Key personnel:
Joseph Stavola, M.D.
Rosemary Johann-Liang, M.D.
David Mc Neeley, M.D.
Ann Margaret Dunn, RN, PNP
Lily Chan, RN, PNP
Kate O'Keefe, RN, FNP
Claire Schuster, RN

Members of the division have expertise in the following:
- chronic ear infection (otitis media)
- sinusitis
- Lyme Disease
- tuberculosis
- HIV-infection and AIDS
- Congenital toxoplasmosis
- bacterial meningitis
- infections associated with asplenia
- Kawasaki Disease
- Infectious mononucleosis and EBV infections
- Hepatitis
- Neonatal sepsis
- Atypical mycobacterial diseases (scrofula)

The Division's laboratory research is focused on the study of host responses to encapsulated bacteria and the definition of innate immunity to Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Other funded laboratory research includes in vitro susceptibility testing of drug resistant gram-positive bacteria, molecular epidemiologic studies of drug-resistant nosocomial infections and studies examining antimicrobial-induced immune deviation.

The Division has clinical research projects involving the following:
- fluoroquinolone therapy for bacterial meningitis
- new antifungal therapies for candida and asperigillus infections in the newborn and immunocompromised
- development of rapid diagnostic tests for bacteremia
- development of PCR-based diagnosis of CMV infection
- new antiviral therapies for HIV-infection in infants and children
- direct-observed therapy for HIV-infection
- evaluation of metabolism and nutrition in HIV-infected and HIV-exposed children

The Program for Children with AIDS is one of the largest and oldest programs in New York that delivers primary health care to children affected by the AIDS epidemic. The Program participates in the National Institute of Health-sponsored Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group. The Program provides comprehensive and compassionate care to children from birth to adulthood that have been exposed or infected with HIV. This care is provided by a cooperative effort of a team of care providers that includes physicians, nurse-practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, a child life therapist, a child psychiatrist and a program chaplain.

Most recently the Program has initiated a Family Center for Care of HIV-infected Parents. The aim of this Center is to deliver health care to parents of HIV-exposed or infected children who are enrolled in the Program for Children with AIDS. It has been established to accommodate an increasing need among parents for access to health care in a convenient and efficient manner that incorporates a philosophy that chronic HIV-associated disease is best treated by considering the support and needs of the family as well as the individual.

Members of the Division have been recipients of awards and grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Foundation for Treatment of Children with AIDS, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Elizabethh Glaser and the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

Education

The Division offers an ACGME-accredited 3-year fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Applications and information should be requested by mailing Dr. Noel, 525 E 68th Street, Box 296, New York, NY 10021.

Contact

Members of the Division can be reached and appointment for a physician can be made by calling (212) 746-3326.

Emergency contacts can be made 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by calling the hospital page operator at (212) 746-6700 and asking to speak to the Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellow on-call.