Department of Pediatrics Annual Report – 2020
Pulmonology
A leader in diagnosing and treating children and adolescents with respiratory conditions
The Division of Pulmonology provides exemplary multidisciplinary care to children in the New York City area and beyond. Established as one of the first pediatric pulmonology programs in the country over 50 years ago, we are leaders in diagnosing and treating children and adolescents with a wide range of respiratory conditions. Our team includes six full-time and one part-time faculty, three nurse practitioners, and a clinical research group. The division has nationally recognized clinical and research programs including:
- Sue & John L. Weinberg Cystic Fibrosis Center
- Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center
- Aerodigestive Center
- Pediatric Neuromuscular Disease Center
- Asthma Clinical and Research Program
- Childhood Interstitial Lung Disease (ChILD) Research Network
- Hereditary Hemorrhagic Teleangectastia Center
Additionally, we offer multidisciplinary care for children dependent on ventilators and other technologies in our tracheostomy clinic and congenital diaphragmatic hernia follow-up clinic. We have expertise in lung disease associated with prematurity, heart disease (pulmonary hypertension), interstitial lung disease, congenital lung malformations, recurrent pneumonia, primary ciliary dyskinesia, and bronchiectasis. The Cystic Fibrosis Center is part of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutic Development network.
Research
The division is committed to scientific discovery in pediatric pulmonary diseases and several faculty members and staff are currently funded by the NIH and other large foundations through independent, collaborative, and mentored research awards, including an NIH K award.
Education
Through our fellowship program, we provide comprehensive training to the next generation of leaders in pediatric pulmonary medicine. In recent years our fellows have been supported through grants from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the T32 Research Training Program in Lung Diseases.
New Appointments
- Aliva De, MBBS, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
New Programs
Multidisciplinary Tracheostomy Clinic
Honors and Awards
Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD
- Early Career Investigator Award, Pediatric Research, 2019
- American Society for Clinical Investigation, Young Investigator Award, 2019
- John M. Driscoll, Jr. MD Children’s Scholar Fund (Columbia), 2018
Hossein Sadeghi, MD
- PIPE Award Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 2019
Aliva De, MBBS
- Election to Society for Pediatric Research, 2019
Major Grants
- Air pollution and asthma in NYC schools: How can we reduce exposure during activity? NIEHS Center Career Development Award. 5P30 ES009089 (A. Bacarelli, PI); Principal Investigator: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD (individual project).
- Physical activity and dose of air pollution in pediatric urban asthma: Impact of minute ventilation. NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. K01HL140216; Principal Investigator: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD.
- Adolescent physical activity in urban polluted environments and respiratory measures. John M. Driscoll, Jr. MD Children’s Scholar Fund. Principal Investigator: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD.
- Exercise in urban polluted environments and childhood asthma. Amos Medical Faculty Development Award, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Principal Investigator: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD.
- Inner-City Asthma Consortium 3 (ICAC3). NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. UM1 AI114271-01 (Busse); Site Principal Investigator: Meyer Kattan, MD.
- Children's Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup (CREW). NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) (PI: Gern). 5UG3OD023282-02; Site Principal Investigator: Meyer Kattan, MD.
- ORal Bacterial EXtracts (ORBEX): Primary prevention of asthma and wheezing in children. NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. 1U01HL130045-01 (Fernando Martinez); Site Principal Investigator: Meyer Kattan, MD.
- Airways Clinical Research Centers New York Consortium. American Lung Association. ALA CU16-0023 (Dimango); Co-Investigator: Meyer Kattan, MD.
- Translating an evidence-based urban asthma program for rural adolescents: Testing effectiveness & cost-effectiveness and understanding factors associated with implementation. NIH/National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute. R01HL136753 (Bruzzese); Co-Investigator: Meyer Kattan, MD.
- Cystic Fibrosis Center Grant. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Principal Investigator: Hossein Sadeghi, MD.
- Cystic Fibrosis 1st and 2nd year Clinical Fellowship. Principal Investigators: Hossein Sadeghi, MD; Trainee: Nooralam Rai, MD.
Selected Publications
Lovinsky-Desir S, Lawrence J, Jung KH, Rundle AG, Hoepner LA, Yan B, Perera F, Perzanowski MS, Miller RL, Chillrud SN. Air pollution, assessment of exposure to air pollution in children: Determining whether wearing a personal monitor affects physical activity. Environmental Research. 2018, 166:340-3.
Lovinsky-Desir S, Acosta LM, Rundle AG, Miller RL, Goldstein IF, Jacobson JS, Chillrud SN, Perzanowski MS. Air pollution, urgent asthma medical visits and the modifying effect of neighborhood asthma prevalence. Pediatric Research. 2019 Jan; 85(1): 36-42.
Lovinsky-Desir S, Miller RL, Chillrud SN, Perzanowski MS, Jung KH. Timing and mode of commute impacts in-transit black carbon exposure and airway inflammation. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2019 Jul; 16(7): 923-927.
Lovinsky-Desir S. The use of biologic therapies for the management of pediatric asthma. Pediatric Pulmonology. 2019; 1-6.
Kern-Goldberger AS, Hill-Ricciuti AC, Zhou JJ, Savant AP, Rugg L, Dozor AJ, Welter J, Saiman L, Quittell LM. Perceptions of safety monitoring in CF clinical studies and potential impact on future study participation. J Cyst Fibros. 2019 July; 18(4): 530-535.
De A, Agrawal S, Morrone K, Zhang J, Bjorklund NL, Manwani D, Rastogi D. Airway inflammatory patterns in sickle cell disease. Pediatr Allergy, Immunol and Pulmonol. 2019 Sep 1; 32(3): 92-102.
Togias A, Gergen PJ, Hu JW, Babineau DC, Wood RA, Cohen RT, Makhija MM, Khurana Hershey GK, Kercsmar CM, Gruchalla RS, Liu AH, Wang E, Kim H, Lamm CI, Bacharier LB, Pillai D, Sigelman SM, Gern JE, Busse WW. Rhinitis in children and adolescents with asthma: Ubiquitous, difficult to control, and associated with asthma outcomes. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019 Mar; 143(3): 1003-1011.
Altman MC, Gill MA, Whalen E, Babineau DC, Shao B, Liu AH, Jepson B, Gruchalla RS, O'Connor GT, Pongracic JA, Kercsmar CM, Khurana Hershey GK, Zoratti EM, Johnson CC, Teach SJ, Kattan M, Bacharier LB, Beigelman A, Sigelman SM, Presnell S, Gern JE, Gergen PJ, Wheatley LM, Togias A, Busse WW, Jackson DJ. Transcriptome networks identify mechanisms of viral and nonviral asthma exacerbations in children. Nat Immunol. 2019 May; 20(5): 637-651. doi: 10.1038/s41590-019-0347-8. Epub 2019 Apr 8. PubMed PMID: 30962590; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6472965.
Highlights
Profile: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD
Physical activity is key to reducing many health risks, but in urban neighborhoods, kids’ opportunities to play outside are often near busy streets with high levels of traffic-related pollution, which can contribute to conditions like asthma. How do these factors interact and how do they affect health outcomes?
Columbia Pediatricians Join NYC Health Equity Initiative
In New York City, children from low-income neighborhoods have higher rates of asthma and obesity compared to kids from wealthier neighborhoods. Two pediatricians at Columbia University were recently selected to join a citywide initiative to help reduce those disparities.