Endocrinology Department News
March 14, 2019
Awards and Accomplishments
Krystle Frahm, PhD, (K01-funded Junior Faculty), under the mentorship of Erin Kershaw, MD, and Don DeFranco, PhD, received the Early Investigators Award at the 2018 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.
Joon Young Kim, PhD, (T32-funded Postdoctoral Scholar), under the mentorship of Silva Arslanian, MD, received the 2018 Outstanding Abstract Award at the 2018 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting for his research entitled “Metabolic Inflexibility, Impaired Lipolysis and Diminished Fat Oxidation in Obese Girls with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).”
Janya Swami, MD, (Clinical Fellow), under the mentorship of Mary Korytkowski, MD, was invited to present her poster entitled “Readmission and Comprehension of Diabetes Education at Discharge” at the 2018 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.
Lucas Heller, MD, under the mentorship of Harsha Rao, MD, received the Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research at the 2018 VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System Research Day for his project entitled “Glycemic Management and Mortality in Patients Undergoing CABG.” He was also invited to present this work at the 2018 American Diabetes Association 78th Scientific Sessions.
Karla Detoya, MD (Clinical Fellow), and Neha Karajgikar, MD (Clinical Fellow), under the mentorship of Archana Bandi, MD, won First Place in the Presidential Poster Competition in the Healthcare Delivery and Education Category at the 2018 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting for their research entitled “Impact of Electronic Consultation Compared to Face-to-Face Encounters on Glycemic Control Among Veterans With Type 2 Diabetes.”
Hira Ali, MD, (Clinical Fellow), under the mentorship of Erin E. Kershaw, MD, and Iva Miljkovic, MD, PhD, won First Place in the postdoctoral fellow category at the 2018 Pitt Health Disparities Research Day for her research entitled “Wny Pathway Inhibitor DKK1: A Potential Novel Biomarker for Ectopic Skeletal Muscle Adiposity.” She was also invited to present this work at the 2018 American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting. This work is supported by an Endocrine Fellows Foundation Research Grant.
Sann Yu Mon, MD, was promoted to Chief of Endocrinology at UPMC McKeesport.
Hussain Mahmud, MD, received the 2018 Dr. Frederick DeRubertis Division of Endocrinology Golden Apple Teaching Award for out standing achievement in endocrine fellow education.
Sue Challinor, MD, Mary Korytkowski, MD, Shane LeBeau, MD, and Susan Greenspan, MD, were selected as Pittsburgh Magazine’s “Best Doctors 2018.”
New Faculty
Sadeesh Ramakrishnan, PhD, received his DVM at Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Science and his Masters in Animal Biotechnology from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute. He then received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences with Sonia M. Najjar, PhD, at the Center for Diabetes and Endocrine Research at the University of Toledo. He then completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Yatrik Shah, PhD, in the Department of Molecular and Integrated Physiology at the University of Michigan. His research program focuses on the role of hypoxia signaling and transcriptional regulation in normal metabolism and disease. He joined the Division of Endocrinology and the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh as a tenure stream assistant professor in August of 2018.
Bokai Zhu, PhD, received his PhD in Veterinary and Biological Sciences with Jeffrey Peters, PhD, at Pennsylvania State University. He then completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Bert O’Malley in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. His research program focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying circadian and non-circadian biological clocks that influence metabolism and aging. He joined the Division of Endo crinology and the Aging Institute at the University of Pittsburgh as a tenure stream assistant professor in September of 2018.
At the ADA
The UPMC Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism was once again well represented at the 2018 American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida. Faculty and fellows presented research findings and clinical findings, and served as invited speakers and symposia chairs. UPMC and the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism also hosted their Second Annual UPMC Alumni and Friends Reception where colleagues and invited guests enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and had the opportunity to network. University of Pittsburgh faculty Thomas Songer, PhD, Erin Kershaw, MD, and Ingrid Libman DeGordon, MD, PhD, were all members of the ADA Annual Sessions Organizing Committee and hosted the reception.
Notable Recent Publications
Mon SY, Riedlinger G, Abbott CE, Seeethala R, Ohori NP, Nikiforova MN, Nikiforov YE, Hodak SP. Cancer Risk and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Thyroid Nodules Harboring Thyroid-stimulating Hormone Receptor Gene Mutations. Diagn Cytopathol. 2018 May. 46(5):369-377.
Lutz-McCain SJ, Bandi A, Larson M. Advancing Patient Safety and Access to Concentrated Insulin (U-500 Regular Insulin) in the Veterans Health Administration: A Clinician Education Program in the Primary Care Setting. Clin Diabetes. 2018 Jul;36(3):244-250.
Wang J, Coleman DC, Kanter J, Ummer B, Siminerio L. Connecting Smartphone and Wearable Fitness Tracker Data with a Nationally Used Electronic Health Record System for Diabetes Education to Facilitate Behavioral Goal Monitoring in Diabetes Care: Protocol for a Pragmatic Multi-Site Randomized Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2018;7(4):e10009, DOI: 10.2196/10009,
PMID: 29610111.
Wang J, Chu CF, Li C, Hayes L, Siminerio L. Diabetes Educators’ Insights Regarding Connecting Mobile Phone – and Wearable Tracker – Collected Self-Monitoring Information to a Nationally-Used Electronic Health Record System for Diabetes Education: Descriptive Quality Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018; 6(7): e10206. Epub ahead of print.
