Episode 4
Join host Dr. Chase Hendrickson, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Marcela Vargas, expert educator and provider at the University of California, San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Fernando Cassorla, an expert in puberty and Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Chile, as they discuss a recent JCEM article, “Using Kisspeptin to Predict Pubertal Outcomes for Youth with Pubertal Delay.”
Meet the Speakers
Fernando Cassrola, MD, received his medical degree in 1973 from the University of Chile. He completed his Pediatric Residency at Albany Medical Center in New York from 1974-1976, and completed his Fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at The Children´s Hospital of Philadelphia from 1976-1979. Dr. Cassorla has acted as Senior Investigator in the Developmental Endocrinology Branch at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and as Clinical Director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He has an American Board Certification in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology, and has served as a professor and Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Institute of Maternal and Child Research, University of Chile. Dr. Cassorla has also served as the Director of the Institute of Maternal and Child Research; President and Secretary General of the Latin American Society of Pediatric Endocrinology; Principal Investigator of 6 Fondecyt Grants (Chilean Research Council); and the Director of the M.D/Ph.D Program at University of Chile School of Medicine. Dr. Cassorla is a published author of a multitude of articles and book chapters, and acts as a mentor to pediatric fellows in both Chile and at NIH. Dr Cassorla has received numerous awards, including NIH Director´s Award, 1991; Academic Excellence Award, Chilean Society of Pediatrics 2005; Annual Maestro Award, Latin American Society of Pediatric Endocrinology, 2016.
Dr. Marcela Vargas Trujillo is a Pediatric Endocrinologist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. She received her medical degree from the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia. She did her Pediatric Residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and her Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Some of her research has been in the field of neuroendocrinology, specifically, in the area of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and she studied kisspeptin signaling, anatomic distribution, and its control of the menstrual cycle in primates. Her research interests are in the area of the HPG axis. Dr. Vargas treats a variety of endocrine conditions but she has a particular interest in managing patients with disorders of puberty and Differences in Sex Development (DSD). She is the co-director of a multidisciplinary clinic for children with DSD at Rady Children’s Hospital. She has an active role in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows at the University of California in San Diego.
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