Research Experiences
Residents have the opportunity to participate in research projects during as many as 6 of their elective months. We are also glad to facilitate more research involvement (up to 11 rotations) through the Integrated Research Pathway offered by the American Board of Pediatrics, or we can support early transition to fellowship for those with research strength via the Accelerated Research Pathway. These special training situations are for individuals with strong research backgrounds who are headed toward fellowship, and they require application and approval by the Board. (See www.abp.org General Pediatrics Special Training Pathways)

Each spring we have a Resident Research Day where residents can present their work, which can vary from a child advocacy project to a basic science project.

The topics from the 2009 Resident Research Day are listed below:

Keyana Washington, MD, MPH:
“Mississippi Interpregnancy Care Project: Changing Mississippi's Birth Outcomes One Mother at a Time”

Camden Hebson, MD:
“Utility of Electrocardiographic Screening in Patients with AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder”

Monica Khurana, MD:
“Risk Factors for Cytomegalovirus Reactivation in Pediatric Allogeneic Blood and Marrow Transplant Recipients”

Stanton Stebbins, MD:
“Using Computerized Patient Data to Predict Clinical Deterioration: Exploring Machine Learning Techniques to Improve Patient Safety”

David Drossner, MD:
“Occurence of Cardiac Disease in Patients Presenting to a Pediatric Emergency Department with Chest Pain

Charlene Davenport, MD:
“How many children over the last 5 years would have qualified for organ donation after cardiac death?”

Anita McElroy, MD, PhD:
“Infection of Primary Human Macrophages with Rift Valley Fever Virus”

Swati Elchuri, MD:
“Multiple Pituitary Hormone Deficiency”

Glen Iannucci, MD:
“Optimal Management of the Small, Muscular VSD Identified in Infancy”

David Siegel, MD:
“Epidemiology of Childhood Tuberculosis: Use of the Pediatric Health Information System to Assess Local and National Risk Factors”

In addition, many of our residents have presented at local or national meetings or have published their work. A sample of recent scholarly activity by Emory Pediatrics residents is below :

Publications:

Kawasaki disease: four case reports of cardiomyopathy with an institutional and literature review.
Ashrafi AH. Wang J. Stockwell CA. Lloyd D. McAlvin JB. Russo P. Shehata BM.
Pediatric & Developmental Pathology. 10(6):491-9, 2007 Nov-Dec.

Cost-effectiveness of pediatric heart transplantation.
Dayton JD. Kanter KR. Vincent RN. Mahle WT.
Journal of Heart & Lung Transplantation. 25(4):409-15, 2006 Apr.

Pulmonary vein stenosis: prematurity and associated conditions.
Drossner DM. Kim DW. Maher KO. Mahle WT.
Pediatrics. 122(3):e656-61, 2008 Sep.

A management strategy for mild valvular pulmonary stenosis.
Drossner DM. Mahle WT. Pediatric Cardiology. 29(3):649-52, 2008 May.

EKG screening in ADHD patients newly placed on stimulant medication.
Hebson, C., Mahle, WT. American Journal of Cardiology (in press)

Costs associated with ventricular assist device use in children
Mahle WT. Ianucci G. Vincent RN. Kanter KR.
Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 86(5):1592-7, 2008 Nov.

Pediatric Giant Cell Myocarditis and Orbital Myositis
Lind-Ayres, M., Abramowsky, and Mahle, W. Pediatric Cardiology 2009 May;30(4):510-2.

Routine immunizations and adverse events in infants with single-ventricle physiology.
McAlvin B. Clabby ML. Kirshbom PM. Kanter KR. Kogon BE. Mahle WT.
Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 84(4):1316-9, 2007 Oct.

Mini-Review: Endocrine Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Therapy: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.
Nandagopol R, Lavadiere C Mulrooney, D, Hudson M, and Meacham LR. Horm Res 2008; 69:65-74 epub

OKT3 treatment in refractory pediatric heart transplant rejection.
Wilmot I. Kanter KR. Vincent RN. Berg AM. Mahle WT.
Journal of Heart & Lung Transplantation. 24(11):1793-7, 2005 Nov.

Presentations:

Angela Highbaugh-Battle, Lindsay Chase, Susan Goldberg, Joy Smith, Lynn Gardner, Susie Buchter . Factors That Influence Pediatric In-Training Examination (ITE) Score Improvement and Pediatric Certifying Examination (CE) Pass Rates. Presented at Society for Pediatric Research 2007 in Toronto.

Hebson, C., Klopman, A., Santucci, K, Suchdev, P., Gardner, L., Buchter, S. Effect of Duty Hours Standards on Pediatric Resident Education. Presentation to APPD May 2009

Iannucci, G. Costs Associated with Ventricular Assist Device Use in Children. Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2008;86:1592-8. Presented at 2008 American Transplant Congress in Toronto in June 08.

Washington,K. AAP Community Partnership Training Initiative (CPTI) Increasing pediatrician awareness about the abysmal drop out rate in Georgia. Presentation to the Board of Directors of the Georgia AAP. November 2008

International Experiences

The Department of Pediatrics encourages residents to consider an international experience and will support their salaries while they are away, although travel and accommodations are the resident’s responsibility. Some faculty members are involved in international work, and have sites to suggest to the resident.

Sites of International Experiences by Emory Residents

In addition, residents have enjoyed experiences within the United States but away from Atlanta, including time in the Indian Health service in New Mexico and in the migrant health project in South Georgia.