Department of Pediatrics

May 19, 2025

New study highlights improved treatment approach for people with mild asthma

A multicenter trial found that adding budesonide, an inhaled steroid, to albuterol significantly reduced severe asthma attacks compared to using albuterol alone.

By Christina Echegaray
May 8, 2025

Newer preventive options helping reduce RSV-associated hospitalization rates among infants

For decades no effective preventive options existed, and the tools now exist to prevent severe disease.

By Jessica Pasley
Jill Simmons, MD, and John Shelley found that adding a genetic measure of height to the evaluation of children with short stature might improve diagnosis and clinical outcomes. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
April 25, 2025

Polygenic score for height could improve diagnosis for children with short stature: study

Even after comprehensive testing, about 30% of children with short stature — height below the third percentile on a growth chart — do not have a definitive diagnosis, leading to extended surveillance, testing and anxiety.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 21, 2025

Neurodevelopmental care initiative supports infants and young children exposed to opioids in utero

SHINE program offers neurodevelopmental care embedded within a medical home for infants and young children with neonatal opioid exposures.

By Jessica Pasley
John Morris Jr., MD. (photo by Susan Urmy)
April 18, 2025

Veteran Emergency Operations leader John Morris Jr. to pass torch to Tucker Anderson, Michael Smith

Anderson and Smith have been named co-medical directors and will succeed Morris, who is stepping down from the role after over a decade of leadership.

By Evan Dorian
April 15, 2025

VUMC researchers report the number of children with autism in Tennessee has doubled in the past decade

CDC releases new autism data highlighting early identification trends, prevalence and differences across the U.S.

By Danny Bonvissuto
April 9, 2025

Final floor’s opening completes expansion of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt

Monroe Carell now has a footprint of more than 1 million square feet and 363 beds, making it the largest pediatric hospital in Tennessee.
By Christina Echegaray
April 8, 2025

New initiative, Champ’s Cupboard, aids families with nutrition access issues

The food resource program is designed to serve as a bridge for families with nutrition access issues.
By Jessica Pasley
April 2, 2025

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt hosts children’s hospital leaders from around the country

The Children’s Hospital Association is a member organization representing more than 220 children’s hospitals nationwide.
By Christina Echegaray
March 24, 2025

Benedetti, Doupnik and Hine elected to Society of Pediatric Research

The society provides a forum for young investigators to exchange ideas and encourages research that benefits the well-being of children.
By Christina Echegaray
March 20, 2025

Primary Care Autism Team honored for developing new care pathway

“This program dramatically improved continuity of care, implementation of best practices, and patient/provider education.”
By Leigh MacMillan
March 11, 2025

Juan Carlos Salazar named chair of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt

A nationally and internationally recognized pediatric infectious diseases specialist and investigator, Salazar joins VUMC with more than three decades of experience in academic leadership, medical education and NIH-funded research.
By John Howser
March 5, 2025

Team finds a better way to identify newborns at risk for opioid withdrawal

By 2017, on the back of the opioid crisis, the rate of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome in the U.S. was estimated to have reached 7.3 per 1000 deliveries. Meanwhile, many newborns exposed to opioids in utero never develop the syndrome and must undergo needless monitoring in the hospital after birth.
By Paul Govern