The Society for Pediatric Research® is thrilled to introduce the next Best of Science Encore Presentation on Tuesday, October 20 at 12 pm CT, featuring award winning science.
The session will spotlight 2026 SPR Award in Honor of E. Mead Johnson recipient, Timothy Yu, MD, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital, and 2025 Bridging to Success Award recipients, Stephanie Gilley, MD, PhD, University of Colorado, and Maria Barbian, MD, Emory University & Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Dr. Yu is a neurogeneticist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School who leads a team devoted to improving the diagnosis and treatment of rare disease. His group has pioneered new models for delivering bench-to-bedside care, including creating scientific, clinical, and regulatory pathways for individualized medicine.
Dr. Yu is a neurogeneticist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School who leads a team devoted to improving the diagnosis and treatment of rare disease. His group has pioneered new models for delivering bench-to-bedside care, including creating scientific, clinical, and regulatory pathways for individualized medicine. He is founder of the N=1 Collaborative, an independent nonprofit devoted to developing best practices for interventional genetics & precision, mutation-targeted therapies.
Dr. Gilley is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She attended undergraduate at Middlebury College in Vermont which is where she first fell in love with scientific research. She then went to Tufts University in Boston where she graduated with a medical degree and a PhD in genetics.
Dr. Stephanie Gilley is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She attended undergraduate at Middlebury College in Vermont which is where she first fell in love with scientific research. She then went to Tufts University in Boston where she graduated with a medical degree and a PhD in genetics. She completed her residency in pediatrics, a clinical fellowship in pediatric nutrition and obesity medicine, and a T32 research fellowship at the University of Colorado.
Dr. Gilley’s career combines both clinical practice and research centered on improving pediatric nutritional care. Her research focuses on understanding how maternal nutritional status interacts with dietary intake and growth during infancy and early childhood to influence health across the lifespan. She is particularly interested in metabolic outcomes such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Her research portfolio includes a pre-clinical mouse model, a pilot clinical trial, retrospective studies, and leveraging data from existing cohorts. Dr. Gilley’s clinical practice centers on infants, children and adolescents with growth faltering, malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and feeding difficulties.
Dr. Barbian is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics within the Division of Neonatology at Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Barbian investigates the role of maternal microbial metabolites on neonatal intestinal health with the goal of developing novel approaches to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis.
Dr. Barbian is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics within the Division of Neonatology at Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Barbian investigates the role of maternal microbial metabolites on neonatal intestinal health with the goal of developing novel approaches to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis.
Dr. Barbian received her medical degree from Michigan State University and trained in Pediatrics at Levine Children’s Hospital, where she was also a Chief Resident. Dr. Barbian completed her Neonatology fellowship at Emory University in July 2020. During her Neonatology fellowship, Dr. Barbian investigated the role of the antenatal butyrate supplementation on intestinal health by employing mouse models of intestinal injury. Dr. Barbian has expanded this work to investigate how maternal microbial metabolites in pregnancy influence human milk composition and neonatal intestinal health using in vivo and in vitro models of necrotizing enterocolitis. Dr. Barbian’s K08 application (NIDDK) received a score of 27 and has been resubmitted to NICHD.
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About the Society for Pediatric Research®
The Society for Pediatric Research® (SPR) encourages and supports pediatric research endeavors by cultivating a diverse network of child health researchers through collaboration, community, mentorship, and advocacy. 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 LinkedIn, Bluesky, and X.
HOUSTON, November 20, 2025 – The Society for Pediatric Research® (SPR) is pleased to announce the election of 123 new members. Established in 1929, SPR cultivates a diverse network of child health researchers through collaboration, community, mentorship, and advocacy. Connected by a shared mission, SPR members are the voices behind today’s most pressing research and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Active members…
HOUSTON, April 20, 2026 – The Society for Pediatric Research® (SPR) is pleased to announce the 2026 award recipients. SPR awards recognize excellence in pediatric research and honor individuals who have made meaningful contributions to advancing child health. The 2026 award recipients will be honored throughout the 2026 Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting in Boston,…
The Society for Pediatric Research® is proud to announce a new partnership with the Research in Academic Pediatric Investigator Development (RAPID) Program, led by the Academic Pediatric Association (APA). Through mentorship and research opportunities, RAPID targets the professional advancement and leadership development of early clinician-investigators in academic pediatrics. SPR is supporting a RAPID Scholar Award, which provides up to $15,000 in funding for a one-year project.
HOUSTON, October 15, 2024 – The American Pediatric Society (APS) and the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) are pleased to announce Cynthia F. Bearer, MD, PhD, as the 2025 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award recipient. This award honors a pediatric investigator who has made important contributions to neonatal health through basic or translational research. Dr. Bearer is the…
The American Pediatric Society (APS) and the Society for Pediatric Research® (SPR) are pleased to announce Francis Sessions Cole, III, MD, as the 2027 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award recipient. This award honors a pediatric investigator who has made important contributions to neonatal health through basic or translational research.
Faizah Bhatti’s, MD, research focuses on understanding how inflammation increases the risk of abnormal blood vessel development in preterm infants, and ultimately, to find ways to prevent complications related to vascular dysgenesis.
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