Alumni Weekend 2023 was a HIT!
Alumni Weekend returned on the weekend of March 31-April 1st. There was record attendance at many events. Attendees were thrilled to see each other and reunite in Cincinnati for a weekend full of fun and fellowship.
The weekend kicked off with a gathering of our Cincinnati Children’s Latin America Chapter! The group met at Juniper’s in Covington, KY and was an enthusiastic crowd.
The Cincinnati Pediatric Society sponsored education on Friday morning, “Anxiety, Depression, & STIs, Oh My!: An Overview of Adolescent Health.” The event was held at the Sabin Auditorium on Cincinnati Children’s campus. Topics included: Sexually Transmitted Infections, Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, and Vaping. Sessions were recorded and CME credit is still available. Links to the archive can be found in the Education section of this issue of Synapse and on the Cincinnati Children’s CME Cloud.
On Friday evening, we hosted the annual Medical Staff and Alumni Dinner at the Cincinnati Museum Center. We hit an all-time record of registered guests. The evening kicked off with a happy hour in the Natural History and Science Museum, followed by dinner and the program in the Grand Rotunda, and concluded with a private screening of the Ominmax film Secrets of the Sea. Tom DeWitt, MD, the Chair of the Alumni Association Board, was the emcee for the evening. Presentations were given by:
Elena Duma, MD, President of the Medical Staff
Patty Manning-Courtney, MD, Chief of Staff
Tina Cheng, MD, BK Rachford Professor & Chair of Pediatrics, Director of the Research Foundation, Chief Medical Officer
The first annual Outstanding Alumni Awards were presented to two alumni that made a significant impact in one of the following areas:
Service to an underserved community or patient population
Development of unique and influential clinical, research or educational programs
Impactful research
National or worldwide leadership
Advocacy leading to improved health outcomes.
Mike Farrell, MD presented the first award to Stenvert Drop, MD who accepted virtually from the Netherlands. Sten received this award for his early adoption and training of e-learning platforms for pediatric endocrinology and diabetes. Sten spent much of his career as a pediatric endocrinologist at the Erasmus MC Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He noticed a gap in the exposure to pediatric endocrinology during basic clinical training of medical students, so worked as the first chief editor of an e-Learning portal. He used global collaborations to help create an interactive website (originally a CD-ROM), which included collaboration with experts at Cincinnati Children’s. Sten is a 1976 graduate of our pediatric residency program.
Javier Gonzalez del Rey, MD presented the second award to Mia Mallory, MD. Mia was a staple at Cincinnati Children’s since the late 1990s, after she completed a fellowship in Emergency Medicine. She was the associate residency director at Cincinnati Children’s and the associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. For nearly two decades, Mia was a comforting presence in the residency program and a tireless advocate for underrepresented medical students and residents. Mia is currently the pediatric residency director at Duke University Medical Center. Read more about the award winners in the upcoming Cincinnati Children’s Alumni Newsletter.
Saturday morning campus tours were extremely successful! Our Physician Outreach and Engagement team guided groups around the hospital to see the changes that have taken place in the last several years. Physician experts and expert staff members were located at each of the four stops on the tour. Guests were able to learn about the Emergency Department with Elena Duma, the NICU with Kristin Melton, MD, the PICU with Brian Varisco, MD and the Mitchell-Nelson library and archives with Mike Farrell, MD and Jim DaMico, archivist.
On Saturday afternoon, alumni and many local medical staff braved the cold weather to attend the Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game. Thankfully, attendees were treated to a unique indoor/outdoor experience in the Center Field Pavilion, which gave guests a “batter’s eye” view of the field. It was Kids Day at Great American Ballpark, which is sponsored by Cincinnati Children’s. All children in attendance received a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap with the Cincinnati Children’s logo on the side. The Reds brought home a win, which topped off our weekend of activities!
Learn more about Cincinnati Children’s Alumni Association by visiting alumni.cincinnatichildrens.org or emailing alumni@cchmc.org.