Divisional Research Recognition

The Division of Pediatric Urology had two abstracts selected as clinical prize finalists at the Society for Pediatric Urology (SPU) Fall Congress. One of the finalists, “Prospective evaluation of urinary incontinence in morbidly obese adolescents presenting for weight loss surgery”, was a collaborative project with other Cincinnati Children’s divisions and outside institutions. The second abstract, “Clinical and urodynamic outcomes in children with anorectal malformation subtype of recto-bladder neck fistula”, also was collaborative in nature, as it included team members from the Cincinnati Children’s Division of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery.

W. Robert DeFoor, MD, MPH

Dr. DeFoor served as an abstract reviewer for several national and international meetings and conducted a panel on "Kidney Stones" at the Pediatric Urology Fall Congress in Prague, Czech Republic.

Elizabeth C. Jackson, MD and W. Robert DeFoor, MD, MPH

Drs. DeFoor and Jackson presented research at the Society for Pediatric Urology annual meeting in Dallas, September, 2016, on the use of calcium to citrate ratios in the urine of children with stones. This ratio was different between children with on stone compared with children who had recurrent stones, and may help identify children who need to be followed more closely and aggressively.

Denise Ferguson, APRN

Denise Ferguson received a grant from the Cincinnati Children's Cooperative Society for the purchase of bedwetting alarms to use in order to study the most effective way to teach families to use the alarms. Bedwetting alarms lead to the best long term cure of nocturnal enuresis. Using the alarm consistently is difficult for the child and the family. Proper coaching may allow families to continue the alarm use until the child is dry every night.

Elizabeth Mann, PhD, and Melissa Mogle

Dr. Mann and Melissa Mogle have initiated research of a mouse model of bladder organ development with the goal of understanding basic mechanisms of bladder detrusor muscle patterning and growth. Loss of the transcription factor Tcf21 is sufficient to delay muscle formation and leads to a reduction in bladder size. Hope is that further study of this novel molecular pathway will provide new insights into bladder muscle pathology in patients with voiding dysfunction.