Encouraging Residents To Drive the Learning Process

2022 Columbia Pediatrics Interns pose for a group photo

Department of Pediatrics Annual Report – 2022

Residency

Department of Pediatric Annual Report 2022 Banner

Ranked best in the region by U.S. News & World Report, the residency program at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital has approximately 26 trainees per residency class and is one of the largest programs in the New York metropolitan region. We are not only the major provider of primary care for the largely Latinx community of Washington Heights but also the major referral hospital for the greater New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut region. The program welcomes pediatric neurology residents for the first two years of training. This year, we started the Combined Pediatric Genetics Residency Program.

Our residency program provides trainees with a broad foundation in pediatrics consisting of:

  • Inpatient and critical care
  • Exposure to one of the highest case mix indices in the country
  • Depth and breadth of pediatric medicine and surgical specialty services
  • Community-based continuity outpatient care
  • Resident wellness
Year Two Residents and Faculty at Annual Dinner

Our residency program is guided by the core values of humility, adaptability, accountability, integrity, kindness, and hard work. We believe in connectedness and community, and we embrace the growth mindset. We strive for continual personal and professional development, which enables us to provide better health care to the children, families, and communities that we serve. We aim to train tomorrow’s pediatric leaders in clinical care, education, scholarship, and advocacy.

Program Leadership

Sumeet Banker, MD, MPH

  • Interim Co-Director, Pediatric Residency Program

Candace Johnson, MD

  • Interim Co-Director, Pediatric Residency Program

Mariellen Lane, MD

  • Associate Program Director

Achieving Health Equity

Our residency curriculum is focused on the goal of achieving health equity. We work toward this goal by identifying and addressing child health inequities within our medical system, community, and society, and by solidifying equity as a pillar of care within pediatrics. This lens has been embedded into chief-resident and resident-led teaching conferences, including a longitudinal health equity conference series.

ENRICH (Engaging Residents in Cultural Humility)

ENRICH (Engaging Residents in Cultural Humility) Program is an annual, week-long experience for all residents. Sessions are facilitated by faculty actively involved in both the Pediatric Diversity and Inclusion Council as well as Community Pediatrics. The Enrich Curriculum aims to:

  • Explore multiple perspectives in cross-cultural patient encounters
  • Increase understanding of factors that decrease patient and provider satisfaction and therapeutic partnerships
  • Build practical skills in addressing issues of equity in clinical encounters.
  • Engage in reflections around next steps for improving effective cross-cultural communication.

Ambulatory Care and Community Pediatrics

Our outstanding Community Pediatrics Program is a model of joint academic-community partnerships and serves children in the Washington Heights–Inwood community. The three-year service-learning experiential curriculum is based in the community, and anchored around the connections between social determinants of health, race, socioeconomic status, and health equity.

Columbia Pediatrics Residents pose for picture at Fort Tryon, New York.

Residents are assigned to one of four hospital-affiliated or neighborhood-based combined faculty and resident group practices, where they:

  • Serve as the primary care provider for a panel of patients at a weekly continuity clinic
  • Provide care for well children and children with special health care needs
  • Participate in annual resident-led quality improvement projects based in continuity practices
  • Become experienced in telehealth skills
  • Work with a variety of community agencies where residents have been able to re-engage in person
  • Rotate through the adolescent ambulatory clinic, affiliated school-based clinics, and our Young Men’s Clinic for adolescent and young adult men
  • Attend conference series, with topics including:
    • Population health
    • Social determinants of health 
    • Health disparities

Resident continued to engage in legislative advocacy through a virtual visit to Albany in the winter of 2022.

Major Grants

Evelyn Berger-Jenkin, MD, MPH; Warren Ng, MD; Marina Catallozzi, MD, MSCE; Mariellen Lane, MD; Dodi Meyer, MD ; Rachel Zuckerbrot, MD ; and Melissa Stockwell, MD were awarded a HRSA 230999 Primary Care Training and Enhancement - Residency Training in Mental and Behavioral Health (PCTE-RTMB) NYP-CUIMC CARES for Youth Mental Health: NY-Presbyterian-Columbia University Irving Medical Center Cross-sector Alliance to build Resident Education for Support for Youth Mental Health. The grant’s purpose is to enhance training for primary care providers in mental and behavioral health treatment and referral, particularly for those with a history of trauma.

Research

Our learners have opportunities to pursue diverse and enriching experiences in research, advocacy, quality improvement, medical education, community pediatrics, and global health. All residents are required to participate in clinic site-specific quality improvement projects as well as a faculty-mentored scholarly project, and to present their research at the annual resident scholarly project forum. Second- and third-year residents have the option of designated research time one morning per week or completing a research elective rotation. Many residents publish their work in peer-reviewed publications and present at national and international meetings.

Columbia Pediatrics Researcher works with samples in lab setting.

Given the challenges that the pandemic posed, the program relaunched as RAMP (Resident Academic Mentored Projects) under the direction of Shoshana Friedman, MD, with the following goals:

  • To provide a mentored scholarly project experience for all categorical pediatric residents that meets the residency program requirements as well as the ACGME requirements for scholarship
  • To provide a structured curriculum for skills in scholarly projects including identification of an area of study, conducting a literature review, developing a research question, submitting an IRB proposal, data collection, data analysis, preparation of academic presentations and academic papers
  • To develop specific goals residents will need to achieve from the curriculum and their RAMP mentor based on their identified project
  • To foster mentorship between faculty and residents
  • To assist residents in future career pathways and trajectories and the role of scholarship in those goals
  • To prepare residents for future academic work and competitive applications to subspecialty fellowships and academic jobs

Pediatrician-Scientist Training and Development Program (PSTDP)

Launched in 2019, the Pediatrician-Scientist Training and Development Program (PSTDP), led by Jordan Orange, MD, PhD, provides talented MDs and MD/PhDs committed to both research and pediatrics with comprehensive, personalized training. The program accepts one resident each year and provides more than 11 months of completely protected research time. Participants are able to work in any lab at CUIMC and have an individualized advisory committee that supports their matriculation through residency.

Inaugural PSTDP resident, Teddy Wohlbold, MD, PhD, graduated in 2022 and is a first year neonatology fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC.

Current resident investigators include:

  • Ananthi Rajamoorthi, MD, PhD, PGY3
  • Olivia Maguire, MD, PhD, PGY1
  • William Fyke MD, PhD, PGY1
2022 intern orientation luncheon at Columbia Pediatrics

Resident Wellness

Our resident wellness committee and residency program as a whole are devoted to improving resident well-being and work-life balance through organized activities throughout the year. This year resident wellness programs have included monthly wellness sessions, narrative medicine programming, and other creative practices in community.  The department’s POWER (Promoting Overall Well-being, Engagement and Resilience in Pediatrics) Advisory Board includes two pediatric resident representatives.

In February 2022, the department sponsored a department-wide Resident and Fellow Appreciation Week. Each division showed gratitude by providing a meal, snack, or a way for learners to connect with faculty.

The Bella Donnas - The Columbia Pediatrics Simulation Olympics team - Holds their 1st place trophy.

After Graduation

Graduates are exceptionally prepared for their next career steps, as primary care or hospital based providers, educators, physician-scientists, or through subspecialty fellowship training.

Class of 2022

  • Iqra Akram: Primary Care, Sunset Park Family Health Center at NYU Langone
  • Monica Amoo-Achampong: Primary Care, Mount Sinai Cohen Center for Pediatric Comprehensive Care Team
  • Gav Apfel: House doctor, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Lisa Ditchek: Adolescent Medicine Fellow, SUNY Downstate
  • Evin Feldman: Pediatric Critical Care Fellow, Cohen’s Children’s Medical at Northwell Health
  • Meghan Gray: Pediatric Critical Care Fellow, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Jacqueline Fox: Urgent Care Attending, Pediatric Emergency Department, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC                         
  • Eliza Gentzler: Neonatology Fellow, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Maya Kailas: Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, Mount Sinai Hospital
  • Nicole Kelly: Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Combined Program at Columbia and Cornell
  • Joanna Kinney: Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Brittany Lattanza: Pediatric Nephrology Fellow, Mount Sinai Hospital
  • Nicole Meyers: Pediatric Chief Resident, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Sheneiza Moore: Adolescent Medicine Fellow, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
  • Ilana Rayport: Primary Care, Manhattan Pediatrics
  • Amna Sheikh-Zakir: Primary Care, Cohen Children’s Northwell Health Physician Partners General Pediatrics at East Patchogue
  • Anoushka Sinha: Adolescent Medicine Fellow, University of California at San Francisco
  • Kyra Solowey: Neonatology Fellow, Children’s National
  • Jonathan Steinman: Pediatric Endocrinology Fellow, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Micha Thompson: Pediatric Chief Resident, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Russell Valle: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow, University of California San Francisco
  • Jillian Wen: Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, Pediatric Chief Resident, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • Sanford Williams: Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine
  • Teddy Wohlbold: Neonatology Fellow, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC
  • MengMeng Xu : House doctor, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at CUIMC

Honors and Awards

Nicole Kelly, MD

  • Received The Edward Curnen Prize from the Babies Hospital Alumni Association. The award is presented to the house officer who best exemplifies the ideas and humane and compassionate patient care Dr. Curnen displayed during his time at Columbia.

Joanna Kinney, MD and Amanda Kravitz, MD

  • Won the Resident Award for Best Poster Presentation at the AAP NCE meeting in the Section on Pediatric Trainees Clinical Case Abstract Program. Their case report was entitled, "Worsening Anxiety with A new Origin: New-Onset Graves Disease in an Adolescent." Their project mentor was Dr. Sarah Ann Anderson-Burnett.

Casey Mason, MD, Joanna Kinney, MD, and Meghan Gray, MD

  • Led the CHONY Bella Donnas Team at the New York Sim Olympics, where the team won first place. 

Recent Resident Publication Highlights

Class of 2023

  • Rajamoorthi A, LeDuc CA, Thaker VV. The metabolic conditioning of obesity: A review of the pathogenesis of obesity and the epigenetic pathways that "program" obesity from conception. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Oct 18;13:1032491. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1032491. PMID: 36329895; PMCID: PMC9622759.

Class of 2022

  • Meyers N, Maletz B, Berger-Jenkins E, Lane M, Shindle E, Costich M, Caddle S, Kostacos C, Paskin G, Pethe K, Shope S, Catallozzi M, Friedman S. Mental Health in the Medical Home: A Longitudinal Curriculum for Pediatric Residents on Behavioral and Mental Health Care. MedEdPORTAL. 2022 Aug 2;18:11270. doi: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11270. PMID: 35990196; PMCID: PMC9343532.
  • Meyers N, Friedman S, Anderson-Burnett SA. The Adolescent Mental Health Crisis in the Context of COVID-19: A Pediatric Resident Perspective. J Adolesc Health. 2021 Oct;69(4):672-674. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.07.009. Epub 2021 Aug 14. PMID: 34404609; PMCID: PMC8363873.
  • Solomon MD, Escobar GJ, Lu Y, Schlessinger D, Steinman JB, Steinman L, Lee C, Liu VX. Risk of severe COVID-19 infection among adults with prior exposure to children. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Aug 16;119(33):e2204141119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2204141119. Epub 2022 Jul 27. PMID: 35895714; PMCID: PMC9388132.
  • Sinha A, Tsevat RK. The Question. J Adolesc Health. 2022 Nov;71(5):646-647. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.05.024. Epub 2022 Jun 20. PMID: 35739005.
  • Sinha A, Hamnet in the NICU. Pediatrics. 2022 Apr 1;149(4):e2021052723. doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-052723. PMID: 35362062.
  • Motelow JE, Lippa NC, Hostyk J, Feldman E, Nelligan M, Ren Z, Alkelai A, Milner JD, Gharavi AG, Tang Y, Goldstein DB, Kernie SG. Risk Variants in the Exomes of Children With Critical Illness. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Oct 3;5(10):e2239122. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.39122. PMID: 36306130; PMCID: PMC9617179.
  • Theoharakis M, Feldman E, Friedman S. Circumcision. Pediatr Rev. 2022 Dec 1;43(12):728-730. doi: 10.1542/pir.2022-005536. PMID: 36450632.
  • Irene Frantzis, MBBS, Anshu Paul, MD, Eliza Gentzler, MD, Kyra Solowey, MD, MPH, Surya Manickam, MD, MSc, Alexandra Hill-Ricciuti, MPH, Maria Messina, RN CIC, Luis Alba, BS, Candace L Johnson, MD, Sandhya S Brachio, MD, Lisa Saiman, MD MPH, 2152. Types and Resistance Patterns of Gram-negative Bacteria (GNB) causing Bloodstream Infections (BSIs) in a Neonatal ICU (NICU), 2010-2019, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Volume 9, Issue Supplement_2, December 2022, ofac492.1772, https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofac492.1772
  • Michele E. Smith, Meghan Gray, Patrick T. Wilson. Acceptance and Tolerability of Helmet CPAP in Pediatric Bronchiolitis and Pneumonia: A Feasibility Study. Journal of Pediatric Intensive Care. January 2023
  • Annavajhala MK, Kelly NE, Geng W, Ferguson SA, Giddins MJ, Grohs EC, Hill-Ricciuti A, Green DA, Saiman L, Uhlemann AC. Genomic and Epidemiological Features of Two Dominant Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Clones from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Surveillance Effort. mSphere. 2022 Dec 21;7(6):e0040922. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00409-22. Epub 2022 Oct 11. PMID: 36218345; PMCID: PMC9769867.
  • Hays T, Thompson MV, Bateman DA, Sahni R, Tolia VN, Clark RH, Gharavi AG. The Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract in Preterm Infants. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Sep 1;5(9):e2231626. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.31626. PMID: 36103177; PMCID: PMC9475384.

Class of 2021

  • Abel D, Drucker G, Leander R, Huber C, Nieto A, Hulse E, Kannan N, Rausch JC. Assessment of a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program in the Northern Manhattan Community. Am J Health Promot. 2022 Jul;36(6):1014-1018. doi: 10.1177/08901171221076778. Epub 2022 Mar 24. PMID: 35325560.
  • Lakhaney D, Banker SL, O'Connor A, Barugel J, Gati SB, Bloomhardt HM, Mo C. A Codeveloped Family-Faculty Curriculum to Improve Trainee Communication. Pediatrics. 2022 Jan 1;149(1):e2021051715. doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-051715. PMID: 35226752; PMCID: PMC9645684
  • Velez T, Gati S, Batista CA, Nino de Rivera J, Banker SL. Facilitating Engagement on Family-Centered Rounds for Families With Limited Comfort With English. Hosp Pediatr. 2022 May 1;12(5):439-447. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2021-006403. PMID: 35411375.
  • Gutowski JN, Donovan DJ, Firnberg MT, Constantinescu A, Kennedy TM. A Rare Complication of Anomalous Left Coronary Artery From the Pulmonary Artery Identified by Point-of-Care Ultrasound. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Sep 30. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000002851. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36173337.
  • Maue DK, Martinez M, Alcamo A, Beltramo F, Betters K, Nares M, Jeyapalan A, Zinter M, Kamath S, Ridall L, Monde A, Resch J, Kaushik S, Kang E, Mangus RS, Pike F, Rowan CM. Critical Care and Mechanical Ventilation Practices Surrounding Liver Transplantation in Children: A Multicenter Collaborative. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2023 Feb 1;24(2):102-111. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000003101. Epub 2022 Oct 24. PMID: 36278882.
  • Kang E, Martinez M, Moisander-Joyce H, Saenger YM, Griesemer AD, Kato T, Yamashiro DJ, Remotti H, Gartrell RD. Stable liver graft post anti-PD1 therapy as a bridge to transplantation in an adolescent with hepatocellular carcinoma. Pediatr Transplant. 2022 May;26(3):e14209. doi: 10.1111/petr.14209. Epub 2021 Dec 15. PMID: 34907641; PMCID: PMC9035049.
  • Major-Monfried H, Friedman S, Moerdler S. Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis. Pediatr Rev. 2022 Oct 1;43(10):596-598. doi: 10.1542/pir.2021-004985. PMID: 36180536.
  • Torres CM, Geneslaw AS, Svoboda L, Smerling AJ, Schlosser Metitiri KR. Effect of Standing Intravenous Acetaminophen on Postoperative Opioid Exposure in a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. J Pediatr. 2022 Dec 23:S0022-3476(22)01112-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.12.003. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36572175.
  • Tredway, H., Pasumarti, N., Crystal, M.A., Shah, A.M., Farooqi, K.M. (2022). Use of 3D Printing for Congenital Heart Disease. In: Butera, G., Schievano, S., Biglino, G., McElhinney, D.B. (eds) Modelling Congenital Heart Disease. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88892-3_20

Class of 2020

  • Costich M, Bisono G, Meyers N, Lane M, Meyer D, Friedman S. A Pediatric Resident Curriculum for the Use of Health Literacy Communication Tools. Health Lit Res Pract. 2022 Apr;6(2):e121-e127. doi: 10.3928/24748307-20220517-01. Epub 2022 Jun 6. PMID: 35680125; PMCID: PMC9179039.
  • Abraham C, Avis E, Caddle S, Lane M, Friedman S. Improving Utilization of an After-Hours Phone Triage Service: A Resident Quality Improvement Initiative. Qual Manag Health Care. 2022 Jul-Sep 01;31(3):191-195. doi: 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000346. Epub 2022 Feb 7. PMID: 35132009.
  • Donovan DJ, Richmond ME, Bacha EA, Addonizio LJ, Zuckerman WA. Association between homograft tissue exposure and allosensitization prior to heart transplant in patients with congenital heart disease. Pediatr Transplant. 2022 May;26(3):e14201. doi: 10.1111/petr.14201. Epub 2021 Dec 10. PMID: 34889487.
  • Frankel H, Matiz LA, Friedman S. Siblings of Children with Medical Complexity-A Vulnerable Population in the Medical Home. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2022;33(2):702-713. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2022.0057. PMID: 35574870.
  • Linder AN, Hsia J, Krishnan SV, Rosenzweig EB, Krishnan US. Vasoreactive phenotype in children with pulmonary arterial hypertension and syncope. ERJ Open Res. 2022 Oct 10;8(4):00223-2022. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00223-2022. PMID: 36225331; PMCID: PMC9549342.
  • Issapour A, Frank B, Crook S, Hite MD, Dorn ML, Rosenzweig EB, Ivy DD, Krishnan US. Safety and tolerability of combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension in children: Real-world experience. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2022 Mar;57(3):724-733. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25796. Epub 2022 Jan 3. PMID: 34921523; PMCID: PMC8854334.
  • Florez AR, Shepard LN, Frey ME, Justice LB, Constand SE, Gilbert GE, Kessler DO, Kerrey BT, Calhoun AW. The Concise Assessment of Leader Management Tool: Evaluation of Healthcare Provider Leadership During Real-Life Pediatric Emergencies. Simul Healthc. 2023 Feb 1;18(1):24-31. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000669. Epub 2022 May 5. PMID: 35533136.
  • Calhoun AW, Gross IT, Mallory LB, Shepard LN, Adler MD, Maa T, Auerbach MA, Cheng A, Kessler DO, Whitfill TM, Duff JP. From Concept to Publication: Effectiveness of the International Network for Simulation-Based Pediatric Innovation, Research, and Education Project Development Process at Generating Simulation Scholarship. Simul Healthc. 2022 Dec 1;17(6):385-393. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000628. Epub 2021 Dec 27. PMID: 34966128.
  • Farooqi KM, Smerling J, Jorde UP. Application of 3D Printing Technology in Heart Failure. Heart Fail Clin. 2022 Apr;18(2):325-333. doi: 10.1016/j.hfc.2021.11.002. Epub 2022 Mar 4. PMID: 35341544.