March 17th is Match Day! We are thrilled to welcome the following students to our Pediatrics Family.

Elizabeth Corteselli joined the Division of Allergy/Immunology and the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology (CEMALB) as an Assistant Professor on March 15, 2023. Dr. Corteselli received her PhD from the UNC Gilling’s School of Global Public Health under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Samet from the U.S. EPA. She conducted her postdoc with received her PhD from the UNC Gilling’s School of Global Public Health under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Samet from the U.S. EPA. She conducted her postdoc with Dr. Yvonne Janssen-Heininger at the University of Vermont where she received a Parker B. Francis Fellowship. Her research interests focus on adverse respiratory effects caused by oxidative stress using innovative experimental models and state-of-the-art techniques. We are thrilled to welcome her back to UNC!

The UNC Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce that Jasmine Weiss, MD, MHS, FAAP, has been named as a UNC School of Medicine Simmons Scholar. Since its launch in 1994, the Simmons Scholars Program has offered support to faculty members from groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine, while also placing an emphasis on building a community of scholars that spans multiple disciplines.

Andrew Smitherman, MD, MSc was promoted to Associate Professor of Pediatrics effective March 1, 2023. Dr. Smitherman has been a faculty member in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology since 2017. Dr. Smitherman is the Medical Director of the UNC Adolescents and Young Adults Oncology Program.

Sophia Aliaga, MD, MPH was promoted to Professor of Pediatrics effective March 1, 2023. Dr. Aliaga has been a faculty member in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine since 2010. Dr. Aliaga is a neonatologist whose research focuses on perinatal epidemiology and healthcare quality improvement measures with the goal of optimizing translation of best evidence into practice.

Sara Duffus joined the Division of Endocrinology as an Assistant Professor on March 1, 2023. Dr. Duffus earned her MD at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in 2015.  She completed her pediatric residency with us at UNC Children’s in 2018, followed by a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. Welcome back, Sara!

Peyton Thompson, MD, MSCR, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the division of Infectious Diseases, and Kate Westmoreland, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the division of Hematology-Oncology, have both received 2023 Caregivers at Carolina Research Awards.

A four-year clinical trial led by Edwin Kim, MD, at the UNC School of Medicine, has found that an increased dosage of a unique type of peanut allergy immunotherapy continues to show promise for children.

Katie DesJardin, NNP joined Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine on February 19, 2023. Ms. DesJardin earned her BSN from St. Louis University in Missouri and worked for many years as a NICU RN at Omaha Children’s, Duke and WakeMed. She recently graduated from the Duke University MSN/NNP training program and passed her NCC national board exams! In addition, she served for nearly 10-years in the United States Army working as a Cadet and Nurse earning numerous honors including: Army Commendation and Army Achievement Medals as well as Global War on Terrorism, National Defense, and Army Service Ribbons. Welcome Katie!

A UAB-UNC School of Medicine collaboration found that a single oral dose of the common antibiotic azithromycin reduced the risk of maternal sepsis or death by 33 percent in women who delivered vaginally. UNC School of Medicine study leads were Melissa Bauserman, MD, MPH, Carl Bose, MD, and Jackie Patterson, MD, MPH.