2025 Southern SPR Annual Meeting – Society for Pediatric Research

Southern Society for Pediatric Research (SSPR) Annual Meeting 2025

On Behalf of Faizah Bhatti, MD MS, Director of Communications, SSPR

HOUSTON, April 8, 2025 – The Southern Society for Pediatric Research (SSPR) held their annual meeting from February 13-15, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The hallmark of SSPR has been showcasing research and academic presentations, trainee and junior faculty mentorship, and networking since the first meeting held in October 1960. SSPR members represent some of the most dedicated academic pediatricians in the Southern Region, but membership is not exclusive to the south and we welcome members from all over North America.

The SSPR annual meeting is held in conjunction with other Participating Sister Societies, including the Academic Pediatric Association, Louisiana Clinical and Translational Research Center, Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translation Research, and the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation.

This year’s meeting was a resounding success with a record-breaking 448 pediatric abstracts submitted! Beyond academic and research presentations, we recognize attendees with numerous awards, organize academic and training workshops and facilitate networking within our membership.

SSPR AWARDS:

Faculty Awards
- Faculty SSPR Founders’ Award: This prestigious legacy award is presented to a member of the SSPR who has made significant contributions to both the health care of children and the activities of the SSPR.
  2025 Recipient: Patty Denning MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics in Neonatology, Emory University, Atlanta
- Faculty SSPR Educator Award: Awarded to an SSPR member who is recognized as an outstanding educator in pediatric medicine.
  2025 Recipient: Annalise Sorrentino MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham
2025 SSPR Young Faculty Travel Awards: Honors and supports travel of outstanding junior faculty. These awards are for work intimately related to pediatric research- 7 total awarded
SSPR Young Investigator Awards: The Young Investigator Awards represent the best abstracts submitted for our annual meeting. They have received the highest scores by our reviewers. Three finalists are selected from both the basic and clinical science categories who are then asked to submit a manuscript of their work prior to the meeting, which is also scored by the judges. Finally, all finalists deliver oral presentations during the Plenary Session of the SSPR annual meeting. One winner is selected from each group and awarded a plaque as well as a monetary prize to help offset cost of travel.
- 2025 SSPR Young Investigator Award -Clinical Science: Ahmad Salah Sami, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- SSPR Young Investigator Award -Clinical Science: Katherine Chetta, Medical University of South Carolina, Darby Children’s Research Institute
SSPR David Oelberg Honorary Trainee Travel Award: Dr. David Oelberg, SSPR Officer-Emeritus, is an outstanding member of the SSPR who served in a variety of roles during his many years of service and leadership. His legacy and contributions to the mission of the SSPR are memorialized by this award. A total of 3 awards were granted:
- Frank Abene, UTHealth, Houston TX
- Amee Amin, Texas Children’s Hospital/ Baylor College of Medicine , Houston TX
- Natalie Lanners, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston TX
2025 SSPR Trainee Travel Awards: These awards are for work intimately related to pediatric research and meant to facilitate and encourage young trainees’ attendance to the meeting.- 23 total awarded

WORKSHOPS, TRAINEE SESSIONS AND INVITED STATE OF THE ART TALKS

Manuscript Preparation & Peer-Reviewed Publication Workshop-
Denise Goodman, MD, Associate Editor, The Journal of Pediatrics,
Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
The Successful Academician-From Patient Care to Research & Back – It’s All About Strategy Workshop-
Leslie Gewin, MD, Washington University in St. Louis
Don Rockey, MD, Medical University of South Carolina
Jesse Roman, MD, Thomas Jefferson University
Obtaining the Fellowship You Desire: Navigating the Specialty Match Workshop-
S. Calvin Thigpen, University of Mississippi Medical Center
Invited State-Of-The-Art Speakers:
- Karl T. Weber Distinguished Lecture in Cardiovascular Medicine
  Bioenergetic Efficiency in Healthy Aging and Sarcopenic Obesity
  Christopher Axelrod, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
- Cardiovascular Club
  Steadfast or Amended Therapy in Protracted Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction
  Thierry Le Jemtel, Tulane University School of Medicine
  Genetic Ablation of Npr1 Provokes Hypertension and Cardiac Dysfunction in Sex-Specific
  Manner
  Kailash Pandey, Tulane University School of Medicine
- Cardiovascular & Pulmonary/Critical Care – Pediatric
  Simulation in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care
  Jennifer Kramer, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital
- Pulmonary/Critical Care
  Therapeutic advances for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
  Chao He, Baylor College of Medicine
- Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension
  Platelets and their inhibitors modulate inflammation in patients with chronic kidney disease
  Nishank Jain, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
- Endocrinology & Metabolism
  Type 2 Diabetes Prevention, Management, and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Young Adults
  Yilin Yoshida, Tulane University School of Medicine
- Neurology and Neurobiology
  Intermittent Hypoxemia in Preterm Infants: Insights into Brain Injury and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
  Elie Abu Jawdeh, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension II
  Implementation of risk-classification systems in acute kidney injury
  Javier Neyra, University of Alabama Birmingham
SSPR Hot Chili Topics- “Collaboration is the Key to Improving Survival for People with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia”, presented by David McCauley MD, University of California San Diego.
SSPR PERINATAL SECTION- Pediatric Nutrition Interest Group Panel Discussion Luncheon
Panel Discussants:
- Erynn M. Bergner, MD, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
- Amy B. Hair, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
- Ariel Salas, MD, MSPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham

PEDIATRIC ACADEMIC SESSIONS

Joint Plenary Poster Session (Joint Sister Societies) Poster Session
SSPR Plenary Session with Basic and Clinical Young Investigator Award competition (oral presentations by finalists) and SSPR Business Meeting
- SSPR President Elect 2025: Ariel Salas, MD, MSPH,
- SSPR Councilors: Quyen Pham MD, Julie Mirpuri, MD, Tara Randis MD
Neonatal Case Report Symposium
Pediatric Clinical Case Symposium
Pediatric Oral Sessions (some combined with adult):
- Adolescent Medicine/Pediatrics
- Cardiovascular & Pulmonary/Critical Care – Pediatric
- Gastroenterology and Nutrition – Pediatric & Neonatal
- Health Care Research, Quality Improvement & Patient Safety
- Infectious Diseases/HIV/AIDS – Pediatric
- Medical Education/Medical Ethics/Advocacy
- Neonatal Clinical Case Symposium
- Neurology/Neurobiology
- Pediatric Clinical Case Symposium
- Perinatal Medicine
- Population Health & Precision Medicine
Joint Plenary Session (Joint Sister Societies) Expert Session Saturday- Updates in Immunology: Across the Lifespan from Newborn
- Pediatric Immunology: Important Pearls for The Early Years- Lisa Forbes Satter MD, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College Of Medicine
- Osteoimmunology: Bench to Bedside- Mary Beth Humphrey MD, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine

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About the Society for Pediatric Research

The Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) encourages and supports pediatric research endeavors by creating a multidisciplinary network of diverse researchers to improve child health. Collaboration among SPR members creates meaningful progress for the future of children’s health. For more information, please visit www.societyforpediatricresearch.org, and follow us on Facebook and X.