• Study Published in Nature Communications Shows How Reprogramming Pancreatic Acinar Cells into Insulin Producers May Be a Possible Treatment Approach for Diabetes. Researchers in the Esni Lab for Pancreas Research at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh are investigating a new method to address the shortage of insulin-producing cells in patients with diabetes. Their most recent study, published in Nature Communications, focuses on a method for reprogramming pancreatic acinar cells into insulin-producing β-like cells. This approach could provide new treatment options for individuals with diabetes, particularly those with significant β-cell loss. Contributing to the study was Mohamed Saleh, MD, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at UPMC Children’s and a researcher in the Gittes Lab.

• NIH R01 Grant Awarded to Mary Ellen Vajravelu, MD, MSHP, for Novel Clinical Trial in Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes Combining CGM, Activity Trackers, and Custom Smartphone Health App Communications. Dr. Vajravelu’s research project is constructed to address the growing challenge of treating type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults.

• UPMC Children’s Team Publishes Case Report on Novel Genetic Variant for Glycerol Kinase Deficiency in a Case with Concurrent Hepatoblastoma. Contributing the case report were members of the Divisions of Pediatric Endocrinology, Hematology/Oncology, and Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

• UPMC Children’s Pediatric Endocrinology Division Testing Novel Diabetes Self-Management Model in Emerging Adults Through NIH R34 Grant. Leading the study are principal investigators Ingrid Libman, MD, PhD, professor of Pediatrics and director of the pediatric Diabetes Program at UPMC Children’s, and Linda M. Siminerio, PhD, RN, CDCES, emeritus professor of Medicine and Nursing in the adult Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at UPMC. Also collaborating on the study are Jodi Krall, PhD, and Megan Hamm, PhD.

• Multidisciplinary Investigation from UPMC Children’s Examines Role of CCL5 and CCR5 in Aldosterone-Induced Hypertension and Vascular Dysfunction. The study was led by first author Rafael M. Costa, PhD, and senior author Thiago Bruder-Nascimento, PhD, principal investigator of the Bruder Lab for Vascular Biology and Metabolic Diseases at UPMC Children’s. The study, called “Role of the CCL5 and Its Receptor, CCR5, in the Genesis of Aldosterone-Induced Hypertension, Vascular Dysfunction, and End-Organ Damage,” focuses on the influence of the chemokine ligand CCL5 and its receptor CCR5 on hypertension and vascular damage induced by aldosterone. The study was featured as the cover article in the April 2024 edition of Hypertension.

• Social Determinants of Health Linked with Youth-Onset Prediabetes. Food insecurity, low household income and not having private health insurance are associated with higher rates of prediabetes in adolescents, independent of race and ethnicity, according to a new JAMA Network Open study by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC researchers. The findings suggest that screening for social determinants of health — the non-medical factors that influence a person's health and risk of disease — may help identify youth at risk of prediabetes, which could ultimately improve early interventions that prevent progression to type 2 diabetes.

• Costa, Bruder, et al., Published In American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. Maternal diabetes in can result in a predisposition to high-salt (HS) dietary-induced vascular dysfunction and inflammation in adulthood, according to a new study out of our Center for Pediatrics Research in Obesity and Metabolism (CPROM), in collaboration from the Divisions of Nephrology and Endocrinology, as well as the Vascular Medicine Institute with the University of Pittsburgh.

• Trainee Learning Tied To Team Productivity In Pediatric Inpatient Teams. The study, by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Children’s National Hospital, and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, is published in Organization Science.

Other Published Research Highlights from Division Faculty

• Access to Specialty Care for Commercially Insured Youths With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

• Pediatric Endocrine Society Statement on Considerations for Use of Teplizumab (Tzield™) in Clinical Practice

• Child Opportunity Index and clinical characteristics at diabetes diagnosis in youth: type 1 diabetes versus type 2 diabetes

• Hypogonadism and neurocognitive outcomes among childhood cancer survivors

• Liraglutide for Children 6 to <12 Years of Age with Obesity - A Randomized Trial

• Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism

• Diagnostic Accuracy of Transient Elastography in Hepatosteatosis in Youth With Obesity

• Deletion of absent in melanoma-2 (AIM2) drives bone marrow adipogenesis and impairs bone microarchitecture

• Demographic, Clinical, Management, and Outcome Characteristics of 8,004 Young Children With Type 1 Diabetes

• Major adverse events in youth-onset type 1 and type 2 diabetes: The SEARCH and TODAY studies

• Treatment of Central Precocious Puberty with a Focus on Girls (review)

• Catherine Corey, MD, and Jayde Hooven-Davis, MD, FAAP each received 2024 ISPAD-Breakthrough T1D Fellowships.
  
  
• Silva Arslanian, MD, receives 2024 ISPAD Prize for Achievement.

• Christine March MD, MS, was featured in a Q&A on the Helio news site talking about “Tips for Navigating Use of Diabetes Devices in Schools.”

• Arslanian And Team Recognized With International Scholar Award. Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Silva Arslanian, MD, for co-authoring the 2024 Paul Dudley White International Scholar award winning abstract titled, “Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial of Pitavastatin Calcium To Treat Combined Dyslipidemia Of Obesity In Adolescents - The Pediatric Heart Network Dyslipidemia Of Obesity Intervention In Teens (DO IT!) Trial.” Arslanian is the Richard L. Day Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical and Translational Science in the Division of Endocrinology, as well as the Director of the Pediatric Clinical and Translational Research Center (PCTRC) and the Scientific Director of the Center for Pediatric Research in Obesity and Metabolism (CPROM).

• Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Mary Ellen Vajravelu, MD, MSHP, for recently being awarded a Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Award from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Dean’s Summer Research Program (DSRP). Vajravelu is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology and focuses her research and clinical interests in pediatric insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and pediatric obesity. She is also an investigator within the Center for Pediatric Research in Obesity and Metabolism (CPROM).

• Arslanian Delivers Grand Rounds At Washington University. Silva Arslanian, MD, delivered the Pediatric Grand Rounds for the 21st Annual Julio V. Santiago, MD, Lecture at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine at the beginning of March. Arslanian’s talk, titled “Youth Type 2 Diabetes: Lessons Learned From Patient Oriented Research,” was sponsored by the Diabetes Research Center and the Division of Pediatric Endocrine and Diabetes at Washington University.

• Arslanian Named Distinguished Professor. Silva Arslanian, MD, was named a Distinguished Professor by the University of Pittsburgh. This tremendous accomplishment constitutes the highest honor that the University can accord to a member of its professorate.

• Philanthropy Helps Patients with Diabetes Thrive for a Lifetime. Troubled by the growing number of young people at UPMC Children’s struggling with diabetes management, physicians Amy Nevin, MD, Ingrid Libman, MD, PhD, and Justin Schreiber, DO, MPH, with the support of Radhika Muzumdar, MD, and Kenneth Nash, MD, came together to create the Diabetes Wraparound Program (DWP). Based on a high-fidelity model that has proven successful in the behavioral health field, DWP “wraps” families with guidance and support to help youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) better manage their disease.

• CME Course: Pediatric Diabetes Update 2024. In this CME, Katherine Vu-Boast, MD, discusses what the latest tools for type 1 diabetes management can and cannot do, prevention of type 1 diabetes, and updates in type 2 pharmacotherapy.
  
  
• UPMC Children’s Pediatric Endocrinology Faculty Presenting at ADA 2024 Scientific Sessions

• UPMC Children's at PAS 2024
  
  
• UPMC Children's at AAP Pennsylvania Chapter Meeting