Harbor-UCLA Pediatrics

From Dr. Chrisanna Mink

Hi All,

May is Foster Care Awareness Month. Harbor’s 3rd Annual Foster Care Awareness event is scheduled on Thurs May 13 from 11-3pm in the Hospital Plaza. Thus, my email to you to solicit (yet again) for any items that you might be able to donate.

Two papers have recently been published or in press, co-authored by Dr. Beatrice Tetteh, PL-2.

The first (Lutfiyya et al) was a cross-sectional analysis of diabetes care in rural versus urban environments. The study, published in the October 2009 issue of the journal Primary Health Care Research & Development, found that diabetes care was more likely to be inadequate in patients living in rural areas (OR 1.205). Risk factors included being under 40 years of age, male gender, Caucasian race, not a high school graduate, not partnered, without health insurance, inactive or without an identified health care provider, and that diabetes care in rural areas was more affected by patients deferring routine care appointments for cost issues. This study may have important implications for the role of health care reform in improving diabetes care, and shows the need for outreach into rural parts of the country.

The second paper (Ezra et al), currently in press for the American Journal of Medical Genetics (part A). The paper is a case report of a patient with spinal cord compression due to hereditary multiple exostoses.

The Pediatric Residency Graduation ("PediProm") will be held this year on Sunday evening, June 6th. More details to follow.

Harbor-UCLA Pediatrics announces our incoming new pediatric residents!

Diana Bruno -- UC San Francisco
Shom Dasgupta -- Northwestern
Darci Evans -- Western University
Jeremy Lamkin -- University of Cincinnati
Jeffrey Lee -- USC
Emily Mathews -- UCSD
Daniel Murphy -- Touro University
Kara November -- USC
Tyisha Seymour -- Drew/UCLA
Sanjay Shah -- Ross University

A warm welcome you all of you! See you soon!

Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday, March 14, 2010 @ 2:00 a.m.

Set your clocks AHEAD one hour.

The Department of Psychiatry's Grand Rounds this week will be on a topic of interest to pediatricians.

James McCracken, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UCLA, will present "Autism Controversies: What Do We Really Know?" on Tuesday, March 9 at 3:00 in the Parlow Auditorium.

Dr. Jennifer Yee (Faculty, Div. of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism) has been named the recipient of the 2010 Liu Young Investigator Award and the 2010 Weitzman Award.

These awards are given annually to an outstanding young investigator at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA. Dr. Yee completed her pediatric endocrinology fellowship training here at Harbor-UCLA and became a faculty member in 2007. Her main research interest is in the mechanisms of the development of obesity. She is currently using stable isotope techniques to study the fatty acid metabolic pathways in a rat model of prenatal nutritional programming of adult obesity. In parallel, she is also studying the plasma fatty acid composition of infants exposed to in utero nutritional imbalance. The goal of these projects is to evaluate fatty acid pathways as potential targets for obesity prevention. Dr. Yee is also studying the timing of development of cardiovascular disease in young adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Congratulations!

From Nancy McGrath

Hi all. I volunteer with Working Wardrobes, an organization that empowers men, women, and young adults in life crises to confidently enter the workforce with career development and wardrobe services. Each year they sponsor a day for deserving high school girls in need of formal wear for their prom, called "Cinderella for a Day". I'm collecting old dresses (long and short, all sizes), purses, shoes, and accessories (jewelry, wraps). They're especially in need of size 12 and above! Please ask your friends, daughters, sisters and moms to check the far reaches of their closets as I'm sure there's an old bridesmaid or prom dress hiding back there! I'm happy to collect everything for drop off at WW. The deadline is Wednesday, February 24th so they'll have time to clean and repair things as needed.

We can all remember how much fun we had at our high school proms, so let's try and make it a memorable day for these young ladies! My daughter and I have volunteered at this event for 10 years and are so moved by the joy on these young faces! Please call or email me with any questions!

Thanks so much!

From Videth Mak:

Hello Everyone-

I am putting together a bakesale: this Friday Feb 5th around 1030 am to 2pm in the elevator lobby at Harbor. 100% of proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders towards their Haiti efforts. I figured if we can't go and help, why not donate to Drs that are there!

Show off some of your baking skills (or you can buy an already baked item to sell) and bake for this cause. Your donated baked good would be greatly appreciated!

Feel free to also come by and buy a treat from the booth.
Attached is a link on the DWOB website to show some of the work they have done in Haiti. I have already called to make sure I can donate to DWOB specifically their Haiti efforts.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/allcontent.cfm?id=31

Thanks, Videth

The Pediatric Critical Care fellowship program at Harbor-UCLA was commended by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The program was held up as an example for incorporating activities that teach competencies to fellows, specifically those related to professionalism, cultural competency and bioethics, and interpersonal skills and communication. The ACGME has posted information about the Harbor Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship’s learning programs in the notable practices section on their website.

The newsletter can be viewed by clicking on the attachment.