This RTI/UNC-Chapel Hill collaboration will be the first US study offering genome sequencing and genetic risk scores for type 1 diabetes statewide. UNC School of Medicine leads are Cynthia Powell, MD and Jennifer Law, MD in Pediatrics. Early Check, a groundbreaking research study that provides free health tests to newborns up to four weeks old in North Carolina, will begin offering genome sequencing to screen for hundreds of childhood-onset genetic conditions and assess a newborn’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes in their lifetime. Enrollment for the expanded study is expected to begin Thursday, Sept. 28.

Molly Berkoff, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, has been elected to the ACGME Board of Appeals for Pediatric Child Abuse.
In addition, Dr. Berkoff has been elected to the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Foster Care, Adoption and Kinship Care Executive Committee. The Council on Foster Care, Adoption, and Kinship Care promotes the health and development of children and youth who are at risk for or have experienced family disruption. The Council accomplishes this by developing policy guidelines for comprehensive and trauma-informed care, advocating for child and youth to thrive, and providing education and support to the members of the American Academy of Pediatrics, other health professionals, and the child welfare community. Congratulations Molly!

A phase 2 study, led by Thomas W. Ferkol, MD, at the UNC School of Medicine, demonstrates safety and efficacy of idrevloride with hypertonic saline for treatment of primary ciliary dyskinesia, a rare genetic disorder that can lead to permanent lung damage.

The UNC Office of Research Communications featured Ilona Jaspers, PhD, director of the UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and Lung Biology in “Rooted,” a series highlighting long-time researchers at Carolina.

Aisha Venugopal, MD joined the Pediatric Division of Emergency Medicine on September 7, 2023. She will be working at the Blue Ridge Urgent Care Center. Dr. Venugopal earned her medical degree from the Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2018. She completed her Pediatric residency between 2018 and 2021 at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, VA. Beginning in 2021 Dr. Venugopal has been faculty at the Eastern Virginia Medical School Department of Pediatrics and worked in Urgent Care a the Children’s Hospital of The Kings Daughters. Welcome Aisha!!

Catalina Berenblum Tobi, 4th year UNC Medical Student, has been named the 2023 William Hersey Davis, Jr., MD Pediatric Student Scholar. Catalina impressed the selection committee with the way “she delivers patient care with a very conscious patient-centered approach. Her empathy for her patients is so strong, and the way she talks about her experiences and hopes for the future really made us all feel inspired!”

Rebecca Vitale, MD, MPH joined the Pediatric Division of Endocrinology on September 1, 2023. Dr. Vitale completed her medical degree from Yale University in 2015. She also earned a Masters of Public Health from Yale concurrent with her medical degree. She was a Med/Peds Resient between 2015 and 2019 at the Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Vitale completed her Internal Medicine-Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship from 2019 through 2023 at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston children’s Hospital. Welcome Rebecca!!

UNC Health will partner with Bladen County Schools to expand much-needed behavioral health care for children in the rural county. The pilot project is supported by funding from The Duke Endowment. The school-based treatment model will add therapists and open virtual care centers in all Bladen County schools.

Jennifer Sullivan joined Genetics and Metabolism on August 21, 2022. In 1994, Ms. Sullivan received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She received a Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina in 1996. Ms. Sullivan has worked as a Genetic Counselor at Duke University since 1997. Welcome Jennifer!

Dr. Stephenson joined the Department of Pediatrics as faculty on August 14, 2023. Dr. Stephenson received her BS from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville VA in 2011 and completed her medical degree at Trinity School of Medicine, in St. Vincent & the Grenadines in 2016. She was a Pediatric Resident at the Vidant Medical Center at East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, NC from 2017 to 2020. She completed subspecialty training in Pediatric Pulmonology with us at UNC Children’s in 2023. Congratulations Nicole!