2009 DOM Annual Report - Department of Medicine - University of ...

2007With 33 faculty members and a 50-year tradition of excellence inbasic and clinical research, education and patient care, the Divisionof Endocrinology and Metabolism is, without question, one ofthe largest, strongest and most stable in the U.S. and is a leader inacademic, didactic and clinical endocrinology. Interdisciplinaryresearch programs have been emphasized and links forged to thepediatrics research program and the diabetes and osteoporosisprograms at the Graduate School of Public Health.CLINICALThe Endocrinology Division now provides endocrinologyconsultations and care at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside and Magee-Womens Hospital as well as the Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Hospital(VA). Visits to the endocrine clinics averaged 1,200 visits per monthat our Falk Endocrinology Clinic alone, despite undergoing extensiverenovations. Additionally, our Mt. Lebanon and Monroeville sitesaveraged 118 visits and 74 visits per month, respectively. We havedeveloped and validated a database of 107,000 patients with diabeteswho were cared for in the 19 UPMC hospitals and their associatedoutpatient facilities and clinics in Western Pennsylvania. Remarkably,this is the largest diabetes registry of unselected patients in the U.S.We have also developed one of the largest ADA-certified diabeteseducator networks in the U.S.RESEARCHFaculty within the Division received over $5 million in researchsupport. Areas of clinical research excellence include clinicaldiabetes, obesity, calcium metabolism and osteoporosis, and thyroidcancer. Areas of excellence in basic research include diabetes, insulinresistance, pancreatic beta cell function, survival and regeneration,osteoblast and osteoclast biology, and arterial smooth muscle inhealth and disease. Research is supported by an National Institutes ofHealth (NIH) Training Grant, now in its 39th year, which was recentlyrenewed, by the NIH-funded Clinical Translational Research Centerand by the NIH-funded Obesity and Nutrition Research Center.Outstanding facilities for microarray gene profiling, DNA and proteinsynthesis and sequencing, animal care, proteomics, cellular imaging,and bioinformatics and biostatistics are available.“...the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism is,without question, one of the largest, strongest andmost stable in the U.S. and is a leader in academic,didactic and clinical endocrinology. “and occur at our University, Magee-Womens Hospital, UPMCShadyside, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the PittsburghVA. Training excellence is documented by a 100% passage rate onthe Endocrinology Board exams for the past 29 years, by the largeproportion of training graduates who enter academic careers, and bythe excellent scoring of our NIH Training Grant.QUALITYThe Division of Endocrinology has been actively involved in improvingthe safe management of hospitalized patients with diabetes or newlyrecognizedhyperglycemia. Members of the Division of Endocrinology,together with the Department of Anesthesia and the UPMC DiabetesPatient Safety Committee, have developed and implemented aprotocol entitled Pre-operative Instructions for Patients with Diabetes.TEACHINGThe Endocrine Fellowship Program has received approval to increasethe program by an additional two slots beginning July 1, 2008.Recent and current fellows have trained at Columbia, Brown, Pitt,Penn, Jefferson, Cornell, Harvard, Northwestern and other excellentinstitutions. Training in clinical endocrinology is intense, rich,high-volume, and exceptionally diverse. Teaching and supervisionare equally outstanding. Research and clinical care are exemplary19