Posted on

Division Faculty Featured in EatingWell

Dr. Curtis

We are proud to share that Dr. Curtis, a member of our division’s faculty, was recently interviewed for an online feature published by EatingWell. The article, “What Happens to Your Blood Sugar When You Walk Every Day,” highlights the health impact of daily physical activity and draws on Dr. Curtis’s expert insight into blood sugar regulation and metabolic health. Dr. Curtis noted the many benefits of walking, including lower blood sugar, improved insulin sensitivity, and lower stress hormones. We are glad that Dr. Curtis contributed her expertise to this nationally visible article, which highlights her leadership in this important area of health and wellness. This feature not only reflects Dr. Curtis’s individual accomplishments, but also showcases the strength of scholarship and clinical knowledge within our division. You can view the article at this link.

Posted on

Great Nurses in Iowa – 2026

We are delighted to share that Amy Sheehan, BSN, RN, CDCES, has been honored as one of Iowa’s 100 Great Nurses. Our division is extraordinarily fortunate to have Amy leading our diabetes educator nursing team.

Amy brings leadership with heart—pairing deep clinical expertise with unwavering compassion for children living with diabetes. She is a steadfast advocate for patients and families, consistently going above and beyond to ensure they feel supported, informed, and empowered.

Her leadership is grounded in service, integrity, and genuine care. Amy guides our wonderful team of dedicated nurses through the complex and vital work of pediatric diabetes education, fostering an environment where excellence and empathy thrive.

Please join us in celebrating Amy for this well‑deserved recognition. Her impact on our patients, families, and team is immeasurable.

The list of 100 nurses can be found here: https://greatiowanurses.org/2026-great-iowa-nurses/ .

Posted on

Safety of One Year’s Treatment with Inhaled Insulin in Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Dr. Tansey

Our division has contribution to a clinical study recently published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics : “Inhaled Technosphere Insulin in Children with Diabetes: The INHALE-1 Extension Study.” One of our Division physicians, Dr. Tansey, served as a co-author on this important research. This paper describes an extension phase to the INHALE-1 trial to better examine long-term safety of an inhaled form of insulin. The results from the first 26-week phase of trial were published several months ago. Inhaled insulin demonstrated similar glucose levels to conventional therapy with injected insulin but greater treatment satisfaction. The extension phase of the trial allowed participants the option to continue inhaled insulin for another 26 weeks to further evaluate safety. Even after one year’s treatment, there were no serious pulmonary complications among the participants. There was a small increase in hemoglobin A1c from week 26 to week 52 (from 8.2 to 8.6%). The manuscript abstract is available on Pubmed. The results show the potential safety of inhaled insulin for children with type 1 diabetes. We especially wish to thank the research coordinators, research participants and their families who made this study possible.

Posted on

Developing a New Pediatric Healthy Weight Clinic

Dr. Castaño

Obesity is a prevalent health risk, even among children and adolescents. Several faculty at the University of Iowa are working to help address this issue by creating a new pediatric healthy weight clinic. The faculty involved represent several areas of pediatrics, including endocrinology, gastroenterology, and general pediatrics. The goal is to create a multidisciplinary medical home for children and adolescents who have struggled to maintain a healthy weight. Together, the involved physicians crafted a vision and proposal for the clinic, which has now received startup funding by being selected as a High Impact Proposal in an internal competitive application process. The Pediatric Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes is proud to be represented in this endeavor by Dr. Gabo Castano who helped craft the proposal and will lend his obesity-care expertise to the project.

Posted on

Patient Choice Award Recipients – 2025

We are pleased to report that 5 of the pediatric endocrinology providers in our division have received Patient Choice Awards. These awards are given out by UI Health Care to recognize physicians for consistently providing patients with an excellent healthcare experience with ratings in the top 10% nationally. The recipient physicians were:

Dr. Pesce honored for 5 years of Patient Choice Awards. Here she is joined by her husband who also received a Patient Choice award.
  • Vanessa Curtis, MD
  • Katie Larson Ode, MD
  • Liuska Pesce, MD
  • Akhila Ramakrishna, MD
  • Julie Osterhaus, ARNP

Dr. Pesce was furthermore recognized for having received the award for 5 consecutive years.

The Choice Award was earned by only 276 outpatient providers across the entire institution. The Award recognizes those who scored in the top 10% nationally in response to patient surveys asking whether the physician showed concern for patient questions or worries, gave explanations about problem or condition, made efforts to include the patient in care decisions, discussed proposed treatments (options, risks, benefits, etc), and whether they would be likely to recommend the care provider to others. Our division is fortunate to have these Award winning physicians on our team. We thank each of them for their wonderful work.

Posted on

Balancing Confidentiality and Care: Dr. Kanner Helps Shape Guidelines

Dr. Kanner

We are proud to share that Dr. Kanner has helped author an important new publication in the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (December 2025 issue). The manuscript, titled “NASPAG Clinical Consensus on Adolescent Pregnancy Testing: Balancing Confidentiality, Consent, and Disclosure” addresses a critical aspect of adolescent reproductive health care.

This consensus document, developed by members of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG), provides clinicians with a framework for counseling adolescent patients who present with a positive pregnancy test. It explores the legal, ethical, and clinical considerations involved in guiding patients through the testing process, including strategies for ordering tests, disclosing results, and managing care when a pregnancy is confirmed. The review emphasizes the importance of individualized, patient-centered approaches, mindful of varying clinical, institutional, and legal scenarios. The abstract for this publication is available on PubMed at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41371579/. This work represents a significant contribution to the important ongoing dialogues about adolescent health care. We thank Dr. Kanner for her efforts relating to this challenging topic.

Posted on

Drs. Castano & Palmer Pass Boards!

Dr. Palmer
Dr. Castaño

It takes years of training to become a pediatric endocrinologist, requiring at least a decade of studies after college. You could consider this to be the equivalent of completing the “26th grade”. The final step is to pass the Pediatric Endocrinology board exam. We are pleased to report that the two newest doctors in our Division have just passed their Board Exam. Congratulations to Dr. Castano and Dr. Palmer for becoming Board Certified Pediatric Endocrinologists. Their years of hard work and study have enabled them to become fully qualified to diagnose and treat pediatric endocrine conditions.

Posted on

Muscle “Recycling Centers” Helps Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Dr. Norris

A group of researchers have identified a key protein complex in muscle cells that regulates the body’s response to nutrients and helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels. The researchers focused on the role of this complex, known as LRRC8, in muscle lysosomes. Lysosomes are tiny compartments inside cells that act like recycling centers. The researchers found that lysosomal LRRC8 plays a critical role in governing cellular growth and metabolism. When LRRC8 was disrupted in lab-grown muscle cells, lysosomal function was impaired, weakening how muscle cells responded to nutrients and to insulin. Furthermore, mice lacking lysosomal LRRC8 developed increased body fat, insulin resistance, and poor glucose tolerance — conditions closely linked to type 2 diabetes. This research uncovers a previously unknown connection between LRRC8 lysosomal function in muscle cells and whole-body metabolic health, opening new avenues for understanding and potentially treating metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Dr. Norris from our division was part of the research team and is a co-author on the manuscript. The peer-reviewed findings are published in Science Advances under the title: “Lysosomal LRRC8 complex impacts lysosomal pH, morphology, and systemic glucose metabolism.” The abstract is available on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41004571/.