SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2010: Kawasaki Disease Parent Symposium, 9 AM-12 PM/Price Center Theatre, UC San Diego KD Benefit Gala, 5:30 PM at La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, CA. This Symposium will be hosted by the Kawasaki Disease Research Center, Department of Pediatrics. All are invited to attend.

Amidst the largest outbreak of whooping cough in decades, public health officials in California are urging residents, particularly pregnant women and those who come into contact with infants, to make sure they're immunized for the highly contagious disease.

Some bacteria in south Asia have learned a new way to deactivate the antibiotics that usually kill them, according to a new study, raising concerns about a novel wave of drug-resistant "superbugs" that travelers could spread world-wide.The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is common, but raises concerns when the new superbugs cause disease, according to Dr. Nizet, a professor of pediatrics and pharmacy UC San Diego, who does research on bacterial infections.

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE ) and the Moores Cancer Center announced a partnership to use SOLiD(TM) 4 genomic analysis technology in a research program to study chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a cancer of the white blood cells.

Amongst the many exciting events occurring department-wide, we are thrilled to introduce our new Chief Residents in the Pediatrics Department – Dr. Grant Keeney, Dr. Loren Sacks, and Dr. Waheeda Samady for the 2010-2011 academic year.

In an investigative study published in May 2010 Issue of PLoS One, Dr. Donald Durden, Vice Chair of Research, Pediatrics, UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital, teamed up with Dr. Craig Castellino at Emory University to report a new role for the PI-3 kinase signaling pathway in a pediatric brain tumor. Dr. Durden, who developed the first PI-3 kinase inhibitor to enter human clinical trials in cancer cells, has discovered a new marker for tumor-growth and prognosis in medulloblastoma: PTEN expression.

Dr. Marty Stein, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Child Development and Community Health, UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital,was featured on the front cover of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics which was sent to 70,000 pediatricians nationwide together with their May issue of Pediatrics.

Dr. Gabriel G. Haddad, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, UC San Diego, and Physician-in-Chief, Rady Children’s Hospital, has been awarded a $10 million Program Project Grant from the NIH (Heart, Lung and Blood Institute). A world renowned physician-scientist in pediatric pulmonary medicine, Dr. Haddad will lead a collaborative team of investigators from UCSD and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, to study the impact of low oxygen on cells and tissue in the heart, lung, and brain.

June 24th – Dr. Albert La Spada – Division Chief of Genetics in UC San Diego’s Department of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, recently identified Nna proteins as key players in the dramatic loss of neurons in mice and fly models, a discovery that could help illuminate the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in human neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.