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Lester Baker Endowed Chair in Pediatric Diabetes: Dr. Stanley
In
support of research to develop new treatments for children with
diabetes, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has named Dr.
Charles A. Stanley, chief of the Division of Endocrinology/Diabetes,
as the recipient of the Lester Baker Endowed Chair in Pediatric
Diabetes.
Dr. Stanley, a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist, is a world-renowned
expert on disorders of insulin regulation in children. Dr. Stanley's
ground-breaking research includes congenital hyperinsulinism; he
discovered the gene defect in a form of the disease associated with
high levels of blood ammonia. Recently, he was the senior author
of a study in developing a diagnostic test for newborns that identifies
a rare, severe form of congenital hyperinsulinism that can be cured
with organ-sparing surgery.
"We
hope to use the endowment to develop a method for genetic diagnosis
of children born with hyperinsulinism," said Dr. Stanley, professor
of pediatrics who joined the Penn faculty in 1972. "Genetic
diagnosis will enable physicians to determine with greater accuracy
and speed which babies have the best chance of cure by surgical
treatment." In 2001, physicians at CHOP treated approximately
1,400 children with diabetes and had 450 visits by children with
congenital hyperinsulinism.
The newly created endowed chair was established in the memory of
Dr. Lester Baker, an internationally known diabetes researcher at
CHOP. Dr. Baker joined CHOP in 1965, where he served as chairman
of the Division of Endocrinology from 1978 to 1995. He was the founding
director of the Diabetes Center for Children and the first director
of CHOP's General Clinical Research Center. The Lester Baker Endowed
Chair in Pediatric Diabetes supports research that will make a difference
to children with diabetic problems, and carries on the legacy of
an exemplary physician, scientist and teacher who greatly contributed
to Children's Hospital.
Dr.
Stanley has authored many peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters
and reviews, and has lectured around the world. Currently, Dr. Stanley
serves as principal investigator on research grants from the American
Diabetes Association and the NIH, and is the director of the Core
Laboratory of the General Clinical Research Center for Children
at CHOP.
Dr.
Stanley is a member of the American Diabetes Association, the Endocrine
Society and Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society. He received
his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and continued his
education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He completed
his postgraduate training at CHOP. He has been a pediatric endocrinologist
at Children's Hospital since 1975.
The
Lester Baker Endowed Chair was funded by CHOP's Department of Pediatrics,
the Baker Family Foundation, and friends, family and colleagues
who wanted to pay tribute to Dr. Baker's accomplishments. Dr. Baker
died September 17, 2000, at the age of 70 (Almanac
September 26, 2000).
Almanac, Vol. 48, No. 18, January 15, 2002
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ISSUE
HIGHLIGHTS:
Tuesday,
January 15, 2002
Volume 48 Number 18
www.upenn.edu/almanac/
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