(Madera, Calif.) – An abstract by Valley Children’s second-year pediatric resident Dr. Daniella Santi was recently accepted to the 24th Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease virtual conference next month.
The abstract, “An infant with cardiomegaly and Pompe disease,” was submitted in partnership with Dr. Santi’s physician mentor, Dr. Paolo Aquino, a pediatric cardiologist at Valley Children’s Willson Heart Center. The project explores the relationship and clinical management of cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) and Pompe disease, a rare genetic disease.
“I am very excited to present my abstract at this year’s virtual conference,” shared Dr. Santi. “This accomplishment reflects the outstanding teaching and mentoring that I have received from the cardiology attendings, which are two of the many reasons I have chosen pediatric cardiology as a specialty.”
Valley Children’s Pediatric Residency Program provides faculty-mentored opportunities for research education throughout a resident’s time on campus. Embedded within the residency program curriculum are “Research Boot Camp” seminars, which are designed to introduce residents to the critical concepts that underpin clinical research, from drafting a research question all the way to publishing results.
The program’s multidisciplinary faculty ensure that no matter what a resident is interested in researching, they will have a faculty mentor with expertise in that area.
“Providing our residents with supportive research mentorship from day one is a core component of our program,” Dr. Vini Vijayan, Valley Children’s Pediatric Residency Program director said. “By weaving in faculty-mentored research and formal clinical research training into our curriculum, we hope to enable and inspire the next generation of pediatric experts to explore their individual research interests.”
Dr. Santi’s work will be presented alongside research from an international audience of experts in the field of pediatric and congenital cardiovascular disease. Valley Children’s is certainly among this esteemed group as well; the Willson Heart Center has been a leader in pediatric heart care for more than 60 years.
“We are proud of Dr. Santi and her work continuing on the history of pioneering heart care for our Valley kids,” Dr. Vijayan said.