Sonya Tang Girdwood, MD, PhD

I chose to specialize in hospital medicine because it allows me to collaborate with other subspecialties in the care of pediatric patients. I enjoy the acute-care aspect of hospital medicine and have the opportunity to develop relationships with the families of children with medically complex illnesses admitted to our inpatient unit.

Early on, I realized information regarding appropriate drug dosing in medically complex or critically ill children was lacking. So, my research explores how to personalize the dosing of antibiotics and other medications in critically ill patients and patients with complex diseases.

I focus on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antibiotics, specifically beta-lactams, in critically ill children. Additionally, I strive to better understand the timely transition of intravenous to enteral antibiotics in hospitalized children. Today, my clinical work informs my research so that any newly discovered information can impact my patient’s care.

As a clinical fellow, I received several notable awards, including:

• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Arnold Strauss Fellow Award
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medicine Fellow Award
• Gerber Foundation Research Novice Award

As a faculty member, in addition to serving on the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Career Development Committee, I am also a member of their Scientific Programming Committee for the national conference. Locally, I am a co-director of the Genetic Pharmacology Service and the T32 Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology Fellowship.

During my first two years on faculty, I was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) K12 Child Health Research Career Development Award to study the impact of piperacillin/tazobactam pharmacokinetics on kidney injury. I’m currently funded by a National Institute of General Medicine Sciences (NIGMS) R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award to continue building the evidence of precision dosing of antibiotics in critically ill children.