Department of Pediatrics - General Pediatrics Research

Former and Current Fellows

Collectively, our former fellows since 1990 have over 250 peer - reviewed publications. Find below the research interests of our current and past fellows since 2000. We welcome you to visit Health Services Research activities in the Department of Pediatrics.

Meera Beharry, M.D - current fellow

Jane Brotanek, M.D.

• MPH thesis bridging two worlds: Latino asthma practices and standard medical therapy. Qualitative research project designed to 1) to describe local (Rochester area) Latino cultural beliefs about asthma and its treatment, and 2) to explore whether these asthma beliefs/practices might be barriers to standard medical therapy and successful treatment outcomes
• Work to study iron deficiency, prolonged bottle-feeding, and racial/ethnic disparities in young children

Kelly Brown, M.D. - current fellow

• Improving health behaviors and health outcomes for vulnerable populations
•  Medical education and communication  

Melissa Cellini, M.D. - current fellow

Stephen Cook, M.D., M.P.H.

• Medical record review to measure rate of overweight children in a general pediatric practices and concordance with Body Mass Index screening
• Data analysis of waist circumference among children
• Data analysis of tobacco exposure among children

Mark Craig, M. D. - current fellow

Sara Eleoff, M.D. - current fellow

• Kinship care

• Improving the health of children in foster care

Jennifer Foltz, M.D., M.P.H.

• Pediatric Obesity

Shalini Forbis, M.D., M.P.H.

• Impact of parental literacy on health
• Improved care for underserved

Karen Nead (Gnuse), M.D.

• Evaluation of the association between overweight children/adolescents and adolescents and iron deficiency
• Investigation of the influence of location of residence on the prevalence of overweight in adolescents

Maggie Holland, Ph.D., M.P.H. - current fellow

• Improved outcomes for underserved populations
• Parent / child interactions with respect to health care and outcomes
• Child health care utilization

Stephen North, M.D., M.P.H.

• Father involvement in children’s lives
• Rural healthcare

Heather Paradis, M.D., M.P.H..

• Preventing behavioral problems in young children

Cynthia Rand, M.D., M.P.H.

• Adolescent vaccination acceptance, quality improvement in primary care counseling, access to reproductive health for adolescent women

Ted Sigrest, M.D.

• Evaluating and monitoring family-centered care in pediatric inpatient care

Heidi Smith, M.D., M.P.H.

• Pediatric obesity
• Medical-legal partnerships in pediatric residency education

Susanne Tanski, M.D.

• Anticipatory guidance for injury prevention at well-child and injury visits: missed appointments for the teachable moment
• School readiness and prenatal smoke exposure among children in the Rochester City School District
• Periodic survey of AAP pediatricians on tobacco cessation counseling and attitudes

Danielle Thomas-Taylor, M.D.

• Post intervention survey of pediatricians' screening practices concerning domestic violence
• Benefits and barriers to a multidisciplinary approach to domestic violence: assessing the partnership of Alternatives for Battered Women and Child Protective Services

Karen Wilson, M.D., M.P.H.

• Exposure of hospitalized children to secondhand tobacco smoke
• Biochemical effects of secondhand tobacco smoke in children
• Promotion of high quality research among pediatric residents and hospitalists

Daniel Yawman, M.D.

• Development of an educational curriculum for health promotion for children of migrant farm workers
• Survey research project to investigate residents and medical students who use Spanish as a second language in a clinical setting