It is with mixed emotions that I draft my first installment of Alumni Notes. As most of you know, Dr. Pat Pasquariello wrote this column for as many years as it has been published. Dr. Pat was the heart and soul of the Alumni Organization; he served as our collective historian (and brain!), hosted our meetings in his office, and supported our traditions and new initiatives. With his passing this fall, I have volunteered to take over this column. The entire CHOP community will miss Dr. Pat greatly, but I will have the pleasure of thinking of him every time I sit down to write Alumni Notes.

To honor Dr. Pat in a small way, the Division of General Pediatrics is launching a new teaching initiative we call “Dr. Pat’s Pics.” CHOP faculty will submit classic photographs of common and uncommon pediatric diseases and other findings (radiographs, etc.) that will be sent out daily to clerkship students to research and present each morning to our pediatric residents and attending physicians on morning rounds. We see this as a win-win-win! The students learn pediatrics, they have an opportunity to provide a short presentation, and we all get to honor Dr. Pat daily. If you would like to participate, please send me a quality photograph (with the appropriate consent) along with a 1- or 2-sentence description, and we will add it to the Dr. Pat teaching library. My email is christian@email. chop.edu, and I welcome your contributions.

In reviewing recent Alumni Notes, I came across Dr. Pat’s motto for this column:

Keep … Tradition, Keep … in Mind, Keep … in Touch

In that spirit, the Alumni Organization will Keep … Tradition by hosting CHOP alumni receptions at the Pediatric Academics Society meeting this spring in Baltimore. I look forward to welcoming old and new friends to our lively, fun reception. Last fall, CHOP also hosted a reception at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Washington, DC. We will continue to alert you to upcoming gatherings and hope you will always find time to join us for reminiscing and comradery.

As for Keep … in Mind, the Alumni Organization is grateful for the great generosity of our faculty and graduates. The Alumni Giving Fund was established to provide valuable educational opportunities to our residents and fellows, and we continue to support the educational mission of the Hospital in a number of ways. Every gifts matters, and your support at any level will make an impact. You can visit www.chopalumni.org to make a contribution.

And finally, Keep ... in Touch! If you have any news about yourself or your CHOP friends, please share with me so that I can spread the word here. As an example, this past month I attended a meeting for the American Board of Pediatrics, and with me at the meeting were 2 of my fellow CHOP residents from 1985-88, Jim Callahan and Marian Michaels. In addition, there were a number of alumni at the meeting, including Steve Selbst, Tony Woodward, Paul Ishimine, Rob Cloutier, Kammy McGann, and Gary Marshall. That is a lot of CHOP representation at one meeting! It was fun seeing old friends.

I hope you all had some relaxing time with family and friends this holiday season. Please stay in touch with me or via the CHOP alumni email alumni@email.chop.edu. You, too, can see your name in print in this column—and it’s OK with me if you put that on your CV!

Best wishes,

Cindy Christian, MD 
Alumni Editor

Honors and Awards

  • Anna Meadows, MD, a pioneer in the treatment of retinoblastoma as well as cancer survivorship and CHOP oncologist emeritus, was recognized at the 2015 Wills Eye Hospital Ball for her contributions to the field of pediatric and adult eye cancer.
  • Pediatric rheumatologist Pamela Weiss, MD, MSCE, clinical research director, Division of Rheumatology, received the Spondylitis Association of America Bruckel Young Investigator Award in honor of her contributions to the understanding of juvenile spondyloarthritis.
  • Steven D. Douglas, MD, chief, Section of Immunology, delivered the Paradigm Builder Lecture to the International Society for NeuroVirology. The Lectureship Award recognizes a leading investigator for a systematic body of scientific research in neurovirology.
  • Theoklis E. Zaoutis, MD, PhD, MSCE, chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, won the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society Distinguished Service Award. The award was in recognition of his leadership of the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and his guidance of the Value of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Initiative for the society.