Gary M. Brittenham, M.D, gmb31@columbia.edu
Hematology: Our laboratory carries out basic and clinical research in disorders of iron metabolism and of the red blood cell, concentrating on (i) iron deficiency, (ii) genetic and acquired iron overload and (ii) the pathogenesis of malarial anemia in Thailand.
Meyer Kattan, M.D., Director, mk2833@columbia.edu
Pulmonary: Dr. Lynne Quittell spearheads clinical trials of new treatments of CF. Drs. Meyer Kattan, Beverly Sheares and David Evans are evaluating the efficacy of written plans in asthma and the causes and effects of asthma in the inner city. The Exercise and Pulmonary Function laboratories investigate children with several disorders at risk for cardiopulmonary disease.
Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D., Director, mc1310@columbia.edu
Blood & Marrow Transplantation: Areas of interest and ongoing research include stem cell biology, autologous stem cell transplantation, allogeneic stem cell transplantation, tumor immunology, genomics in hematological malignancies and developmental immunology. Electives can be arranged for Pediatric BMT or longer-focused research electives.
Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D., wkc15@columbia.edu
Clinical Genetics : Students will see patients with a variety of genetic conditions in areas of prenatal, pediatric, metabolic, neurologic, cardiac, and cancer genetics.Students will learn about the molecular basis of genetic disease, and students with appropriate lab experience will investigate the genetic basis of patients’ diseases at the bench.
Richard Deckelbaum, M.D., Director, rjd20@columbia.edu
Gastroenterology and Nutrition: Areas of research include the regulation of lipoprotein - cell receptor interactions, the role of omega-3 fatty acids in cellular lipid metabolism, gene expression, and development of atherosclerosis, factors influencing the utilization of intravenous lipid emulsions for total parenteral nutrition in man, and the impact of nutrition interventions on natural course of infections, and growth and development in children and adults.
Anne Gershon, M.D., Director, aag1@columbia.edu
Infectious Diseases: Dr. Gershon and her group (in collaboration with faculty in the Departments of Microbiology and Pathology/Cell Biology) are studying the molecular pathogenesis of varicella-zoster virus infection both in vitro and in vivo. Students can elect to participate in either basic or clinical research also on HIV infection in infants and children.
Allan Hordof, M.D., ajh2@columbia.edu
Robert Pass, MD pediahear@aol.com
Leonardo Liberman, MD., lj202@columbia.edu
Cardiology: Dr. Hordof’s clinical research centers around the evaluation of new antiarrhythmic agents in children using 24 hour electrocardiography and invasive electrophysiologic techniques. He is also involved in new determinants of intracardiac mapping in the cardiovascular laboratory prior to surgery for arrhythmia control and is starting radiofrequency ablation techniques in patients with supraventricular arrhythmias.
Mary McCord, M.D., Acting Director, mm26@columbia.edu
General Pediatrics: Research activities include academic-community health partnerships; childhood immunization practices; home visitation services for vulnerable immigrant families; risk factors for and mental health consequences of abuse and neglect and intergenerational transmission of violence; intentional and unintentional injury; obesity prevention in preschool and elementary school children and adolescents; graduate medical education and primary care.
Rudolph L. Leibel, M.D., rl232@columbia.edu
Molecular Genetics: Depending upon experience and interest, students may participate in ongoing research projects intended to identify genes conveying susceptibility to obesity and/or type 2 diabetes. Particular emphasis on using mice to generate molecular hypotheses and testing them in humans. Recently, members of this group have initiated studies looking at the effects of maternal metabolic status on brain (hypothalamus) and islet development in progeny.
Martin A. Nash, M.D., Director, man2@columbia.edu
Robert Seigle, M.D., rls4@columbia.edu
Nephrology: The division is studying the relative effects of two forms of drug therapy in the progressive kidney disease of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Co-investigators in a longitudinal multi-center study of pediatric renal transplant recipients.
Sharon E. Oberfield, M.D., Director, seo8@columbia.edu
The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology is involved in: the relationship between androgens and insulin resistance in premature pubarche, obesity and polycystic ovarian disease and infants born to mothers with gestational diabetes; the effect of growth hormone on growth in various clinical disorders; long term endocrine effects of oncologic disease and its treatment; the relationship of body composition to age, sex, pubertal and ethnic status in normal children and in disease states; and the assessment of the pathophysiology and treatment of childhood obesity
Richard A. Polin, M.D., Director, rap32@columbia.edu
The Division of Perinatal Medicine is studying the effect of hypoxia and ischemia on the developing fetus; the role of the immune system in the pathophysiology of hypoxic ischemic brain injury; the effect of hyperoxia and hypoxia on chronic lung disease in mice; understanding the role that adhesive interactions play between circulating blood cells and vascular endothelium as it relates to bleeding, inflammation, and tumor metastasis; the effect of nutrition on neurological outcome in very low birth weight infant; pharmacokinetics studies of nicotine and serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the fetus and newborn infants; the development of sleep states and neuroelectric activity in low birth weight infants; and neuro-intellectual follow-up of immature infants.
Charles L. Schleien, M.D., Director, cs600@columbia.edu
Critical Care Medicine: Research studies include new methods of brain resuscitation following head trauma or cardiac arrest, including brain cooling and new medications, neurologic monitoring of patients with complex congenital heart disease, nitric oxide use in cardiac and respiratory failure, new therapies of asthma, and neuropsychologic follow-up of patients with head trauma and surgery for heart disease.
Michael A. Weiner, M.D., Director, mw216@columbia.edu
Pediatric Oncology: The Division participates in the Children’s Oncology Group, a national consortium whose goal is to develop therapeutic protocols and research studies dedicated to improving the survival of children with cancer. The laboratory studies the use effects of anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (VEG-F) as a therapeutic modality in children with solid tumors, the molecular biology of leukemia in children, genetic and environmental factors that may predispose infants to develop retinoblastoma, and new bench to beside therapies in patients with brain tumors.
Robert Winchester, M.D., rjw8@columbia.edu
Autoimmune and Molecular Diseases: Our work is focused on translational studies that seek to understand the genetic basis of susceptibility to autoimmune disease and the mechanisms responsible for triggering and mediating autoimmune injury. The ongoing research involves application of a variety of molecular biologic, genetic and genomic techniques to exploit the information in clinical biopsies and samples.