Welcome to the Pediatrics Diabetes and Endocrinology web site. Look around to see this section's commitment and effort in the areas of clinical services, research, and training.
Clinical Services: Our team provides outstanding care across the state of Oklahoma and surrounding regions, to children and adolescents having any sort of endocrinologic disorder, including diabetes. We pride ourselves in our commitment to respond to the rising demands of this medical field, particularly the recent epidemics of obesity and diabetes. This commitment includes a focus not only on meeting the clinical needs of the patients, families, and referring physicians, but also a commitment to finding cures and better treatments through research into the problems responsible. Our team provides care for children and families of children with endocrinologic disorders, including thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, growth, gonad, metabolism, and disorders of sexual development,. The diabetes team focuses on the education and care of children with diabetes, including type 1, type 2, Cystic Fibrosis-related, and genetic or secondary diabetes. In 2005, we opened the Weight Assessment and Risk Reduction (W.A.R.R.) clinic, to provide a high-level “specialty opinion” for community pediatricians and primary care doctors who asked us to help them deal with the burgeoning number of children and adolescents with obesity. This program not only allows us to advise and educate families struggling with this problem, but also allows us to determine which children are at risk for developing diabetes, and whether a glandular disorder is contributing to the problem.
Our clinics are located in the OU Children’s Physician’s Building on the OU Health Center campus, and in several satellite clinics at Mercy Hospital, and Native American clinics in Ada (Chickasaw), Talihina (Choctaw), Little Axe (Absentee Shawnee), and Shawnee (Citizen Potawatomi).
Our entire program is an integral part of the Oklahoma Diabetes Center (ODC), a recent initiative of the State of Oklahoma, consisting of three components: adult and childhood diabetes care and research, both centered in Oklahoma City, and a Tulsa component.
Research: Currently the Section has 30 active research projects approved by the OUHSC IRB and 12 active GCRC protocols, with 26 peer-reviewed research manuscripts published between 2005 and 2006. In 2006 our Section research activities were funded by more than $2,000,000 in grants, with the great majority coming from the National Institutes of Health. We are especially proud of our Section's involvement in the TODAY study, the first randomized clinical trial for diabetes treatment in children. Several new faculty members have recently joined our program and have greatly expanded the research activities and fellowship training opportunities of our Section. The Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) Diabetes and Metabolic Research Program was established in 2006, thanks to CMRI, a philanthropic institution dedicated solely to the development of pediatric research programs within the OU Department of Pediatrics. Currently the program consists of five $2,000,000 Endowed Chairs for research within our section, supporting research related to diabetes in children. Two of the existing Endowed Chairs were developed in partnership with the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, a testimony to our close working relationships with tribes and our commitment to research involving Native American health. Dr. Steve Chernausek is the Director of the CMRI Diabetes and Metabolic Research Program and Associate Section Chief of Pediatric Diabetes/Endocrinology. The CMRI Program uses state-of-the-art technology to address the metabolic abnormalities associated with diabetes and its causes. All of the methods employed by the CMRI Diabetes and Metabolic Research Center have been developed specifically for research involving children, and are available in only a handful of centers world wide. The CMRI Program also acts as a fertile training ground for Fellows preparing for an academic career in Pediatric Endocrinology.
Teaching: Our section has a long track record in mentoring medical students, residents, and research trainees. Currently we are accepting one Pediatric Endocrinology fellow into each of three years of our fully accredited Fellowship Program.
component.
We hope you enjoy our website and will leave us feedback using the contact information listed below. |
