Pediatrics | Mount Sinai Today

A Celebratory Reunion for Pediatric Patients

Mar 19, 2019 | Community, Patient Stories, Pediatrics

Pediatric cardiology patients enjoyed popcorn, cotton candy, and face-painting at the 33rd Annual Valentine’s Reunion Party held on Wednesday, February 13, in the Annenberg West Lobby.

The carnival-themed event brought children and their families together with the doctors, nurses, and medical staff who previously administered vital care.

Organized by the Children’s Heart Center—located within Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and part of an alliance with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia—the festivities were also supported by the nonprofit organizations Project Sunshine, Harboring Hearts, and the Congenital Heart Defect Coalition.

“It is amazing to see the kids we take care of outside the clinical setting,” said Peter Pastuszko, MD, Co-Director of the Children’s Heart Center, and Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and Director of Pediatric Cardiovascular Services for the Mount Sinai Health System. “We may see some patients only once or twice after they are discharged. Parties like this are the best chance to see the results of our care and what we have been able to give them. It is incredibly rewarding.”

Meriel Simpson, PA-C, Senior Physician Assistant, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, The Mount Sinai Hospital, with Olivia Malpica.

Peter Pastuszko, MD, with Miriam Pugo and her son Joel Vivar.

Children created their own slime at the event.

Helping Young Athletes With Crohn’s Disease

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Digestive Diseases, Pediatrics

After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in 2015, Noah Weber, now 15, reached out to NBA basketball star Larry Nance Jr., who also had been diagnosed with the illness at a young age. Noah, an avid sports fan, became friends with Mr. Nance. Two years later, they formed the nonprofit Athletes vs Crohn’s and Colitis, whose mission is to raise awareness about the condition among adolescents and help young athletes with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) reach their potential.

On behalf of the organization, Noah and his father, Kaare Weber, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, recently presented Marla C. Dubinsky, MD, Professor, Pediatrics, and Medicine (Gastroenterology), with a $25,000 check to support research at the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center at Mount Sinai, where she is Co-Director. “Athletes vs Crohn’s and Colitis inspires and gives hope to young people suffering from IBD,” says Dr. Dubinsky.

From left: Kaare Weber, MD; Marla C. Dubinsky, MD; and Noah Weber.

Holiday Fun for Pediatric Patients

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Pediatrics

Patient Nylannie Arzu was greeted by event sponsor Andy Pesky and Santa.

More than 200 Mount Sinai Beth Israel pediatric patients, joined by patients affiliated with the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation, enjoyed live entertainment from a musician, magician, and face painters at a carnival-style holiday party on Sunday, December 9, in the atrium of Mount Sinai Union Square.

The event was sponsored by Andy and Elaine Pesky of the global travel agency Protravel International, who brought 100 volunteers from the organization to help oversee the festivities. Throughout the day, children played at game booths, created holiday-themed arts and crafts, and stopped by a popcorn machine and hot dog cart for snacks. The highlight of the event was a special visit from Santa Claus and the delivery of gifts.

Athletes Lift the Spirits of Patients At Kravis Children’s Hospital

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Pediatrics

Two Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes, Gian Villante and Aljamain Sterling, made an exciting visit to the Child Life Zone at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital on Thursday, November 1, where they appeared on a live KidZone TV show that was broadcast throughout the hospital.

The two mixed martial arts fighters answered questions from the pediatric viewing audience and later visited children at their bedsides, where they chatted, handed out action figures, and posed for keepsake photos.

“They brought such joy and truly lifted the spirits of our pediatric patients and families through their in-person and on-air interactions,” says Diane Rode, Director, Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy, Mount Sinai Kravis Children’ s Hospital.

Mr. Sterling said he was happy to visit the hospital and serve briefly as a role model. “For the kids, I related it all to life: You lose sometimes. There are ups and down; there are obstacles, but you always have to get back up and keep pushing forward.”

From left: Aljamain Sterling, patient Andres Mendoza, and Gian Villante.

$7.6 Million Grant Awarded for Multifaceted Study of Peanut Allergy

Sep 25, 2018 | Featured, Pediatrics, Research

From left: principal investigators Cecilia Berin, PhD; and Scott Sicherer, MD; with Supinda Bunyavanich, MD, MPH, leader of the genomic and data-science arm of the project.

When patients are diagnosed with peanut allergy, they often ask two questions: “How much peanut can I eat before I get sick, and how severe will the reaction be?” says Scott Sicherer, MD, Director, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. And physicians have another question, he says: “If I recommend a therapy, is it going to work for this patient?” These questions are at the center of research funded by a five-year, $7.6 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that was recently awarded to a multidisciplinary team at the Icahn School of Medicine.

The research is divided into three projects, which reflect Mount Sinai’s unique strengths in clinical allergy treatment, basic science, and data-driven medicine. Cecilia Berin, PhD, Deputy Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, and Professor of Pediatrics, and Dr. Sicherer are principal investigators of the National Institutes of Health grant.

The central project is a clinical trial that will focus on a seldom-studied group—people with “high-threshold” peanut allergy, meaning they react only to larger amounts of peanut. This trial of a dietary allergy immunotherapy will be led by Dr. Sicherer, the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Professor of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, and Chief of Pediatric Allergy; and Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics. “Most studies right now are looking at people who are exquisitely allergic—people who react to a fraction as small as a 50th of a peanut,” Dr. Sicherer says. “But a majority of people with peanut allergy do not react to these tiny amounts, and the treatments so far have not really been directed to them. This study is trying to identify those people and then see if an immunotherapy would help them, possibly to a cure.”

Researchers will conduct “food challenges” of about 200 children ages 4 to 14, giving them small doses of peanut. They plan to identify 98 high-threshold children, who will be divided into two groups. One group will simply avoid peanut, and the other will eat small amounts of peanut butter—carefully measured by parents—starting with about 1/8 teaspoon and progressing to larger servings. The aim is to reduce, or even eliminate, their sensitivity to peanut.

Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn, MD, PhD, gave patient Gabriella Evans a small dose of peanut, a therapy that will be further studied in an upcoming clinical trial.

The other two projects will analyze blood samples from all 200 children. “We have developed advanced tools for studying many parameters of the allergic response to peanut using small amounts of blood,” says Dr. Berin. “In my project, the idea is understanding the immune pathways that affect peanut allergy overall and the immune basis of outgrowing peanut allergy in response to allergen immunotherapy.”

The third project will take a genomic and data-science approach, using Mount Sinai’s high-performance computing resources. It is led by Supinda Bunyavanich, MD, MPH, Associate Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, and Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Pediatrics. “We will sequence blood samples from the children participating in this trial and use data science to identify novel biomarkers for peanut-allergy management,” Dr. Bunyavanich says. “Our goal is to find biomarkers that predict reaction threshold and desensitization potential in peanut-allergic individuals. The project will also further our mechanistic understanding of peanut allergy severity.”

Overall, the objective is to develop more effective, personalized immunotherapies for peanut allergy and to determine which patients are the best candidates before any treatment starts. “Peanut allergy is a very common food allergy—it affects about 2 percent of kids,” Dr. Sicherer says, “and this research will have a big impact on how we treat these patients.”

Winning Presentations for Child Health Research Day

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Pediatrics, School

Nine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers gave oral presentations on a range of topics, including child psychiatry, environmental medicine, and maternal health, at the 20th Annual Child Health Research Day, held on Thursday, April 26, in Hatch Auditorium. Sponsored by the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics, The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, and the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, the two-day event highlighted outstanding research in child health by medical students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff . The event also allowed young investigators to share their research with colleagues and network with potential collaborators. Six poster presenters were additionally selected for special recognition. A total of 94 research projects were submitted this year.

The nine oral presenters included, front row, from left: Devora Issero, MD Candidate, Class of 2020, and Maya Deyssenroth, DrPH; middle row, from left: Lianna Lipton, MD, MS; Mikaela Rowe, Clinical Research Coordinator; and Erik de Water, PhD; and back row, from left: Elizabeth Spencer, MD; and Julie Flom, MD, MPH. Oral presenters not pictured: Conor Gruber, MD/PhD Candidate, Class of 2023; and Amy R. Kontorovich, MD, PhD.