Dear Colleagues.
As I write our July letter it is hard for me to believe that 3 months have passed since I started the presidency. Our nation is still combatting the pandemic – yes, it is a war. We have seen some “light at the end of the tunnel” with the number of cases declining and vaccination rates rising in many but not all states, and the rise of the Delta variant is of concern. However, it is hopeful that shortly more of our children will be vaccinated. The PES’s D and T statement on vaccination safety is posted on our website—see below.
I was struck again by the relevance of yet another guest essay by Adam Grant, PhD in the New York Times on July 10, 2021-There’s a Specific Kind of Joy We’ve been Missing. He states, “Peak happiness lies mostly in collective activity. He quotes Emile Durkheim regarding collective effervescence- albeit originally described regarding religious group activities- Grant cites the 1920’s when there was an explosion of art, jazz and medical discoveries including insulin as being examples of “creating together and solving problems together.”
As such I am extremely happy to report that barring some as yet unknown event we will be having our PES 50th anniversary meeting IN PERSON on April 28th – May 1st at Chicago’s Sheraton Grand. Please note the venue was carefully chosen to reflect a state where we felt comfortable, in being both from political viewpoints and legislation that affect our constituents, as well as overall vaccination rates and ongoing cases of COVID-19. We hope to have the meeting in person and revel in all our ongoing “collective” ideas and forge new and solidify friendships and academic connections “live.” Many thanks in advance to Selma Witchel and Ambika Ashraf who will again spearhead the Program Committee.
We have also successfully negotiated with Karger Publishing to have HRP have an anniversary issue in December 2022 that will highlight the history of the sub-subspecialties of PES, e.g. thyroid, growth, diabetes, in about a dozen or so articles. We are very excited that this issue will be available to all our members and in part will codify the time-lines which will be on display at the 2022 meeting.
Let me give you some brief updates on my goals for the coming year. Additional details, activities, and opportunities for active participation in many projects are included at the end of the letter.
1.Initiate and expand programs to attract more medical students, residents and endocrine fellows/members, APPs at critical times in their career.
Our education committee is actively continuing their multitude of projects. To highlight just a few: The Peds ENDO Discovery program met with success at the end of April with about 40 students attending, The Student Endocrinology Exposure Development program (SEED) continues to engage med students and the next talk will be on August 27th given by the BONE Sig. Alissa Roberts and Ellen Grishman serve as co-chairs of this subcommittee. The Fellows retreat will now be held immediately after our 50th meeting in Chicago- since the international meeting where our retreat was planning to be held has been postponed until 2023. Liz Rosolowsky serves as the new chair More information below. The Webinars series chaired by Manu Kamboj will restart in October including talks on late endocrine effects of cancer, cost effectiveness of health care in pediatric endocrinology, hypophosphatemic rickets and FGF-23. Update in Pump/Sensor Technologies and Updates in CAH.
2.Create a new committee to increase our relationship with the NIH- both the NICHD and NIDDK to help educate our members on ongoing opportunities for research related to pediatric endocrinology-including joining ongoing learning modules sponsored by the NIH for our members.
I wish to report that the BOD on 7/22/21 approved this new committee which builds upon and extends the Research Alliance and the Program Directors committees’ work. The new standing PES/NIH Liaison committee will shortly begin a series of lectures to demystify NIH activities, showcase opportunities for the PES membership and help with new initiatives to support ongoing pediatric endocrine research—also, more to come regarding a new funding initiative from PES for 2 years post-fellowship funding that we are working on. I am also personally thankful to the members of the NIH—Saul Malozowski, John Connaughton, Barbra Linder, and Karen Winer—who will be dedicating their time to this project. I will be including information on “Open Mike” in this and future letters and aim to share NIH announcements relevant to our membership. Here is the link that is updated as new announcements are posted: https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/category/open-mike/
In closing, As Rabbi Hillel said,
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when.”
At PES it is time for personal recovery and working together to make the 2022 in person meeting a time to share some collective joy and wisdom.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Sharon
COVID-19 Vaccination for Children with Endocrine Disorders: A statement by PES Drugs and Therapeutics Committee:
On May 10, 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents 12-15 years of age based on an Emergency Use Authorization. This was a welcome advance that makes ~87% of the U.S. population now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Read more and download a copy of the statement: https://pedsendo.org/news-announcements/covid-19-vaccination-for-children-with-endocrine-disorders-a-statement-by-pes-drugs-and-therapeutics-committee/
News from the PES Equity, Diversity and Inclusion task force:
The EDI Fall book club book has been chosen! Plan to join us on September 23, 2021, from 8:00pm – 9:00pm Eastern time for some robust discussion. The Fall book selection is:
Hola Papi; How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons, By John Paul Brammer.
Visit our webpage for timely resources; https://pedsendo.org/education-events/equity-diversity-and-inclusion-initiative/
2022 Call for Nominations: Nominations are due by August 6, 2021.
Nominations are now being accepted for the following Board Positions:
President-Elect (3 year commitment: President-Elect, President, Past President)
Director (3 year term)
Secretary (4 year term)
Click here for descriptions of these board positions, FAQs, and an outline of the commitment of board service.
Please send your nomination to Sheela Magge, MD, Chair of the Nominations Committee at smagge3@jhmi.edu. In your nomination, please include a brief note telling why you think this person would be an ideal candidate for the position.
MAP Spotlight: Lilly launches the Leonard Award to commemorate insulin centennial anniversary.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, Lilly launched the Leonard Award to recognize diverse champions around the world dedicated to advancing diabetes management through innovative thinking and novel approaches. One winner will be selected in each of the five categories:
- Teens/young adults (18-25 years old)
- Advocates/advocacy professionals
- Endocrinologists/primary care providers
- Diabetes educators/nurses
- Researchers
In recognition of each winning individual, $20,000 (for a total of $100,000) will be given to Life for a Child to help expand access to care for youth with diabetes around the world.
“Through the Leonard Award, Lilly looks to commemorate the centennial anniversary of insulin by recognizing those working to make a positive impact in the diabetes community,” said Leonard Glass, M.D., F.A.C.E., vice president of Medical Affairs, Lilly. “There’s been great progress made in diabetes management and care in the last 100 years, and we’re excited to honor those working toward an even better future.”
Inspired by Leonard Thompson, the first person with diabetes to be treated with insulin, the Leonard Award celebrates individuals making a difference though an original project, innovation or effort – beyond therapy – that addresses either an important need or challenge in diabetes management or aims to support the community. Submissions will be assessed by a judge’s panel comprised of esteemed members of the diabetes field.
Leonard Award nominations are open now until August 31, 2021. To learn more about the Award and to submit a nomination, visit Lilly’s 100 Years of Insulin webpage.
Pediatrics 2025: AMSPDC Workforce Initiative Update
The spring summit of the Pediatrics 2025: AMSPDC Workforce Initiative met on Friday, May 14, 2021, and welcomed over 50 participants from 24 organizations, including the Council of Pediatric Subspecialties (CoPS), of which PES is a member. This initiative is being Chaired by Laura Degnon, CAE and Bob Vinci, MD and is comprised of four domains. Domain one is being led by APPD (Becky Blankenburg, MD): Changing the Educational Paradigm, with Impact on Attracting Trainees into Pediatrics and Undersubscribed Pediatric Subspecialties. Domain two is being led by CoPS and ABP (Jill Fussell, MD and Laurel Leslie, MD): Workforce Data/Needs and Access. Domain three is led by AMSPDC (Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE): Economic Strategies. Domain four is led by COMSEP (Joseph Gigante, MD): Other Considerations for Attracting Medical Students into Pediatrics.
The third summit was focused on Domain 3: Economic Strategies and participants heard from several speakers. Dr. Leonard, Domain three lead, gave an overview of the topic area. The guest speaker was Congresswoman Kim Schrier (WA-8) who spoke on support of H.R. 1025, the Kids’ Access to Primary Care Act of 2021 and answered several questions. Plus, attendees heard from Colin Orr, MD, MPH, who summarized data on the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and debt and Hal Simon, MD MBA, who spoke on workforce issues and earnings potential comparing 2007 data with 2018. Finally, Tumaini Coker, MD MBA, discussed the NASEM committee where she led the work to examine the current state of primary care and set the stage for Joe St. Geme, MD, to introduce the Initiative’s plan to launch a NASEM Consensus Study on the Subspecialty Workforce. Attendees went into breakout sessions to talk more about the eight topics suggested in the study as well as additional data sources and potential sponsors. To learn more about this Initiative and read previous summaries and presentations, visit: https://amspdc.org/workforce/
PES 2021 Board Review Course now available for purchase.
We are pleased to announce the availability of the 2021 virtual PES Board Review Course materials!
The 2021 Board Review Course online study prep course covers the topics included in the new ABP Pediatric Endocrine Content Outline and is now available for purchase if you were not able to participate virtually. The content was delivered as recorded lectures released on a weekly basis (3-4 hours of content each week) over 5 weeks, followed by a live question and answer sessions addressing the previous weeks’ content.
if you were not able to participate in real time, no worries, you can purchase access to the all the course materials and recorded Q&A sessions. Watch the videos on your own time and as many times as you need.
Purchase access to the PES 2021 Board Review Course: https://apps.pedsendo.org/pescourse/begin.cfm
Call for topic/session suggestions for PES 2022 Annual Meeting
The 2022 Annual Pediatric Endocrine Society is less than one year away. This meeting will be a special celebration to recognize the 50th anniversary of PES and our first independent “in-person” meeting.
The annual meeting program committee has started to create and develop the program. Please share ideas for topics that will advance and influence clinical care and/or science in 2022. Suggestions for plenary sessions, symposia, MTPs, ideas of topics relevant to the history of pediatric endocrinology, and any novel presentation formats are welcome.
Please send ideas to the program planning committee by August 3, 2021. Please email your ideas, suggestions, and comments to Feborah Dixon (feborah@degnon.org).
Fellow Spotlight: Justin Dey, MD
Justin Dey is a 1st year fellow (brand new!) in Peds Endo at Medical College of Wisconsin/Children’s Wisconsin. Read more: https://pedsendo.org/member-spotlight/fellow-spotlight/july-fellow-spotlight-justin-dey-md/
History tidbit
Oskar Minkowski (January 13, 1858-July 18, 1931) and the discovery of the pancreatic origin of diabetes, 1889 submitted by Alan D. Rogol, MD, Ph.D https://pedsendo.org/historical-tidbits/historical-tidbit-oskar-minkowski-january-13-1858-july-18-1931-and-the-discovery-of-the-pancreatic-origin-of-diabetes-1889/