Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Pediatric Infectious Diseases

CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES/TRAINING PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Andrea Kovacs, MD
RESEARCH INTEREST: Pathogenesis of disease and role of viral infections; assessing the impact of three viruses, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human cytomegalovirus (CMV) on immunopathogenesis, and HIV prevention and HIV compartmentalization in the female genital tract and the CNS.

TRAINING PROGRAM CO-DIRECTOR: Mikhaela Cielo, MD

ASSOCIATES/DIVISION MEMBERS

• James Homans, MD
• Alice Stek, MD
• Francoise Kramer, MD
• Eva Operskalski, PhD
• Toni Frederick, PhD
• Lashonda Spencer, MD
• Allison Bearden, MD

TITLE(S) OF RECENT FELLOWS’ PUBLISHED PAPERS OR RESEARCH PROJECTS:

• Van Winden KR, Bearden A, Kono N, Frederick T, Operskalski, E, Stek A, Pandian R, Barton L, Kovacs A.  Low Vitamin D is Associated with Preterm Birth and Low Birth Weight Infants in a Cohort of Pregnant HIV-Infected Women Sampled over a 23-Year Period.  Poster presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine – The Pregnancy Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, January 23-28, 2017.
• Bearden A, VanWinden K, Stek A, Frederick T, Operskalski E, Barton L, Kono N, Pandian R, Kovacs A. Low Vitamin D is Associated with Mother-to-Child-Transmission of Cytomegalovirus in Women with HIV.  ID Week, New Orleans, October 2016.
• Bearden A, Silvagio J, Terashita D, Marquez P, Mascola L. Impact of a Public Health Officer Order Mandating Health Care Personnel Vaccination in Los Angeles County.  Accepted for presentation at IDWeek October 2015, San Diego, CA.
• Ho CH, Bearden A, Lewis K, Sequeira P, Homans J. A 14-year-old girl with hip pain and fever after a skateboard fall. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2014;33(6):667.

GRANT FUNDING RECEIVED FOR FELLOW RESEARCH PROJECTS:
PROTOCOL NUMBER: HS-14-00074 HS-14-00074
TITLE: Vitamin D and the Mother-to-Child Transmission of Human Cytomegalovirus among women infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

MAJOR FEATURES OF TRAINING PROGRAM:

The goal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellowship program is to provide extensive training in clinical infectious diseases and a strong foundation in research to prepare the next generation of pediatric infectious disease specialists. Our program is a three year ACGME accredited program that prepares pediatricians for the infectious diseases subspecialty board certification.

During the training period fellows will spend 14 months on clinical rotations, including experience on the adult infectious diseases service and at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The remainder of the training will be spent designing and completing a research project. This program will create pediatric infectious disease experts with the clinical skills to manage both inpatient and outpatient infections and train physicians in the scientific study, design and conduct of scientific research.

AFFILIATED HOSPITALS: Los Angeles County Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

FELLOWS ACCEPTED EACH YEAR: 1

TRAINING FOR: MD; DO; MD, PhD

FUNDING IS ENSURED FOR ALL 3 YEARS:YES

VISAS ACCEPTED: J1

IS COMPLETION OF PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY TRAINING IN THE U.S. OR CANADA A REQUIREMENT? YES

THE PROGRAM OFFERS THE FOLLOWING TRAINING:

Program provides training in diagnostic microbiology using laboratories on site:

•  Microbiology laboratory:  YES
• Clinical virus isolation laboratory: YES
• Molecular diagnostics: YES

Program provides training in infection control and hospital epidemiology as:

• Didactic lectures:  YES
• Hands on experience: YES
• Infection Control Meetings/Membership: YES

Opportunityto fulfill the ABP requirements for scholarly activity is available in the following general areas:

• Bacteriology/bacterial infections: YES
• Epidemiology and statistics: YES
• Infection control/hospital epidemiology: YES
• Immunizations/Public health: YES
• Mycology/fungal infections: YES
• Parasitology/parasitic diseases: YES
• Virology/viral diseases: YES
• Antimicrobial agents: YES

Research opportunities in the section’s program could be describes as:

• Basic (bench): YES
• Molecular: YES
• Translational: YES
• Epidemiologic: YES
• Clinical: YES
• International/Public Health: YES
• Health Services: YES
• HIV, Basic: YES
• HIV, Clinical: YES
• ACTG Site: YES

Documented liaison exists offering opportunities for research experience n the laboratory of investigator(s) who is (are) not faculty of the section: YES

Program offers the opportunity to obtain a Master’s degree in a field such as Public Health, Education, Clinical Sciences, or Epidemiology (assuming appropriate arrangements are made): YES

Graduate school courses are available to trainee (assuming appropriate arrangements are made): YES

Program provides substantial clinical experiences for trainees in special areas/hosts:

• HIV: YES
• Bone marrow transplantation: YES
• Solid organ/transplantation: YES
• Travelers/adoptees: YES
• Adults: YES
• Congenital immune deficiencies: YES

Program includes ABP-required core curricula in scholarly activities in didactic lecture course for fellows (includes epidemiology, statistics, research design, and academic careers): YES

Program has an NIH-sponsored training grant: NO

The Infectious Diseases Service is the primary care provider for HIV-infected children and adolescents: YES

Average number of new outpatient consultations per month: 5

Average number of established outpatient follow-up visits per month: 20

Average number of new inpatient consultations per month: 25

Number of trainees completing program in the last 5 years: 3