PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Tulane / LSU Joint Fellowship Training Program in Pediatric Infectious Diseases

The Tulane/LSU Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program incorporates the clinical resources and laboratory facilities of the Tulane University and the LSU Health Science Centers. We have an integrated clinical infectious diseases service, shared research activities, and a combined teaching program. This unique affiliation of two regional medical centers represents a major strength our program.

The first year of fellowship training emphasizes the acquisition of expertise in clinical infectious diseases. We provide services at four major pediatric hospitals in New Orleans: Tulane University Hospital, Tulane Lakeside Hospital, Children's Hospital of New Orleans, and the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (MCLNO) University Hospital. Tulane University Hospital and Tulane Lakeside Hospitals serve as the private teaching Hospitals for the Tulane School of Medicine. These four hospitals provide the training program with a unique balance of general pediatric patients and subspecialty patients.

Tulane Hospital is the only private tertiary-care university hospital in New Orleans. It has a 17 bed pediatric ward and an 11- bed pediatric intensive care unit. The Tulane obstetrical service, well baby nursery, a 20 bed neonatal intensive care unit, and the pediatric outpatient clinics are located at Lakeside Hospital.

Children's Hospital is a 210 bed pediatric hospital affiliated with LSU School of Medicine. Children's Hospital has a 25 bed pediatric intensive care unit, a 36 bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a pediatric rehabilitation unit.

University Hospital includes an obstetrical service, a well-baby nursery, and a NICU. The pediatric and adolescent HIV primary care and research programs are based at the MCLNO.

Weekly infectious diseases clinics are held at Lakeside Hospital and Children's Hospital, with pediatric HIV primary care and research clinics held at MCLNO. In addition, we staff a weekly pediatric tuberculosis clinic for the State of Louisiana. Weekly teaching conferences include microbiology laboratory rounds, a research/pathophysiology/journal club conference, a clinical pediatric infectious diseases case conference, and a citywide infectious diseases conference.

During the first year of training, fellows spend six to eight months on the clinical infectious diseases service under the direct supervision of a full-time faculty member. An additional one or two months is spent acquiring skills in clinical microbiology and virology. The remainder of the first year is devoted to an introduction to clinical and laboratory research in infectious diseases. Fellows have the opportunity to work in the laboratory of a member of the division. In addition, the laboratories of members of the Departments of Microbiology at Tulane and LSU, the Tulane School of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, and the Delta Regional Primate Center are available to train fellows. The program is closely affiliated with the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and fellows have the option of earning an M.P.H. during their training.

The majority of the second and third years of fellowship is spent in pursuing an individual research project in preparation for a career as an independent investigator. Senior fellows are given the opportunity to function as a consultant at the attending level.

There are six faculty members in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Tulane and one at LSU. Dr. Russell Van Dyke is head of pediatric infectious diseases at Tulane; his research interests include pediatric HIV infections, respiratory syncytial virus, and antiviral chemotherapy. He directs the Tulane/LSU Pediatrics AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. Dr. Rodolfo Begue is head of pediatric infectious diseases at LSU. His research interests include enteric infections, including Helicobacter pylori, and vaccine development. Dr. Thomas Alchediak has a joint appointment in Infectious Diseases and Ambulatory Pediatrics. He is director of the Pediatric HIV primary care program and participates in the pediatric HIV research program. Dr. Edward Morse is a behaviorist with joint appointments in the Departments of Sociology and Pediatrics. His research interests include behavioral aspects of clinical trials such as risk reduction, compliance issues, and intervention strategies. Dr. Richard Oberhelman has a joint appointment in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and the Department of Tropical Medicine of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He studies the pathogenesis and epidemiology of infectious diarrhea and tuberculosis in developed and developing countries. Dr. Margarita Silio conducts clinical trials among HIV-infected children and teaches in the Department of Tropical Medicine.

For more information, please contact:

James Robinson, MD
Program Director
jrobinso@tulane.edu

ALLERGY & CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY FELLOWSHIP

The Allergy & Clinical Immunology Fellowship Program is fully accredited by the ACGME and provides outpatient clinical and inpatient/consultation clinical training in evaluation and management of a diverse patient population with allergic and immunologic disorders. The didactic component provides formal instruction including seminar and conference series in which diverse topics are discussed including medico legal issues/cases, ethical issues, the art of the practice of allergy and many others. The research program requires participation in design of research protocols or in on-going projects. Fellows are required to present findings in written and oral form. Laboratory research experience also exposes fellows to performance and interpretation of diagnostic assays related to atopic and immunologic diseases. Research educational experience is available in the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory where tissue-typing and cross-match studies are performed as well as at the United States Department of Agriculture where peanut and tree nut research is ongoing.

Click here for additional information or contact Dr. Jane El-Dahr, eldahr@tulane.edu or Dr. Laurianne Wild, Director, at lwild@tulane.edu.

NEPHROLOGY
Tulane Division of Pediatric Nephrology provides state of the art medical care to children and adolescents with diverse diseases of the kidney and urinary tract including kidney transplantation. A three-year ACGME-approved Fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology is available effective July 1, 2009. Division faculty conduct active NIH-funded research utilizing a multi-faceted approach targeted at kidney development, renal and cardiovascular morbidity.

The following Division faculty form Renal Development Research Group: Samir El-Dahr, M.D. (Lead Investigator, Research Mentor), Ihor Yosypiv, M.D. (Principal Investigator, Research Mentor) , Zubaida Saifudeen, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator, Research Mentor).  

Research Background

Normal kidney function is tightly linked to the functionality of its individual functional units, the nephrons. Complex regulatory networks regulate nephron development and physiology. However, little information is available on the underlying gene networks. Only a few transcription factor and signaling cascades have been shown to direct segment-specific expression of functional proteins within the nephron. Normal and abnormal kidney development can best be understood using a multi-faceted approach studying global gene expression, individual transcription factors and signal transduction cascades in health and disease.

Division Faculty
Samir El-Dahr, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology
Chairman, Department of Pediatrics

Dr. El-Dahr conducts active research focused primarily on the role of epigenetic modifications of transcriptional factors critical for kidney development and function, role of p53 protein in renal health and disease, transcriptional regulation of polycystic kidney disease ( PKD1) gene by p53. Dr. El-Dahr’s Research Laboratory is currently supported by several NIH grants. The residents have the opportunity to participate in basic science research by learning basic science molecular biology techniques, study design, data collection and statistics, interpretation and abstract or manuscript writing.

Selected peer-reviewed publication in the past 5 years.

1. Saifudeen Z, Diavolitsis V, Dipp S, Fan, H, and El-Dahr SS. Spatiotemporal switch from D Np73 to TAp73 isoforms during nephrogenesis: impact on differentiation gene expression. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 23094 – 23102, 2005.

2. Yosypiv IV and El-Dahr SS. Role of the renin-angiotensin system in the development of the ureteric bud and renal collecting system. Pediatr. Nephrol. 20: 1219-1229, 2005.

3. Shen B and El-Dahr SS. Cross-talk of the renin-angiotensin and kallikrein-kinin systems. Biol. Chem. 387: 145-150, 2006

4. Yosypiv IV, Schroeder M, and El-Dahr SS. Angiotensin II type 1-EGFR cross talk regulates ureteric bud branching morphogenesis. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 17: 1005-1014, 2006.

5. Fan H, Stefkova J, and El-Dahr SS. Susceptibility to Metanephric Apoptosis in Bradykinin B2 Receptor Null Mice via the p53-Bax Pathway. Am. J. Physiol. (Renal Physiol .) 291: 670-682, 2006.

6. Van Bodegom D, Saifudeen Z, Dipp S, Magenheimer BS, Calvet JP, and El-Dahr SS. The polycystic kidney disease-1 gene is a target for p53-mediated transcriptional repression. J. Biol. Chem. 281:31234-31244, 2006.

7. Shen B, Harrison-Bernard LM, Vanderpool V, Saifudeen Z, and El-Dahr SS. The bradykinin B2 receptor gene is a target for angiotensin II type 1 receptor signaling. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 18: 1140-1149, 2007.

8. Madeddu P, Costanza E and El-Dahr SS. The kallikrein-kinin system in hypertension and vascular remodeling. Nature Clin. Practice Neph. 3: 208-221, 2007.

1. Rivera A, Meleg-Smith S, Yosipiv IV, El-Dahr SS, Boineau F. Diagnosis of congenital nephritic syndrome: a clinical and pathological challenge. Pediatric Pathology and Molecular Medicine 22: 105-116, 2003.

2. YosypivIV, Schroeder M. A role for angiotensin II AT1 receptors in ureteric bud cell branching. Am. J. Physiol. 285: F199-F207, 2003.

3. Yosypiv IV. Hypethesis: a novel role for the renin-angiotensin system in ureteric bud branching. Organogenesis 1: 26-32 , 2004.

4. Yosypiv IV, El-Dahr SS. Role of the renin-angiotensin system in the development of the ureteric bud and renal collecting system. Pediatric Nephrology 20: 1219 –1229, 2005.

5. Yosypiv IV, Schroeder M, El-Dahr SS. AT1R-EGFR crosstalk regulates ureteric bud branching morphogenesis. J. of the American Society of Nephrology 17: 1005-1014, 2006.

6. Yosypiv IV , Boh MK, Spera M, El-Dahr SS. Downregulation of Spry-1, an inhibitor of GDNF/Ret, as a mechanism for angiotensin II-induced ureteric bud branching. Kidney International, 2008.

Zubaida Saifudeen, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Saifudeen conducts active research on the role of p53 protein in kidney development. Dr. Saifudeen’s Research Laboratory is currently supported by NIH grant and an ASN Research Scholar Grant. The residents have the opportunity to participate in basic science research by learning basic science molecular biology techniques, study design, data collection and statistics, interpretation and abstract or manuscript writing.

Selected peer-reviewed publication in the past 5 years.  

1. Fan H, Harrell J, Dipp S, Saifudeen Z, and El-Dahr SS. A novel pathological role for p53 in kidney development revealed by gene-environment interactions. Am. J. Physiol. (Renal) 288: F98-107, 2005.

2. Saifudeen Z, Dipp S, Fan H, and El-Dahr SS. Combinatorial control of the bradykinin B2 receptor promoter by p53, CREB, KLF-4 and CBP: Implications for terminal nephron differentiation. Am. J. Physiol . (Renal Physiol). 288: F899-F909, 2005.

3. Saifudeen Z, Diavolitsis V, Dipp S, Fan, H, and El-Dahr SS. Spatiotemporal switch from D Np73 to TAp73 isoforms during nephrogenesis: impact on differentiation gene expression. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 23094 – 23102, 2005.

4. Van Bodegom D, Saifudeen Z, Dipp S, Puri S, Magenheimer BS, Calvet JP, El-Dahr SS. The polycystickidney disease-1 gene is a target for p53-mediated transcriptional repression. J. Biol. Chem. 281 (42): 31234-44, 2006.

5. Shen B, Harrison-Bernard LM, Fuller A, Vanderpool V, Saifudeen Z, El-Dahr SS. The Bradykinin B2 Receptor is a Target of Angiotensin II Type I Receptor Signaling. J Am Soc Nephrol 18: 1140-1149, 2007.

Tulane University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics 1430 Tulane Avenue, SL-37 New Orleans, LA 70112

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