Chandy John, M.D., M.S.

An interview with Global Pediatrics division director, Chandy John, appeared in a May 15 post on the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene blog. From the interview:

Q: Given your background in pediatrics and malaria, what were you thinking about on World Malaria Day?

A: I was thinking about how remarkable it is that there IS a World Malaria Day. I got into malaria work because I saw kids dying of malaria in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Laos as a medical student and resident, and yet there were very few people doing malaria research in the United States at the time, particularly in my area of training (pediatrics). That has really changed, and it's not just physicians... continue reading

Dr. John is an active member of the ASTMH and chairs the Kean Fellowship Committee, which selects medical students to receive fellowships that support clinical or research electives in tropical medicine.
 
Read the full interview here

Katherine Matthews and Judith Eckerle

Minnetonka high school student, Katherine Matthews, completed a six-month internship experience with Judith Eckerle, MD, as part of her school district's Honors Mentor Connection program. Katherine explains:

With Dr. Eckerle's guidance I gathered data, wrote, and created a poster for my research paper titled, "Health of Children Considered for Adoption from China". I meticulously combed through deidentified medical records of 105 patients who have been seen in the International Adoption Clinic. I recorded each child's age, sex, birth weight, and whether or not they had special needs (long-term health issues). From there, the data was statistically analyzed to provide percentages of incidence of each of these groups of health issues.

We now can answer parents' and social workers' questions about what they might expect to see medically from children adopted from China, and how many children usually have a certain condition.

In order to keep track of the complex vocabulary used in what I was researching, I made an appendix of over 55 medical terms unique to the referrals that the Adoption Clinic usually sees from China. This list will be available as a reference for residents to use during their time at the IAC and is complete with case numbers and additional references for further information if necessary.

View Katherine's poster here

Says Katherine of her experience, "I'm very lucky to have had Dr. Eckerle as my mentor for this program; she's been a wonderful influence and a real inspiration for me."

Global Pediatrics faculty, Judy Eckerle, published in the April issue of Maternal Child Health: "Vision and Hearing Deficits and Associations With Parent-Reported Behavioral and Developmental Problems In International Adoptees". Dana Johnson was a co-author.

Screenshot of Cusick's commentary on UNICEF Office of Research website

Alexis Friesen

Alexis Friesen, who works in the labs of Drs. Gregory Park and Chandy John, received a 2013 UMAA Student Leadership Award. This award honored Alexis for her exceptional academic achievements, personal character, leadership qualities and contributions to the University of Minnesota. Alexis's work in the labs of Drs. Park and John is on the relationship between severe malaria and HRP2 and TGF-beta. Congratulations, Alexis!