>> The division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
at Johns Hopkins is the birthplace
of pediatric endocrinology.
Lawson Wilkins was the first pediatric endocrinologist
and he started here.
His trainees went on to spread
pediatric endocrinology practice all over the world.
In our Division,
we continue the tripartite Hopkins mission
of dedicated, compassionate and evidence based clinical care
as well as high-impact and innovative research
and training the next generation
of pediatric endocrinologists.
I started as Division Director in January of 2018
and we have been growing our clinical practice.
We've been growing in Baltimore by seeing more patients
and also to Bethesda, Maryland and Columbia, Maryland.
Seeing all patients allows us to serve the community better.
It also allows us to expand our clinical research
and provides educational opportunities for our trainees.
So we have several exciting things going on in the Division.
First in our Diabetes Center,
so all of our patients with diabetes
are referred once a year to see an ophthalmologist
to screen for diabetic retinopathy.
One of our providers, Dr. Risa Wolf,
she received an Innovation Grant from the Children's Center
and she is going to use a non mydriatic fundus camera
in clinic which will take pictures of the back of the eyes
and will be evaluated by our ophthalmologists.
And that will allow to screen for diabetic retinopathy
without a family having to go to another appointment
at the ophthalmologist.
My own research, I'm currently starting a project
funded by the NIH looking at the effects
of body composition, racial background,
and other risk factors, how those effect your risk
for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
And then two of our faculty,
in terms of clinical innovation,
are starting a diabetes camp this summer.
They're gonna do a one week day camp
in the city of Baltimore so that kids with diabetes
who might not be able to go away to a diabetes camp
can still have fun and learn
and meet other kids with the same condition.
So yes, we have a comprehensive
multi-disciplinary diabetes center.
We see type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes
as well as many of the less common forms or diabetes.
And although, so by and large,
the vast majority of children who have diabetes
have type 1 diabetes.
But with more and more issues
related to excess weight during childhood,
we're seeing more and more type 2 diabetes
which is the type that we previously
almost always saw in adults.
And so what we do,
we bring any child with diabetes into our center,
we have a multi-disciplinary team,
the diabetes clinician, a nutritionist,
a behavioral psychologist, social workers,
physical therapy to work and address
the needs of that individual patient.
Now type 2 diabetes during childhood has been shown to,
it appears to be more aggressive
when it occurs during childhood
compared to when it occurs during adulthood,
and so I think it's really important
that we intervene early.
And so we do definitely want to see patients
who have the pre-diabetes
so that we can address the problems earlier
and try to prevent progression to full-blown diabetes.
There are many useful technologies available
for the care of diabetes.
Our patients with type 1 diabetes often use pumps,
continuous glucose monitors
and our providers are well versed in their utilization.
I think that the thing I'm most proud of are the people.
They're a group of incredibly talented
and compassionate faculty
who are trying to optimize the care of children everywhere.
(children laughing)