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DOCTOR VISITS
UB MED DOCTOR VISITS
CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH SLEEP PROBLEMS
Amanda Hassinger, MD ’05, clinical associate professor of pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, vividly recalls the moment when her career as a pediatric sleep specialist began.
While attending patients in the pediatric ICU during a busy overnight shift, she was unable to discharge a child with suspected sleep apnea. No pediatric sleep doctor was available, nor was there a sleep lab for a diagnosis. “It wasn’t safe for him to go home,” Hassinger explains. Yet the child’s bed was needed for another child who was in shock and potentially near death. A tense conversation with the pulmonologist led to the realization that a sleep center for children was vital in such a situation. “What would it take to get one, and how long would it take?” Hassinger asked the pulmonologist. The answer: one year. “That was how it all started,” says Hassinger, now medical director of the UBMD Pediatrics Sleep Lab at Oishei Children’s Hospital.
At that point, Hassinger had a decade of experience in pediatric critical care, both in her native Buffalo and at Northwestern University/Children’s Memorial Hospital, where she completed her pediatrics residency and a fellowship in pediatric critical care. Eventually she returned to Buffalo to the pediatric intensive care unit at what was then Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. She earned a master of science degree in epidemiology from the
UB School of Public Health and Health Professions in 2015 and completed a sleep fellowship in 2020. She then worked with her colleagues to establish the UBMD Pediatrics Sleep Medicine Center with a pediatric-dedicated sleep lab that opened in July of 2020. By The center provides medical support for all sleep problems in Ann Whitcher Gentzke children, including nightmares, sleep walking, insomnia, sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Hassinger has a longstanding interest in research and has worked on several multicenter, NIH-funded trials in the pediatric ICU. Currently, she is working on funding for an ancillary study to a large 10site project led by Sapna R. Kudchadkar, MD, PhD, at Johns Hopkins University, to address early mobility intervention for critically ill children in pediatric ICUs. Heavy sedation, bedrest and delirium all contribute to immobility, yet fewer than 25 percent of critically ill children mobilize early in their PICU stay. Hassinger’s portion of the study would evaluate children’s sleep in the PICU at two sites, using wrist devices and sound and light monitors, as well as parental descriptions of how their child has slept. “We would like to see if any of these factors change how long they’re in the ICU, and how often they develop delirium, because children absolutely develop delirium from being critically ill,” she says. Asked what gives her joy professionally, Hassinger says: “My patients! I find children remarkable and lovely and surprising and resilient. From my time in the ICU, I have amazing memories of what children survive and how they endure. I love it when we help a child sleep better, and they feel better and the whole family feels better.”
HEALTHY CHILDREN, HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Sarah Ventre, MD, MPH, pediatrician and advocate
After double majoring in biomedical science and anthropology at UB, with a minor in Spanish, Sarah Ventre took part in two summer health internships in Nicaragua.
She then enrolled in the combined MD/MPH program at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, choosing this track to better prepare herself to address health at a community level and to advocate for the health of her patients. During this time, she focused her public health projects on improving health care for refugee patients in the Syracuse area and participated in an infectious disease internship in Thailand.
Through these experiences, Ventre realized that pediatric primary care was the right fit for her. “I knew this would afford me the most opportunity to engage with children and families longitudinally—and to be a part of their preventive health care starting at a young age,” Ventre says.
After completing a pediatric residency at the University of Rochester and an additional year as chief resident, Ventre returned to her hometown of Buffalo with the goal of growing roots in an urban clinic.
She joined the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2019 as a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and sees patients through the UBMD Pediatrics practice plan at Oishei Children’s Hospital and Niagara Street Pediatrics.
Ventre’s research focuses on exploring solutions to health equity and the social determinants of health through methods that include community-based participatory research. As associate program director for advocacy in the Department
By of Pediatrics, she develops and organizes the community health Dirk Hoffman and advocacy curriculum for pediatric resident education at the Jacobs School. Ventre also serves as co-medical director for the Buffalo Public Schools, working directly with its Department of Student Support Services to provide medical advice. “Through a collaborative team approach, we do our best to assist the district in delivering health services that are evidence-based and meet the needs of the students,” she says. In 2021, Ventre participated in a Pediatrics for Equitable Developmental Start Learning Network fellowship through the United Hospital Fund—a 15-month leadership program that focuses on reducing inequities in child health by providing funding and mentorship to develop, implement and evaluate a pediatric primary care project. “My project focused on addressing food insecurity through implementation of an indoor community garden and produce prescriptions in an outpatient pediatric clinic,” she says. Ventre’s expertise in community health and advocacy dovetails seamlessly with her passion for pediatric medicine. “I have the joy of interacting with youth at critical and everchanging moments in their lives,” she says.
