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Announcing New Pediatric Endocrine Fellow: Dr. Radig

Dr. Radig

Today we are thrilled to announce that Dr. Ashley Radig has joined our division as a new pediatric endocrine fellow. She will serve three years in this role, after which she will be a full-fledged, board-eligible pediatric endocrinologist. Dr. Radig received her Medical Doctorate degree from the University of Iowa having completed undergraduate studies at Central College where she was an athlete scholar. She just completed a three-year pediatric residency at the University of Iowa. She has a long standing interest in diabetes care and has volunteered multiple times at Diabetes Camp. In 2024, she was selected to join the PedsENDO Discovery Program administered by the Pediatric Endocrine Society. She has worked in various diabetes research programs for the past decade and has been working recently on methods to better deliver diabetes care to underserved populations. A warm welcome from all of us to Dr. Radig!!

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Dr. Palmer Completes Pediatric Endocrine Fellowship

Dr. Palmer

We are extremely proud of Dr. Ben Palmer. For the past 3 years, Dr. Palmer has been a pediatric endocrinology fellow in our program. Today he finishes this training and will officially become a “board eligible” pediatric endocrinologist. During these past three years, Dr. Palmer has been an exemplary fellow, delivering excellent clinical care and demonstrating exceptional clinical interpersonal skills and judgement. His contributions include being an enthusiastic volunteer at Diabetes Camp Hertko Hollow. While a fellow, he has been an energetic scholar, publishing two articles on how review of continuous glucose monitoring data at home impacts outcomes of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents. His most recent work in not yet published, but involves how exercise and athletic participation is impacted by type 1 diabetes in youth. Dr. Palmer will be taking a position as a Pediatric Endocrinology attending — stay tuned for more details! Congratulations Dr. Palmer on completing fellowship!!!

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Adrenal Insufficiency after Pediatric ICU

Dr. Radig

Children admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) often receive glucocorticoid steroids as part of their treatment. While these medications can be highly effective in managing critical illness, prolonged use may lead to adrenal insufficiency—a dangerous but treatable condition in which the body cannot produce adequate levels of cortisol. To better understand the risks, researchers reviewed the medical records of 530 pediatric patients who received steroids during their PICU stay. Among these patients, 2.3% were diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency. The study identified several key risk factors including the following: younger age, higher cumulative dose of steroids and the use of steroids specifically for treating excess inflammation. These findings aim to improve the identification of pediatric patients at risk for adrenal insufficiency following critical illness. The study has been published in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. The lead author, Dr. Radig, will soon join our Division as a pediatric endocrinology fellow. Also contributing to the the research was Dr. Curtis, also from our Division. The abstract is available on PubMed at the following link.

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Dr. Castano Leads Webinar for Medical Students

Dr. Castaño

On June 10th, Dr. Castano from our division lead a live, national, free Webinar for medical students across the country. The title of his webinar was “Growth and Puberty”. His purpose was to elevate the clinical knowledge of medical students on this important topic. The session was sponsored by the Pediatric Endocrine Society. Dr. Castano covered a range of important topics ranging from normal growth patterns in children and adolescent, to various medical disorders that disrupt puberty and growth. Thank you Dr. Castano for lending your expertise to help teach tomorrow’s physicians about these important topics.

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Long-Term Study Links Elevated Glucose Levels to Persistent Brain Changes in Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Dr. Tsalikian
Dr. Tansey

In 2018, faculty from our division participated in a multicenter, observational study that added to growing evidence linking elevated glucose levels in children with type 1 diabetes to changes in brain structure. While the initial findings highlighted these associations, they could not determine how such changes might evolve over time. Now, the research team—including Drs. Tsalikian and Tansey from our division—has completed a long-term follow-up of the original study participants. The results, recently published in the journal Diabetes, are available via PubMed (link here) in abstract form. The follow-up spanned 6 to 8 years and revealed that the previously observed brain differences largely persisted. Although the magnitude of some differences diminished slightly, higher average blood glucose levels continued to correlate with more pronounced structural changes. These findings reinforce the importance of maintaining tight glycemic control to potentially mitigate long-term neurological impacts. As the cohort transitions into adulthood, continued monitoring will be essential to fully understand the long-term implications of these early brain changes.

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Breakthrough T1D Fundraising Walk

Breakthrough T1D is a philanthropic, nonprofit organization that raises funds to support research aimed at curing, preventing, and better treating type 1 diabetes. Many of you may know the organization by its former name from before 2024, JDRF, the juvenile diabetes research foundation. On Saturday, May 10, Breakthrough T1D held its annual fundraising walk in Cedar Rapids. Our Division participated on the beautiful day by walking and by helping at informational booths. Our volunteers included: Dr. Pinnaro, Dr. Kanner; diabetes nurses Ashley, Haley and Haylee; and diabetes clinical trial research assistant Ashley. Thanks to everyone for their efforts and time on this important cause!

Haley, Ashley & Ashley at the 2025 Breakthrough T1D walk.
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The Importance of Champions for Specific Endocrine Focus Areas

The knowledge base about human disease is exploding, yet there is so much that remains to be discovered. As pace of knowledge discovery quickens, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the entire field of endocrinology. For this reason, endocrine faculty often have areas of focus – diseases for which they help champion the cause. The Pediatric Endocrine Society has recognized the importance of this by creating nationwide “Special Interest Groups” or “SIGs” for a variety of focus areas. The SIGs enable interested faculty from across the country to collectively share knowledge and research. Here we recognize some of our faculty for their service and involvement with these SIGs. Thank you each for your service.

  • Dr. Alexandrou: Serves on the Turner syndrome SIG, and is a member of their advocacy group. Earlier this spring. Dr. Alexandrou presented journal club on Diabetes in Turner syndrome for this SIG.
  • Dr. Curtis: Has served on the obesity SIG.
  • Dr. Kanner: Serves on the lipid disorder SIG, working on an educational toolkit for pediatric patients affected by lipid disorders and their families.
  • Dr. Pinnaro: Serves as the research liaison for the Turner syndrome SIG.
  • Dr. Ramakrishna: Serves as the co-chair of the Adrenal SIG, whereby she organizes webinars, quarterly meetings, and advocates for injectable rescue steroid medications to be stocked in ambulances. She also is a member of the DSD SIG.
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Dr. Pesce Serves as Content Expert for Ongoing Education of Endocrinologists

Dr. Pesce

Self-guided learning is an important method for physicians, including endocrinologists, to continually enhance their knowledge. This is especially vital after formal training ends, as it helps endocrinologists  keep up with their ever-evolving field. With this in mind, we are proud to acknowledge Dr. Pesce’s contributions that have developed self-study materials for pediatric endocrinologists. In collaboration with a handful of pediatric endocrinologists across the country,  she helped create the 2025-2026 Pediatric Endocrine Self-Assessment Program. In particular, she served as a content expert, especially for knowledge related to pediatric thyroid conditions. The specific publication is

  • Miller RS, Pesce LM, Bowden SA, Chan L, Dauber A, Demirci CS, Gourgari EA, Hawkes CP, McCormack S, Pittock S, Raman S, Sarafoglou K, Trapp C, Wasserman H, Wassner A. Pediatric ESAP 2025-2026: Pediatric Endocrine Self-Assessment Program.  Washington, DC: Endocrine Society.

Thank you Dr. Pesce!

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Dr. Pinnaro Elected to the Society for Pediatric Research

Dr. Catherina Pinnaro

The Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) was founded in 1929 and serves “to cultivate a diverse network of child health researchers through collaboration, community, mentorship, and advocacy“. Election to the SPR is selective, recognizing productive, independent, active researchers who are conducting hypothesis-driven research in a field related to pediatrics. We are thus proud to announce that our faculty Dr. Cat Pinnaro has been elected to the SPR, effective January 1st, 2024. Dr. Pinnaro received her medical training at New York Medical College. She then completed a pediatric residency followed by a pediatric endocrinology fellowship, both at the University of Iowa. During this time she was a trainee in both the Physician Scientist Training Program and the T32 diabetes research program and earned a Masters in Translational Biomedicine. She has developed an independent research program focused on identifying genetic modifiers that influence the manifestations of karyotypic disorders. She has contributed to the understanding of diabetes as a complication of Turner syndrome and has established expertise in researching the impact of insulin delivery technology. Dr. Pinnaro already has published 19 articles appearing in the PubMed database, despite being an early stage investigator. She successfully competed for an NIH K23 career development award. Additionally, she is an active clinical member of our pediatric endocrinology and diabetes program. Finally, she provides important service to the state and region by being the (volunteer) Medical Director for Hertko Hollow Diabetes Camp for children, located in central Iowa. Congratulations Dr. Pinnaro for this well earned honor of being elected to the SPR.

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Dr. Baum, Endocrinology Fellow, Receives National Rising Star Award

Dr. Kyle Baum

The Pediatric Endocrine Society is dedicated to advancing the treatment of children and adolescents with endocrine disorders. Part of its mission is to identify and support talented young physicians who show acumen for biomedical research. For this purpose, the Pediatric Endocrine Society has created a competitive “Rising Star Award”, which provides funds to support research being conducted by pediatric endocrine fellows. We are pleased to announce that our own 2nd year pediatric endocrine fellow, Dr. Kyle Baum, has been announced as the recipient of one of these competitive awards. The funded project is entitled “Role of FoxOs in muscle strength and mitochondrial function in response to GLP-1RA weight loss“. Congratulations Dr. Baum on this recognition and support.