C H I R O N I A N
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New York Medical College : :
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As we went to press, there were numerous projects devoted to the study of pediatric research in progress. Though by no means an exhaustive list, the studies here give a representative sampling of clinical and basic research supported by the federal government, private industry and non-profit organizations. All have been highlighted in recent issues of Chironian, which are archived at http://bit.ly/nPCzwL. •G yeong-Hun Baeg, Ph.D., MAHRUKH BAMJI, M.D. Professor of Clinical Pediatrics She was there from the beginning. It was the early 1990s, when 25 percent of children born to women with HIV infection were perinatally infected, when there was no definitive test for diagnosis of HIV infection, when the median age of death in children with HIV infection was 2 years and when approximately 40 percent of hospital beds in New York City were occupied by patients with HIV infection. Over the years the trajectory of pediatric AIDS in the U.S. has changed dramatically. Now the perinatal transmission rate is less than 2 percent, children are living longer and are leading otherwise normal lives. With an annual grant funding of approximately $750,000 each year, Dr. Bamji has been involved with several research projects in the field of pediatric AIDS. Some of these include a CDC-funded maternal infant transmission study, a longitudinal prospective study of HIVinfected mother/infant pairs that determined the rate of perinatal transmission, the timing of transmission, the factors affecting transmission and the natural history of pediatric HIV infection. She is a participant in several NIH funded clinical trials including a landmark trial for treatment of HIV-infected pregnant women to reduce perinatal transmission. Well known in the field, Dr. Bamji has a long list of publications in peer reviewed journals. In her role as a project director in Ryan White funding, she is able to lead a multidisciplinary team that provides comprehensive medical and psychosocial care to HIV infected and affected families. In addition to her involvement with pediatric AIDS, she is the deputy chief of pediatrics at Metropolitan Hospital Center, actively involved with teaching residents and medical students. n
assistant professor of pediatrics. “Identifi cation of Compounds That Inhibit STAT Activity,” Children’s Cancer Fund.
• Praveen Ballabh, M.D., professor of pediatrics. “White Matter Injury in Germinal Matrix Hemorrhage,” National Institutes of Health, and “Cytokines and Maturation of Oligodendrocytes in a Rabbit Model of Intraventricular Hemorrhage,” American Heart Association: Founders Affiliate.
•R ichard Noto, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics. “The Genetics & Neuroendocrinology of Short Stature International Study,” Eli Lilly & Co.
•M ehmet Ozkaynak, M.D., professor of pediatrics. “A Comprehensive Safety Trial of Chimeric Antibody 14.18 with GM-CSF, I1 and Isotretinoin in High-Risk Neuroblastoma Patients Following Myelo blative Therapy,” and “Children’s Cancer Group Program,” National Childhood Cancer Foundation (NIH funded).
• Julian Stewart, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pediatrics. “Vascular Dysfunction in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” and “Local Vasoconstriction in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome,” National Institutes of Health.
•O ya Tugal, M.D., professor of clinical pediatrics. “A MultiCenter, Open-Label, Non-Controlled Trial on Safety & Efficacy of N8 in Previously Treated Pediatric Patients with Hemophilia A,” Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
•L ibor Velisek, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy. “Mechanism of Genetic Seizure Susceptibility in Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy,” Columbia University.