My interest in pediatric medicine began with the idea that diseases can be prevented and managed in childhood to avoid complications as adults. My career and research now focus on the complications of obesity in children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes, cholesterol issues and blood pressure problems, once thought to be adult diseases, are also seen more and more often in young people with obesity.
Currently, my research focuses on obesity and Type 2 diabetes and their long-term health consequences. With my work, I try to determine how the complications of diabetes, including cardiovascular disease, start, and how diabetes increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. I hope to understand how to prevent Type 2 diabetes in adolescents and reduce health problems in the future.
I serve as the director of the Adolescent Type 2 Diabetes Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In this setting, my colleagues and I work as a team to discover the best medical treatments for youth with Type 2 diabetes. We have a comprehensive clinical team that includes gastroenterologists to assess for fatty liver disease, psychologists, nutritionists, certified diabetes educators and social workers. We also work with the bariatric surgery team to understand how bariatric surgery effects youth-onset Type 2 diabetes and its complications.
I have received several awards and honors, including:
BA: Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 2000.
MD: St. George’s University Medical School, Grenada, West Indies, 2004.
Pediatric Residency: Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, 2007.
Endocrine Fellowship: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2010.
Research Fellowship: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2011.
MS: Clinical Research, The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 2011.
Certifications: The American Board of Pediatrics, Subspeciality Board in Pediatric Endocrinology, Clinical Lipidology.
Type 2 diabetes; obesity; primary and secondary lipid disorders; hypertension; general endocrinology
Endocrinology
Type 2 diabetes; type 1 diabetes; cardiovascular risk factors; lipids and lipoproteins
Endocrinology
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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic is Associated with a Substantial Rise in Frequency and Severity of Presentation of Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of Pediatrics. 2022; 251:51-59.e2.
Nutrition interventions for youth with dyslipidemia: a National Lipid Association clinical perspective. Journal of Clinical Lipidology. 2022; 16:776-796.
ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2022: Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. Pediatric Diabetes. 2022; 23:872-902.
Youth-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus: an urgent challenge. Nature Reviews Nephrology. 2022.
Broader Screening for Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes-We Just Are Not There Yet. JAMA Network Open. 2022; 5.
Type 2 diabetes in youth: Rationale for use of off-label antidiabetic agents. Pediatric Diabetes. 2022; 23:615-619.
Keeping Meta-analyses Fresh. JAMA Network Open. 2022; 5.
Longitudinal Changes in Arterial Stiffness and Heart Rate Variability in Youth-Onset Type 1 Versus Type 2 Diabetes: The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study. Diabetes Care. 2022; 45:1647-1656.
Relationship between Arterial Stiffness and Subsequent Cardiac Structure and Function in Young Adults with Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes: Results from the TODAY Study. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. 2022; 35:620-628.e4.
Greasing the inflammatory pathogenesis of viral pneumonias in diabetes. Obesity Reviews. 2022; 23.
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