General Pediatrics

The Division of General Pediatrics is committed to fostering optimal health and well-being of children, families and communities.

To realize this mission, we provide exceptional clinical care in partnership with families, teach evidence-based clinical pediatrics to the next generation of pediatric health-care providers, and pursue original research and vigorous advocacy around issues important to children, families and the public. Our activities place special emphasis on caring for children with special healthcare needs, including disadvantaged children, children growing up in low-income families, and children with complex and chronic health conditions.

The Division of General Pediatrics continues to provide the majority of pediatric primary care to Hartford’s children through the ambulatory and primary care clinics at Connecticut Pediatrics at Community Health Center (CHC), Inc., Connecticut Children’s Primary Care East/West, and the Burgdorf/Bank of America Health Center. This year our West Hartford primary care site relocated to Farmington. Primary Care West is now housed in a beautiful new Connecticut Children’s facility, along with Adolescent Medicine. Members of the Division of General Pediatrics provide ambulatory care to infants, children, and adolescents, and inpatient care in the newborn nurseries at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT, and John Dempsey Hospital/University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, CT, and at Connecticut Children’s for children with lead poisoning. Our ambulatory services include health supervision, behavioral health care, chronic disease management, and urgent care using a medical home model. The division houses innovative, community-wide clinical programs such as the Hartford Regional Lead Poisoning Treatment Center and the Reach Out and Read literacy program. Division faculty have gained regional and national prominence for clinical research, education, and program development in the fields of lead poisoning and prevention, integrated behavioral health, early obesity prevention and emergent literacy promotion.

In 2020, the division welcomed two talented new faculty members: Abraham Khorasani, MD, and Erin Pastor, DO, MS. Dr. Khorasani is a former Connecticut Children’s resident and chief resident with special interests in medical education and urgent care. He sees primary care patients and teaches at the CHC primary care site in Hartford. Dr. Pastor is also a former Connecticut Children’s resident. She sees patients and teaches at the Burgdorf site. Christine Chew, PhD, joined our Farmington site as an integrated primary care health psychologist. This year also marked the retirement of Patricia Joyce, MD, after many years of service to the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and roles as clerkship director of ambulatory pediatrics and medical director of St. Francis/UConn Primary Care Services.

Faculty members in the division play a central role in education in the University of Connecticut system by providing the majority of pediatric primary care and newborn nursery educational experiences for medical students and pediatric residents in the region. Rotating learners from UConn and other institutions include family practice residents, dental residents, psychiatry residents, and students from nurse practitioner, physician assistant and medical assistant programs. Division members serve on a wide variety of hospital, university and state committees. Membership on national committees includes the National Center for Culture Competence Advisory Group (Alberto Cohen-Abbo, MD), the Reach Out and Read National Medical Advisory Committee (division chief Catherine Wiley, MD) and the Society for Pediatric Dermatology Education Committee (Keri Wallace, MD). Dr. Wallace was appointed as core faculty lead to develop and restructure the pediatric dermatology rotation and curriculum. Research interests in the division include emergent literacy, cultural competence, immunization, obesity, and screening in primary care. Division members collaborate in a wide variety of projects, including the Asthma Center’s Easy Breathing© program and various co-management protocols with Connecticut Children’s pediatric subspecialists. In response to the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, primary care launched a highly successful telehealth program across all sites. Faculty members incorporated residents and medical students into this clinical experience. Andrew Carlson, MD, was appointed as a core faculty lead by the pediatric residency program to develop a formal primary care telehealth curriculum.

Melissa Held, MD, and Patricia Joyce, MD, have continued to transform the highly regarded mDelta Ambulatory Pediatrics Clerkship, now in its fourth year. Grael O’Brien, MD, MPH, continues as site director for CORNET (Continuity Clinic Research Network) of the Academic Pediatric Association and has been active on the UConn School of Medicine Curriculum Reform Committee. Dr. Wiley continues her advocacy work in the area of emergent literacy and is medical director of Reach Out and Read Connecticut. She also serves as co-chair of the Department of Public Health State Health Improvement Project (Healthy Connecticut 2020) Immunization Committee. Jody Terranova, DO, was appointed to the Science Subcommittee of the Governor’s Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Group.

Jennifer Haile, MD, received a continuing grant from the Connecticut Department of Public Health for the Hartford Regional Lead Poisoning Treatment Center. Nancy Trout, MD, MPH, and Stacy Chandna, MS, CIP, continue their early childhood obesity prevention project, “Start Childhood Off Right,” funded by the Kohl’s Cares foundation. Dr. Trout also completed a practice-based quality improvement intervention and co-management guideline for early childhood obesity prevention supported by the Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI). In partnership with the Village for Families and Children, Drs. Wiley, Karen Rubin, MD, and Larry Scherzer, MD, MPH, completed a three-year grant from United Health Foundation, “Two Generation Pediatrics: Integrating Intergenerational Family Services into Primary Care,” which developed a sustainable model of interdisciplinary primary-behavioral health care and care coordination at the East/West primary care sites.

STAFF

Catherine Wiley, MD, Division Chief Anton Alerte, MD Caroline Amin, MD Andrew Carlson, MD Alberto Cohen-Abbo, MD Glenn Flores, MD Jennifer Haile, MD Shannon Hogan, DO, MPH Jaye Ladinsky Horowitz, MD Patricia Joyce, MD Abraham Khorasani, MD Douglas MacGilpin, MD Lisa Menillo, MD Amira Mohamed-Ahmed, MD Grael O’Brien, MD, MPH Chinyere Okoronkwo, MD Aruna Ramanan, MD Marie Sanford, MD Larry Scherzer, MD, MPH Jody Terranova, DO Latesha Dawson Thomas, MD, CLC Nancy Trout, MD, MPH Keri Wallace, MD Caleb Wasser, DO

Lisa Backus, PhD Christine Chew, PhD Amy Signore, PhD

Darlene Abbate, APRN Julia Christofori, APRN Sheryl Combs, APRN Keith Ellis, APRN Kimberly Griffith, PA-C Kara Haladyna, APRN Monica Joyce-Montaudy, APRN Dianne Powers, APRN