 200 million children age 5 and under do not reach their developmental potential due to poverty, malnutrition, poor health and un-stimulating home environments, according to Fred Biasini, Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology. The majority of these children live in South Asia or sub-Saharan Africa.

Biasini and Wally Carlo, M.D., division director of UAB Neonatology, are co-authors of a multicountry study that shows home-based interventions that teach parents to engage children in interactive, developmentally appropriate learning activities during the first three years help erase this gap. Biasini led the team of developmental assessors, while Carlo was the principal investigator.

To continue reading the press release, click here.

Matthew S. Alexander, PhD, Pediatric Neurology, has organized a Children's team for the upcoming Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Muscle Walk of Birmingham. The walk is Saturday, April 23 at Tannehill State Park at 10 a.m. If attending, be sure to wear either Children's, UAB or MDA gear! This is a great way to interact with patients and their families.

Click here to donate or join Dr. Alexander's team. 

If you have any questions or want to get involved, email Dr. Alexander.

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) will broadcast  “Smoke and Mirrors: Electronic Cigarettes and Child Health” on Thursday, April 28 at noon - 2 p.m. Susan Walley, M.D., Pediatric Hospital Medicine, will be the lead speaker. The second speaker is Ann Slattery, managing director for the Regional Poison Control Center at Children's. 
 
Register on the ADPH website and test their computer for compatibility.

Children’s of Alabama and the UAB Department of Pediatrics recently received a grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) with the goal of protecting Alabama youth from secondhand smoke exposure, tobacco use and initiation, with a particular focus on electronic cigarettes.

Susan Walley, M.D., Pediatric Hospital Medicine, received the $80,000 grant from the ADPH’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Department and it will be utilized to collect data on youth tobacco use in the Birmingham metro area. Data will be used to promote policies that protect youth from tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure. The grant will also provide education to middle and high school students in the Birmingham City Schools and other area schools on the health risks of tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure. View the Children's press release. View the UAB News press release.

Children’s of Alabama was recognized by the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) with a Pediatric Quality Award for waste reduction and improved efficiency.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and orthopedic group at Children’s worked together to standardize care for adolescent spinal fusion patients. The new processes give families an opportunity to participate in care and understand expectations prior to PICU admission. The results were shorter hospital stays for these patients and their families, as well as a cost savings of more than $800,000.

For more information, view the press release.