cated trying to get near normal blood glucose levels in the kids. It was an interesting time in diabetes treatment because the idea of keeping blood sugars as close to normal was kind of a controversial subject then. So it was exciting for me. We ended up with some challenging cases.
TOP DOCS 2010
Could you talk about the study you co-authored in the journal “Environmental Research” a few years ago that looked at early puberty in girls in New York City? The research group was at Mount Sinai. They wanted a large private practice that would be able to examine a group of 9-yearold girls. We found that half of them were already in puberty at 9 years old. The researchers were also looking for environmental disruptors. They were looking for the breakdown products of PCBs and DDT, and then trying to tie that into a study of the onset of breast cancer in women who had early puberty. That study is ongoing. They just published an article that has received a lot of press about early puberty and urban kids. The cause of early puberty is really unknown, but it’s a definite fact that sexual characteristics are showing up earlier in children.
Dr. Signe Larson people in the country, and now there are many more people who are board certified in sleep medicine.
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New York Family | October 2010
DR. SIGNE LARSON
What other information should be included in a profile of you? I play the viola in an orchestra, the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble. It’s a passion of mine. I’ve been playing for about 20 years with this group. We perform about five concerts a year at Julia Richman High School.
What drew you to endocrinology as a specialty? I did a fellowship from 1982 to ‘84. At that time, I didn’t know much about endocrinology. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Fredda Ginsberg at Mount Sinai, who was one of the early pioneers in diabetes care. She was among the first to believe in tight glucose control for kids with diabetes. She was a terrific teacher and mentor. We had an enormous diabetes group. We were one of the first to do blood glucose testing, and advo-
Do you recommend music for your patients? I don’t push the music, but I always ask the kids if they play an instrument. I remember I took my son to LaGuardia High School many years ago because he was auditioning for entrance there. One of my patients who was a violist was there, and she was crying because she couldn’t tune her instrument. I felt it was a lucky moment because I could tune her instrument for her. We bonded over that. I just think music is good for everybody. —Molly O’Meara Sheehan
PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGIST, MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
www.newyorkfamily.com
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
How has being a parent impacted your work? There are many issues in sleep, it’s not just breathing problems. It’s how much sleep you need, different sleep patterns in childhood and how our sleep patterns change as you get older. Having my own children, I was really able to observe different sleep patterns in childhood and how our sleep patterns change as you get older. For example, during adolescent years, teens go to sleep later. There are lots of reasons they go to sleep later: There’s lots to do—Internet and text messaging and lots of stimulation—but also their biological clock in their brain is set so they are not really tired until later. That’s also why they sleep later. So just observing these things in my own children helped me understand
the field a little bit better. And I see my granddaughter, I see her sleep patterns and how you get her to sleep and the waking—it’s very interesting how it develops through the ages. —Shaina Gopen