A large study co-led by Kori Flower, MD, MS, MPH, division chief of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine demonstrates that combining text messaging with in-person clinic counseling reduces obesity in the first two years of life. Samantha Schilling, MD, MSHP, associate professor in the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at UNC, was also a co-investigator in the study.

After Hurricane Helene devastated areas of Western North Carolina, Alyssa Tilly, MD, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics in the UNC Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, helped coordinate a field hospital to provide medical care to some of the most impacted and vulnerable residents.

We are thrilled to announce that recipients of the 2024-25 Jefferson-Pilot Fellowships are both faculty in the Department of Pediatrics!  Dr. Samantha Schilling, Associate Professor Pediatrics, in General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and Dr. Meghan Rebuli, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, in Allergy/Immunology. Join us in congratulating these exceptional junior faculty, who are most deserving of the recognition that comes with these prestigious awards.

Sandeep Dhadvai, MD joined the Pediatric Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine on August 21, 2024. Dr. Dhadvai received his Bachelor of Science degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania in May of 2011. He earned his MD from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix in 2017. He completed his pediatrics residency in 2020 from the University of California Irvine/Children’s Hospital of Orange County and since has been a practicing pediatrician in southern California. Welcome Sandeep!

One of our retired faculty members, Dr. Wally Brown passed away on August 1st. Dr. Brown was a UNC resident, adjunct faculty member, and then, from 2001 to 2015, was a full-time faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Brown consistently won the Resident Teaching Award and Faculty Clinician Award, garnering the greatest number of resident votes annually. He mentored countless resident trainees and faculty members, providing invaluable professional advice and sharing wisdom about life. Even after his retirement in 2015, Everyone who has worked or trained with Wally will never forget him for his exceptional clinical acumen, advocacy for children, genuine enthusiasm for clinical teaching, and profound humility.  He will be missed.

Elizabeth Armstrong, MD joined the Pediatric Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine on July 31, 2024. Dr. Armstrong received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University in May of 2015. She earned her MD from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in 2019. She completed her pediatrics residency in 2023 at the Mayo Clinic College of Graduate Medical Education, Rochester, Minnesota. Welcome Elizabeth!

Xavier Williams, MD, MPH joined the Pediatric Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine on July 22, 2024. Dr. Williams received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville in May of 2013. He also received his MD and MPH from the University of Florida in 2020. He completed his pediatrics residency in 2023 and was subsequently Chief Resident with us at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Congratulations Xavier!

Rebecca Chasnovitz, MD joined the Pediatric Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine as an Associate Professor on July 8, 2024. In 2003, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Health and Infectious Disease as a Robertson Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and remained at UNC to complete her medical degree in 2010. Dr. Chasnovitz completed her pediatric residency and was chief resident at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA from 2010-2014. Subsequently, she has worked as a pediatrician with the Permanente Medical Group in Berkley and Oakland, CA. Dr. Chaznovitz will be providing primary care at UNC Pediatrics at Pittsboro and she will also supervise residents in clinic at our UNC Children’s Primary Care Clinic at Carolina Pointe 2. We are excited to have her rejoin us at UNC. Welcome Rebecca!

This year’s match results show that only 91.8% of pediatric residency slots were successfully filled by programs compared to a higher percentage in years past. This ongoing outcome has many physicians in the field worried about the declining interest in pediatric subspecialties. Katherine Jordan, MD, and Priyanka Rao, MD, at the UNC School of Medicine wrote a JAMA perspective piece asking, “Where are all the pediatricians?”

Brittany J. Raffa, MD, MPH joined the Pediatric Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine as an Assistant Professor on July 1, 2024. Dr. Raffa completed her undergraduate degrees at Florida State University and medical school at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She completed her residency at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, postgraduate certificate in Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Master of Public Health from Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill. She has worked as a board-certified pediatrician in Ithaca, NY followed by Honolulu, HI. She has also had diverse clinical and research experiences in Kosovo, Vietnam, Botswana and the UK during medical school and residency. Most recently, Dr. Raffa has been with us in Pediatrics at UNC as a NRSA Primary Care Research Fellow.

Dr. Raffa’s research focuses on how the health and wellbeing of all family members affects that of children, and the role of sociopolitical policies in this. She is particularly interested in how interventions and policies that reduce family stress improve child wellbeing. Dr. Raffa will be working at UNC Children’s Primary and Specialty Care at Carolina Pointe II and UNC Health Family Medicine and Pediatrics at East Pittsboro.