That's Pediatrics

Sylvia Owusu-Ansah MD, MPH, FAAP is a board-certified pediatrician, pediatric emergency medicine, and emergency medical services (EMS) physician who is currently an attending at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Director of Pre-hospital and EMS. Dr. Owusu-Ansah has been extremely involved in pediatric advocacy and education of EMS providers at all levels, locally, regionally and nationally. She currently sits on the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Advocacy and EMS Committees with the American Academy of Pediatrics, and additional regional and national committees related to her work. One of the contributions she is most proud of is advocating for pediatric health on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. office on federal, state, and community pediatric advocacy issues including the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2013. She is proud mother of two girls and wife a transitioning paramedic.

Liza Konnikova, MD, PhD, FAAP, is a neonatologist at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and an assistant professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Developmental Biology and Immunology in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Her lab focuses on the develop of neonatal immunity at mucosal surfaces and its role in the pathogenesis of diverse diseases such as sepsis, preterm labor, necrotizing enterocolitis, and very-early onset IBD (VEO-IBD).

She has pioneered the application of mass cytometry to frozen mucosal biopsies, helping to improve our understanding of mucosal immunity. This innovation has helped to identify novel populations of immune cells in VEO-IBD and to perform serial monitoring of IBD activity during drug trials.

Dean Yimlamai, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and is trained as a clinical gastroenterologist. He specializes in gastroenterology with an interest in pediatric liver diseases and liver tumors. His research group uses mouse models to understand the fundamental mechanisms of liver growth during development, its restoration from injury and changes that lead to cancer. His group specializes in the Hippo Signaling Pathway, a relatively recently recognized signaling pathway that controls organ growth and regeneration.

John Alcorn, PhD is a scientist at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and an associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The Alcorn lab is focused on T cell immunity, host defense, epithelial cell biology, and lung physiology. A primary lab focus is on Influenza infection and the host defense mechanisms of T helper 17 cells. His lab has recently shown that the TH17 effector cytokines IL-17 and IL-22 are required for host defense against a variety of extracellular pathogens.

Dr. Nischal joined UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh as chief of the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Strabismus, and Adult Motility in 2011. He directs pediatric program development at the UPMC Eye Center and is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Nischal has pioneered the use of new surgical techniques, previously used only in adults, in children with corneal disorders. He is one of the world’s foremost pediatric eye specialists and an author of more than 100 published research articles.

Dr. Andrew Nowalk is Associate Professor and Clinical Director in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics, both at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.He maintains a clinical practice and an active research program in Lyme disease, examining the epidemic of Lyme disease in Western Pennsylvania and searching to improve treatment and testing for pediatric Lyme disease cases. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Nowalk serves as a residency program director in pediatrics for the UPMC Medical Education program, and lectures and mentors students, residents and fellows through the Medical Center.

Dr. McElroy's research interests include studying the interactions that occur between the host immune system and emerging viral pathogens. To do this, animal model systems, clinical specimens from cases of human disease, and in vitro models are used. Previous work has focused on the Hantaviruses, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, and Ebola virus. Current studies are utilizing the mouse model to elucidate the role of T cells in immunity to RVFV.

Dr. Daniel Weiner is the Medical Director at the Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Co-Director at The Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Cystic Fibrosis Center and Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Andrew Feranchak is the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Learn about their research on Cystic Fibrosis

Dr. Paul Szabolcs trained at Semmelweis University School of Medicine in Budapest. He completed his residency at Bellevue Hospital/NYU Medical Center and was Chief Fellow at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Molecular Biology and at Rockefeller University in Physiology and Cellular Immunology. He has been Chief of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies division at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh since 2011. Dr. Szabolcs has dedicated his career to developing effective “reduced-intensity” chemotherapy regimens for patients in need of a blood or bone marrow transplant, especially children with rare immune-system defects and degenerative brain diseases.

Dr. Panigrahy is board certified in both Pediatric Radiology and Neuroradiology. He is a Professor of Radiology, Radiologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Imaging Research at UPMC. He has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2009 including both a K23 and current multi-center Ro1. He also has active funding from the Department of Defense, Society for Pediatric Radiology and private foundations. Dr. Panigrahy’s research focuses on applying advanced MR techniques to the study of fetal/neonatal/pediatric brain development and injury in those diagnosed with congenital heart disease and its impact on neuro-developmental across the lifespan.