We are excited to congratulate Pediatrics department members recently inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA). Election to Alpha Omega Alpha signifies a lasting commitment to scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service. Membership in the society confers recognition of someone’s dedication to the profession and art of healing. Many congratulations to Laura Rachal, MD, Alhaji Mohammed, MD, and Chris Okorieocha, MD.

Join Sepsis Alliance for the fifth annual Pediatric Sepsis Week, April 16th to 22rd, to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis in children, recognize the 75,000 children who develop sepsis each year in the U.S, and honor those who have passed. This annual observance will be held the third week of April.

Peyton Thompson, MD, MSCR, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the division of Infectious Diseases, and Kate Westmoreland, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the division of Hematology-Oncology, have both received 2023 Caregivers at Carolina Research Awards.

Matthew Vogt, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology, is the 2022 recipient of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society’s Hall Award for Clinically Innovative Research Paper. The award is presented annually to a junior or mid-career investigator who is the first or senior author of a paper that best illustrates the innovative approach to clinical research demonstrated by Dr. Caroline Hall, for whom the award is named.

Bryce Duncan joined the joined the Department of Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases on October 17, 2022. Dr. Duncan earned his PhD in at the Joint School for Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at UNC at Greensboro in 2017. Dr. Duncan completed post doctoral training with the Maness Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Welcome to Pediatrics Bryce!

Matthew Vogt, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics and microbiology & immunology talks with NeurologyLive and Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association (SNRA) about acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), poliomyelitis, and the need to improve awareness as peak infection months draw near.

Peyton Thompson, MD, Assistant Professor in Pediatric Infection Diseases, is the recipient of a 2022 Early-Career Physician Scientists Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

We are excited to recognize our faculty and trainees for their recent Academy of Educator (AOE) accomplishments.  We are so grateful for their enthusiasm, dedication, and talents as UNC AOE educators. Founded in 2006, the Academy of Educators is designed to emphasize teaching and support faculty development both in Chapel Hill and across the state.

Matthew Vogt, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and of Microbiology & Immunology, has been granted an R01 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated a critical need to establish a pre-emptive stockpile of tangible immunobiological countermeasures to accelerate the response to potential pandemic threats. To address this need we have established a pandemic response repository through microbial and immunological surveillance and epidemiology (PREMISE) initiative.