I decided to become a pediatric endocrinologist after working at a diabetes camp for youth as a first-year pediatrics resident. Diabetes has so many moving parts and can be a burden to children. Watching the kids take all of it on with such spirit is inspiring. Treating diabetes is a wonderful mix of science and technology, gut feelings, psychology and communication. It’s never boring, and it is rewarding for me.
My patients are children with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and those with early-onset or severe obesity. There is no "one size fits all" with these chronic diseases. My goal is to provide individualized care that meets the patient and families where they are and helps guide the patient to the best state of health possible.
As my career grew, I became equally passionate about working with children who develop obesity early in life. Much like diabetes, obesity has many components and requires thinking outside of the box to look at the whole picture — genes and environment — to provide the best care and guidance for the patient.
In addition to caring for patients, I’m also involved in research. I believe that we need to tackle obesity much earlier in life than we have in the past. Food preferences and eating behaviors that are formed in early childhood can be carried forward throughout the child’s life. Furthermore, recognizing a high genetic risk for obesity is important so we can develop specific intervention strategies and medications to prevent obesity-related disease. The overall goal of my research is to prevent a lifetime of obesity by studying the youngest children at risk.
In my free time, I love to walk, hike and read fiction. My dad was a big outdoorsman and my mom was a librarian. I am a happy mix of the two.
MD: Indiana University School of Medicine, 2000.
Residency: Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 2003.
Fellowship: Pediatric Endocrinology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 2006.
Diabetes and obesity
Endocrinology, Diabetes, Obesity Prevention
Factors contributing to early-onset obesity; celiac disease in patients with type 1 diabetes; type 2 diabetes
Endocrinology
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Health markers, depressive symptoms, and community deprivation in a type 2 diabetes multidisciplinary care clinic for youth. Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology. 2024; 10:21.
Interventions for Children and Adolescents With High Body Mass Index-Implementing the Recommendations in Clinical Practice. JAMA network open. 2024; 7:e2418201.
THU233 Reduction Of Overutilization Of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D. Journal of the Endocrine Society. 2023; 7:bvad114.1482.
FRI591 Association Of TSH Levels And NAFLD Severity In Children And Adolescents. Journal of the Endocrine Society. 2023; 7:bvad114.1498.
40.3 Metabolic and Liver Function in a Cohort of Overweight/Obese Youth With Bipolar Spectrum Disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2023; 62:s386-s387.
Development and Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Clinic Focused on the Care of Adolescents with Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare. 2023; 16:2799-2807.
A metadata framework for computational phenotypes. JAMIA Open. 2023; 6:ooad032.
1105-P: Development and Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Clinic Focused on Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes. 2023; 72.
132-OR: Ten-Year Evaluation of Diabetes Categories in Youth Shows a Continuous Increase in Frequency of Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes—Results from the Worldwide SWEET Registry. Diabetes. 2023; 72.
The Frequency of Undiagnosed Celiac Disease in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes and Its Association with Diabetic Retinopathy: The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study. Pediatric Diabetes. 2023; 2023.
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