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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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Benefits of Blood-sugar Self-Review in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Dr. Catherina Pinnaro

Dr. Catherina Pinnaro and her research team have now published a second report indicating benefits to reviewing diabetes device blood sugar data. The article is entitled “Adolescent-Initiated Retrospective Glucose Data Review is Associated With Improved Glycemia in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus”, and was just published as a peer reviewed research article in Pediatric Diabetes (pubmed Link; free fulltext Link). This paper expands upon her group’s prior related paper (previously reviewed in this blog here). Whereas the prior paper studied whether blood sugar levels improved when family-members reviewed their child’s blood sugar data, the current paper examines the impact when the child/adolescent reviews their own data. Importantly, blood sugar levels were significantly improved in those adolescents who reviewed their own blood glucose data. Co-authors on the work from our division included Drs. Palmer, Norris, and Tansey.

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Pediatric Research Day 2025

The 2025 Pediatric Research Day was held on the afternoon of April 11th, highlighting eight speakers, a “data blitz”, and a poster session. Our Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes was well represented. Two of our fellows had their abstracts selected for one of four speaker slots. Additionally, our faculty contributed to several poster abstracts. The fellow talks were as follows: Dr. Kyle Baum: “Impact of the incretin, retatrutide, on weight loss, lean body mass, and muscle physiology in mice”. Dr. Benjamin Palmer: “Assessing Sports Participation and Associated Barriers in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus”

Senior Fellow Dr. Palmer speaking at Research Day.
Fellow Dr. Baum speaking at Research Day.
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Our Division’s Scholarship Well Represented at National Pediatric Endocrine Society Meeting

Dr. Eirene Alexandrou
Dr. Palmer
Dr. Catherina Pinnaro
Dr. Akhila Ramakrishna

Each year, pediatric endocrinologists from around the world attend the “PES Annual Meeting”, hosted by the Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES). The mission of the PES is primarily to “advance and promote the endocrine health and well being of children and adolescents“.  This year, several Division members submitted abstracts describing new research and advances for review by the PES. The following were selected for presentation at this years PES meeting, which was just held May 2-5 in Chicago.

  • Dr. Eirene Alexandrou: “Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Therapy in Patients Undergoing Dialysis – A Cautionary Tale!” – selected for a poster presentation. Co-author from our division on this work is Dr. Akhila Ramakrishna.
  • Dr. Ben Palmer: “Adolescent-driven Retrospective Glucose Data Self-Review is Associated with Improved Glycemic Control in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.” – selected for a poster presentation. Co-authors from our division on this work are Dr. Catherina Pinnaro, Dr, Andrew Norris, and Dr. Michael Tansey.
  • Dr. Catherina Pinnaro: “Influence of X Chromosome Parent-of-origin on Glycemia in Individuals with Turner syndrome” – selected for an prestigious oral presentation. Co-author from our division on this work is Dr. Andrew Norris.
  • Dr. Akhila Ramakrishna: “A rare case of a female with 47 XXY ovo-testicular DSD.” – selected for an prestigious oral presentation.

Congratulations to all for helping advance the field of Pediatric Endocrinology.

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Diabetes Camp Hertko Hollow 2023 – Wonderful Summer Sessions

Some of the volunteer staff at Camp Hertko Hollow, 2023 (L-R): Drs. Lindower, Tansey, Palmer, Radig, Pinnaro, and Parra Villasmil.

Diabetes Camps are a summer highlight for many kids who live with diabetes. Camp represents a chance to experience outdoor fun, make new friends who understand what it is like to have diabetes and learn more about diabetes self-care, all while under the watchful eye of diabetes-knowledgeable camp counselors and staff. Several of the staff in our Division help support Camp Hertko Hollow (click for link), a diabetes camp in central Iowa with access to 400 acres of forest / outdoor recreation space. Dr. Pinnaro and Dr. Tansey serve to provide medical direction for the camp, and diabetes nurse Susan Huff has long volunteered to support the camp. Kids Week (ages 8-12) ran June 25-July 1 and Teen Week (ages 13-17) ran July 3-9. Also see the Camp website (link above) for details about Mini Camp and Family Camp opportunities. The doctors and nurses from our Division who have volunteered their time in camp this year: Dr. Pinnaro, Dr. Tansey, Dr. Parra Villasmil, Dr. Palmer, Dr. Tuttle and nurse Sue Huff.

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Diabetes Camp Hertko Hollow Reopens!

Some of the volunteer staff at Camp Herkto Hollow, Kids Week 2022, including those from our Division: Dr. Tansey (far left), Dr. Pinnaro (2nd from right), Dr. Parra Villasmil (far right).

Diabetes Camps are a summer highlight for many kids who have diabetes. Camp represents a chance to have non-stop outdoor fun, make new friends who understand what it is like to have diabetes and learn more about diabetes self-care, all while under the watchful eye of diabetes-knowledgeable camp counselors and staff. Several of the staff in our Division help support Camp Hertko Hollow (click for link), a diabetes camp in central Iowa with access to 400 acres of forest / outdoor recreation space. Dr. Pinnaro and Dr. Tansey serve to provide medical direction for the camp, and diabetes nurse Susan Huff has long volunteered to support the camp. Unfortunately, Camp Hertko Hollow, like most diabetes camps across the country, closed in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. This year, Drs. Pinnaro and Tansey were determined to help Camp Hertko Hollow reopen despite the challenges of ongoing COVID transmission. We are pleased to report that their efforts are paying off. Kids Week (ages 8-12) is off to a great start June 26-July 2, and Teen Week (ages 13-17) will run July 3-9. Also see the Camp website (link above) for details about Mini Camp and Family Camp opportunities. The doctors and nurses from our Division who have volunteered their time in camp this week and/or next week include: Dr. Pinnaro, Dr. Tansey, Dr. Parra Villasmil, Dr. Tuttle, Dr. Palmer, and nurse Sue Huff.

“Our first year back at camp Hertko has been a great one. I’m so grateful to our dedicated and flexible volunteers who adapted to swiftly to our Covid-related protocols.”

Dr. Catherina Pinnaro
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Announcing New Pediatric Endocrine Fellow: Dr. Palmer

Dr. Palmer

Today we are thrilled to announce that Dr. Benjamin Palmer has joined our division as a new pediatric endocrine fellow. He will serve three years in this role, after which he will be a full fledged board eligible pediatric endocrinologist. Dr. Palmer received his Osteopathic Degree from Des Moines University having completed undergraduate studies at Central College in Pella Iowa. He just completed a three-year pediatric residency at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. While a resident he demonstrated an outstanding aptitude for and interest in pediatric endocrinology. He worked on several endocrine research projects, including one that culminated with a publication in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (link) as well as a clinic protocol chapter on hirsutism. Welcome Dr. Palmer!!

Three Pediatric Endocrine Fellows! Drs. Parra Villasmil, Palmer, and Tuttle.
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Benefits of Home Review of Blood-sugar Data in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes

Dr. Catherina Pinnaro

Dr. Catherina Pinnaro and her research team have just published a new report indicating benefits to reviewing diabetes device blood sugar data. The article is entitled “Diabetes Device Downloading: Benefits and Barriers Among Youth with Type 1 Diabetes”, and was just published as a peer reviewed research article in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (pubmed Link; doi Link). Importantly, the data suggest that blood sugar levels improve when patients/families make insulin plan adjustments based on review of recent blood sugar patterns. Co-authors on the work from our division included Drs. Tansey, Tsalikian, and Norris. Also contributing as the lead author was future pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Benjamin Palmer.