Mary Staat Finds Inspiration in International Health
What do infectious diseases, international adoption and being a mom have in common? Mary Allen Staat, MD, MPH, could tell you. She's committed to all three.
A clinician and researcher in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Staat is also founder and director of the International Adoption Center (IAC) at Cincinnati Children's, as well as the mother of three internationally adopted children. A long-time interest in international health has led these paths to cross for Dr. Staat.
As an infectious disease investigator, she most recently has conducted research using a vaccine surveillance program, a critical part of studying vaccine-preventable diseases and one of only three such surveillance networks in the country.
Dr. Staat uses this network to determine the efficacy of a vaccine. "It's a valuable resource for understanding specific diseases in kids," she says. "The reason why the network works so well at Cincinnati Children's is because we capture almost 100 percent of the population for Hamilton County kids through inpatient and ED visits. You can't do that in most other large cities."
Defining the Future
Through banking specimens and analyzing pathogens, researchers can determine the percentage of children who have a specific disease. The network is being used for numerous studies at Cincinnati Children's, including surveillance on rotavirus, caliciviruses, RSV, influenza and a recent study of Dr. Staat's on diarrheagenic E. coli.
"We now have a better understanding of the causes of diarrhea in kids," she says. "These findings will have an impact on both treatment and vaccines. They will help us define how we treat diarrhea in the future."
In use at Cincinnati Children's since 2002, the network has been so effective that Dr. Staat plans to apply for renewal of the grant that funds the program.
She appreciates the involvement of community pediatricians in this important effort. "It's their kids we're seeing who help us to understand these diseases," she says. "What we're doing in the community is being recognized nationally."
Aiding Adoptive Families
Also gaining recognition nationally is Dr. Staat's very own brainchild, the International Adoption Center. One of only a dozen such centers in the United States, the IAC was created to help internationally adopted children, their parents and the community doctors who care for them.
When she started working at Cincinnati Children's in 1995, Dr. Staat had just adopted her third child from outside the United States. From her own experiences, she saw the need for families to receive support through the international adoption process.
While adopting her second child, Dr. Staat discovered Emily had a heart condition. Anxious, Dr. Staat called a colleague at Johns Hopkins who helped her assess the condition. Dr. Staat was relieved to find out it could be corrected by surgery and went on to finalize the adoption. "When you're in that position of facing taking a sick child home, you may find yourself questioning your decision out of fear," Dr. Staat says. "A child shouldn't be left behind because of a family's fear. I wanted to help families feel able to do this by giving them the tools and resources to go through with it."
'It's So Wonderful'
These resources have served families from nearly every US state, and include pre-adoption consultation, such as evaluating referral videotapes, photographs and medical histories of potential adoptees; preparing adoptive parents for their trip abroad to adopt their child; and providing medical and emotional support for families during their stay abroad. Families from 15 US states have benefited from the center's post-adoption services including medical, nutritional and developmental evaluations. Future plans include adding mental health and learning services.
Dr. Staat's background in infectious diseases has aided the IAC through her research on immunizations of internationally adopted children. The study's results influenced the international vaccine standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Since the IAC first opened in 1999, children from 38 countries have come through the center. "It's so wonderful to help families have their dreams come true, and it's amazing for the kids, too," Dr. Staat says. "I think there's nothing more sad than a child not knowing what a family is."
Dr. Staat is associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases. Her study on the presence of diarrheagenic E. coli in childhood enteritis was published in Journal of Pediatrics (146[1]:54-61, January 2005).
