PITTSBURGH – The Academic Pediatric Association (APA) has awarded Alejandro Hoberman, M.D. chief, Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, its 2014 APA Research Award.
The award was presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The award acknowledges his contributions toward advancing pediatric knowledge through excellence in research, originality, creativity and methodological soundness. Hoberman is known for his research on acute otitis media (AOM) and urinary tract infections (UTI).
The quality and influence of Hoberman’s research is evident from the journals in which they are published, including the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), JAMA Pediatrics, and Pediatrics.
He has served on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) special emphasis panels, NIH strategic planning workgroups, American Academy of Pediatrics guideline committees, and as a member of the Clinical and Translational Science Award Child Health Oversight Committee.
Hoberman graduated from medical school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he completed a general pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital of Buenos Aires.
He then came to the United States for fellowship training in ambulatory pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh under Jack L. Paradise, M.D., and Kenneth Rogers, M.D. Immediately following the fellowship, he joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and currently leads the Division of General Academic Pediatrics. In 2000, Hoberman was named the first Jack L. Paradise, M.D., Professor of Pediatric Research at Children’s.
“Everything goes back to what I learned from Dr. Paradise, who received the APA Research Award 20 years ago,” Hoberman said. “I remember watching him take great care with research participants to conduct a careful examination, and sitting with families to discuss clinical findings and how we were trying to learn how to provide better, evidenced-based care for their children and future generations of children.
“That personal touch and connection with families, which Dr. Paradise taught by example, enables trust and the understanding that the research team will always have the participant’s best interest in mind and provide the most comprehensive and careful medical care.”
“It was apparent soon after Dr. Hoberman’s arrival at Children’s that he had great promise,” said Jack L. Paradise, M.D., professor emeritus of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
“He has more than met expectations, conducting important research while at the same time building one of the country’s strongest divisions of academic general pediatrics and serving as a role model for pediatric trainees at all levels. He richly deserves this prestigious award.”
In addition to receiving the award in Vancouver, Hoberman presented the results of his multi-center study showing how prophylactic antibiotics prevent urinary tract infection recurrences in children with vesicoureteral reflux.
For more information on Hoberman and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, visit www.chp.edu.
