Posted on

Last Day for Dr. Sandberg

Dr. Sandberg

Today we are saddened to say goodbye to our colleague Dr. Beth Sandberg. She has been a stalwart colleague for the past year, providing compassionate and expert pediatric endocrine care. Dr. Sandberg joined our division last summer having just completed a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at the University of North Carolina. While here, she provided general endocrine care, including outreach services in Cedar Falls, and gender-related endocrine care. The Pediatric Endocrine Society recognized her expertise and commitment by placing her as a national special interest group co-leader this year. After leaving Iowa, she will be taking a position in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Michigan / Mott’s Children’s Hospital. We send our best wishes to Dr. Sandberg for her move and new position.

Posted on

Guest Lecturer – David Breault MD PhD

David Breault, MD PhD

We were graced today by a research talk from David Breault, MD PhD. Dr. Breault is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical school and is the Associate Chief of the Division of Endocrinology at Boston Children’s Hospital. He spoke at our Frontiers in Pediatric Research seminar series manged by the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Breault is an expert in the study of stem cells and lineage development, especially as relates to endocrine system. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Connecticut, completed pediatric residency at Yale, and a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is a physician scientist and directs a stem cell research laboratory funded by the NIH. His research has earned several prestigious awards including the election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers receive at the White House. Dr. Breault spoke today on stem cell lineage development in the intestine and endocrine system.

Posted on

Watching the Brain Remember: Differences Between Children with and without Type 1 Diabetes

“With the advent of techniques to strengthen brain regions, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, it is possible that this type of research will help delineate important future interventions.” –Andrew Norris

Dr. Tansey

Dr. Tansey and collaborators across the country have been studying brain function in children with and without type 1 diabetes. In a study published today (link) in the prestigious journal Diabetes, they report important differences between these two groups. They used functional magnetic imaging resonance (fMRI) to measure activation in various brain locations while the children were given memory tasks. Compared to children without diabetes, those with type 1 diabetes exhibited decreased memory performance relative to children without diabetes. Interestingly the children with type 1 diabetes showed greater increases in brain activation with harder tasks than those without diabetes, suggesting that their brains were working harder to compensate. More research is needed to understand how these effects of diabetes occur and how they might be modulated. With the recent advent of techniques to strengthen brain regions, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, it is possible that this type of research will help delineate important future interventions. Also involved in the study from our Division were Dr. Tsalikian, Julie Coffey, Joanne Cabbage, Sara Salamati, and Rachel Bisbee.

Posted on

Off To College Class to be held July 15, 2020, 5-6 pm

Dr. Kanner

Save The Date! Dr. Lauren Kanner has announced that she will host our annual Off To College Class on July 15, 2020 at 5-6 pm. In past years, the class has been held in person, but this year will be held via Zoom. Students, parents, future roommates, and any others interested are welcomed to attend. If you are interested, contact us, either through the email link at the bottom of Dr. Kanner’s webpage (link) or by contacting our diabetes nursing team.

Posted on

Dr. Pinnaro Nominated for an Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award

Dr. Pinnaro

We have just received word that Dr. Pinnaro was nominated for a 2020 Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award. Less than 5% of the 800 resident and fellow physicians at our institution were nominated for this award. Her nomination letter included examples of her superlative clinical teaching skills, including this snippet: “Dr. Cat Pinnaro has demonstrated consistent commitment to and talent for clinical teaching during her three years as an endocrine fellow. She identifies teachable opportunities at every possible juncture, is able to frame teaching points in a creative manner that makes complex concepts accessible“. None of us in the division are surprised at her nomination, as we have witnessed her clinical teaching efforts for the past three years. Congratulations Dr. Pinnaro on a job well done!

Posted on

Endocrinology and Sports Medicine

Dr. Curtis

On April 24th and May 1st, Dr. Vanessa Curtis provided talks on endocrine sports topics to a national audience. Her talks were coordinated by the America Medical Society for Sports Medicine. Her national audience exceeded 100 sports medicine fellows. In particular, her talk on May 1 on “Testosterone, sex, and gender in sports“, given in collaboration with Dr. Britt Marcussen, drew considerable attention. The title slides from her talks are shown below. In the clinic, Dr. Curtis’s provides her expert knowledge in the care of hormonal issues in student athletes. We would be remiss not to mention that Dr. Curtis is an accomplished athlete herself, including podiums placement in bicycle criterium/related races. We are fortunate to have her expertise and experience on our faculty and in our clinics.

Posted on

Dr. Pinnaro’s New Research Findings Regarding Glycemic Responses in Turner Syndrome

Dr. Pinnaro

There appears to be an increased risk of developing diabetes for persons with Turner syndrome. The exact reasons for this are enigmatic, as there have been very few studies. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to know how best to screen for and help prevent diabetes in this population. To help address this, pediatric endocrine fellow Dr. Pinnaro has initiated a study of blood levels levels in persons with Turner syndrome who do not have diabetes. The initial results from this study suggest a greater degree of atypical glucose levels in those with Turner syndrome as compared to controls. This past weekend, Dr. Pinnaro would have presented these initial results at the national Pediatric Endocrine Society meeting in Texas (cancelled due to COVID-19). Her faculty mentors for this study were Drs. Katie Larson Ode and Andrew Norris.

Posted on

Thyroid Eye Disease can Accompany Hypothyroidism

  • Dr. Tuttle
  • Dr. Pesce

We most commonly associate thyroid eye disease as occurring in the context of Graves disease. However, the same immunologic processes that drive Graves thyroid eye disease can also occur in the context of hypothyroidism. Dr. Alex Tuttle woudl have just presented such a case this weekend at the annual Pediatric Endocrine Society meeting originally planned to occur in Texas. His presentation was entitled: “Active Thyroid Eye Disease in a Pediatric Patient with Hypothyroidism”. This serves as a reminder that it is important for even otherwise routine cases of hypothyroidism to receive expert care. Dr. Tuttle is completing his pediatric residency at the University of Iowa this year. We are thrilled that on July 1 he will join our division as a pediatric endocrine fellow. On this case report, he was mentored by pediatric thyroid expert Dr. Liuska Pesce.

Posted on

Dr. Larson Ode to Direct Clinical Research Core

Dr. Larson Ode

Dr. Katie Larson Ode has been named director of the Clinical Core component of the University of Iowa’s Center for Gene Therapy of Cystic Fibrosis. The NIH grant funding for this project was just renewed. Her core will support maintenance and growth of a Cystic Fibrosis biobank which will obtain/provide clinical samples from/to researchers in cystic fibrosis for translational projects. Congratulations to Dr. Larson Ode on your excellent work.

Posted on

Dr. Kanner to Co-chair Planning Workshops for an Upcoming National Meeting Focused on Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology

Dr. Kanner

By invitation, Dr. Lauren Kanner has been installed as the Workshops Co-Chair on the Program Committee for the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) 2021 Annual Clinical & Research Meeting. In this role, she will help plan and set the agenda for the workshops to occur at this national meeting. She also is now the pediatric endocrine liason for the Fellow Research Consortium of NASPAG. She remains a member of the NASPAG education committee, a role she has maintained since April 2018. Thanks to Dr. Kanner for her hard work in this important area.