Jayde Hooven-Davis
My name is Jayde Hooven-Davis and I am currently a rising third year pediatric endocrinology fellow/postdoctoral scholar at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. I am originally from Northampton, PA where my family continues to reside. I received my Bachelors of Science at The University of Scranton, earned my medical degree at Penn State College of Medicine, and am currently pursuing a Master of Science in Clinical Research at the Institute for Clinical Research Education at the University of Pittsburgh. I have lived in Pittsburgh for the past 6 years for my pediatric residency training, my chief resident year, and first two years of fellowship.
My journey to becoming a pediatric endocrinologist began long before I entered medical training. At 6 years of age, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. After experiencing the shock, grief, shame, and fear of diabetes, my diabetes care team specifically my diabetes educator, helped me to embrace that “diabetes may be a part of my life, but it doesn’t have to define my life.” Fast forward several years, I became a junior counselor at diabetes camp with my initial intention to encourage the children; however, I quickly realized that they impacted me more with their resiliency, compassion, and curiosity. After a pivotal conversation with my camper and his mother during a summer diabetes camp in 2007, a career vision and passion were sparked. My vision is to enable all children with type 1 diabetes to thrive and experience a life as normal as possible. While serving as his camp counselor, I shared and reflected on the power of emotional support from my family and friends, my health care providers serving as coaches and educators, and my own use of diabetes technology, which helped me to accept and adapt to life with T1D. Recognizing that technology and adequate insulin dosing parameters are not enough to successfully treat pediatric T1D, I aim to focus on the impact of family, finances, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors on diabetes’ control both in my clinical work and research endeavors.
As a pediatric endocrinologist, my long-term career goal is to leverage cutting-edge diabetes technology to improve the quality, efficiency, and equality of care for every child with type 1 diabetes. My research goal is to identify barriers to achieving optimal glycemic control with automated insulin delivery (AID) systems and ultimately, to test provider-facing and patient-facing interventions to mitigate these barriers. For my fellowship project, I’m investigating the factors contributing to variable outcomes in glycemic control for patients using AID systems, with the hope of normalizing life for children with T1D and improving their health outcomes. I’m blessed to have receive extramural and intramural support for my research endeavors with the ISPAD-Breakthrough T1D fellowship, the Cochrane-Weber Endowment fund, and the NIH T32 training grant for “Research Training Program for Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows.” This study will provide critical preliminary data for the future design and testing of interventions that optimize glycemic outcomes for AID users as part of my pursuit of a career development award.
I cannot begin to thank the many extraordinary people around me who have supported and encouraged me along my journey. To my husband, James, and our son, Parker, for their endless love, words of affirmation and encouragement, and selflessness for giving me the time and space to pursue my dream. To my program director, Dr. Kanthi Krishna, for always having a listening ear and pushing me in areas outside of my comfort. To my mentors, Dr. Christine March, and Dr. Ingrid Libman, for their countless hours of guidance, sharing their wisdom and experience, and brainstorming ideas. They have beautifully modeled what it means to a physician-scientist through curiosity, perseverance, empathy, collaboration, and leadership.