Research
Original clinical research is the culmination of the education, clinical work, and mentorship provided by the exhaustive
three-year endocrinology and diabetes fellowship at CHAM. Previous fellows have gone on to receive grants and teaching
positions for their work in addition to presenting at conference both nationally and abroad. Our faculty has numerous
potential mentors for fellows, including those in pediatric endocrine, adult endocrine, obstetrics and gynecology, and
other departments. Several pediatric endocrine faculty members are involved in clinical trials and are excellent resources
for clinical research, with investigations related to diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and vitamin D.
Each fellow meets a minimum of four times with a self-selected scholarly oversight committee of three to four
faculty members to review the research plan, monitor progress, and provide feedback. Fellows are expected to produce
an abstract, which will ideally be presented at a national and/or international meeting and turned into a full manuscript.
Previous fellows have won grants and teaching awards. We are excited by the research our fellows produce through
the rigorous combination of clinical experience, education and research.
Here are the projects of our current and recently graduated fellows:
Barbara Pitera, MD
- Interrogation of the Igf1 gene locus for genetic and epigenetic defects that underlie discordant serum IGF-1 levels of MRL/J
and SM/J inbred mouse strains.
Liset Estanislao, DO
- Influence of morning nutrition on cognitive performance in children with obesity
Collaborative Fellowship Projects
- Utility of Obtaining Serum Thyroid Function Tests (TFTs) in Neonates Born to Mothers with Thyroid Disease in the Setting
of Newborn Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism
- Ascertaining Newborn Nursery Provider Practices Regarding Thyroid Function Testing in Infants of Mothers with Thyroid
Disease
Recent Graduate: Kristi Derrick, MD
- Outcomes of pituitary microadenomas in pediatric patients with short stature and precocious puberty
- Prevalence of emergency medical identification (EMI) use and an intervention to improve the use of EMI in pediatric insulin-using
diabetes patients
- Multidisciplinary quality improvement project to reduce inpatient insulin errors
Recent Graduate: Lisa Underland, DO
- Double-blinded, randomized, controlled paired trial comparing sitagliptin to placebo in closed loop
- Impact of dopamine infusion on insulin secretion in healthy subjects
Recent Graduate: Lisa Kenigsberg, MD
- Insulin resistance and obstructive sleep apnea in adolescents with PCOS
- MRI and Ultrasound Imaging of the ovaries in adolescents with PCOS
Recent Graduate: Yelena Kogelman, MD
- Non-invasive tissue-specific glucose uptake in pregnancy using the dual imaging of MRI and mPET
- Quality Improvement Initiative: Examining the use of insulin pens for inpatients with new onset of diabetes
Publications by Fellows:
- Use of Sitagliptin With Closed-Loop Technology to Decrease Postprandial Blood Glucose in Type 1 Diabetes. Underland LJ, Ilkowitz
JT, Katikaneni R, Dowd A, Heptulla RA. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2017 Mar 1. PMID 28349708.
- A Case of Thyroid Storm Associated with Cardiomyopathy and Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis. Underland LJ, Villeda GA,
Pal A, Lam L. Case Rep Pediatr. 2016;2016:7192359.
- Clinical utility of magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonography for diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescent
girls. Kenigsberg LE, Agarwal C, Sin S, Shifteh K, Isasi CR, Crespi R, Ivanova J, Coupey SM, Heptulla RA, Arens R. Fertil
Steril. 2015 Nov;104(5):1302-9.e1-4. PMID 26354095.
- Cellular Phones: A Way to Improve Patient Adoption of Emergency Medical Identification? Derrick KM,
Pappas J, Heptulla R. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2015 Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print} PMID 25652197
- Thyrotoxic Periodic Paralysis in a Hispanic Young Adult Male. Kenigsberg L, Kogelman Y, Lam L. Ann Pediatr
Child Health. 2015;3(3):1059.
- An unusual case of ambiguous genitalia. Nicoletta-Gentile M, Lam L, Gangat M, Kogelman Y.
International journal of case reports and images. 2012;3(3):24.26.
- Foster care and type 1 diabetes in the Bronx: a case series. Gangat M, Klein GW, Heptulla RA. J Pediatr
Endocrinol Metab. 2012;25(7-8):775-9. PMID: 23155709