The Tulane University Pediatric Infectious Disease Training Program combines the clinical resources, teaching programs, and laboratory facilities of Tulane University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital New Orleans and Ochsner Medical Center. We have collaborative research activities and an integrated teaching program. This unique affiliation of two regional medical centers represents a major strength of our program. We provide clinical services at two major hospitals in New Orleans: Children's Hospital New Orleans and Ochsner Medical Center. These hospitals provide the training program with a unique balance of general pediatric patients and subspecialty patients.
Find out more about our program's alumni
John Schieffelin, MD (Tulane) Head of the Section of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Tulane and Associate Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Schieffelin is also the Director of Infection Control at Children's Hospital New Orleans. He has a joint appointment in the sections of Infectious Disease in both the Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine. His research focuses on the natural history, clinical care and immunology of viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs). Currently he is involved in both basic science and clinical research on Flaviviruses, such as dengue and Zika, as well as Lassa fever virus and Ebola virus. His laboratory studies how antibody-virus interactions can have both protective and pathogenic effects. In addition, he is actively involved in NIH-funded research projects in Kenema, Sierra Leone where he oversees human subjects research on VHF diagnostics development and the natural history and long-term sequelae of Lassa fever and Ebola virus. The long-term goal of his research program is to develop and test new supportive care and therapeutic strategies for VHFs.
James Robinson, MD (Tulane) is a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Physician Scientist Program at Tulane University.
Margarita Silio, MD, MPH (Tulane) participates in the pediatric HIV research program, directs the Pediatric TB clinic, and teaches in the Department of Tropical Medicine.
Russell Van Dyke, MD (Tulane) is a Professor of Pediatrics. His research interests include the management and epidemiology of HIV-infected and HIV-exposed pregnant women, children and youth, mother-ti-child transmission of HIV and antiviral therapy. He directs the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, which was funded as an NIH International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS clinical Trials Group (IMPAACT) clinical site from 1990-2015. He is the principal investigator of the Coordinating Center of the NIH- funded Pediatrics HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS), a mulit-center longitudinal cohort study of HIV-infected and HIV-exposed infants and children. He is also the site PI for the PHACS SMARTT study of the long-term safety of in utero exposure to anti-retroviral agents.
Lorna Seybolt, MD, MPH (Tulane/LSU) has appointments in Pediatrics at both Tulane and Crescent Care, a community health center and the largest AIDS services organization in the Gulf South. Her areas of interest include pediatric/adolescent HIV, HIV prevention and the viral hepatitides.
Monika Dietrich, MD, FAAP (Tulane) enjoys seeing patients with complex infections in the hospital and clinic and is particularly interested in adolescent HIV care and atypical Mycobacterial infections, as well as care of recently immigrated children and travel visits. She enjoys teaching both pre-clinical and clinical medical students, as well as residents. Her long-term, clinical translational research interests revolve around the effects of common viral infections both on the population-wide level and within particularly vulnerable subgroups. Specifically, her research efforts focus on the transmission of congenital cytomegalovirus in highly seroprevalent populations, with an ongoing study in Sierra Leone. She is also participating in a number of ongoing SARS-CoV-2 research, and is the Primary Investigator of the Tulane and Children's Hospital New Orleans Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccine investigational trial in children 6 months old to less than 12 years.
Russell Steele, MD (Ochsner) is a former member of the Red Book Committee , and currently is the division director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Ochsner Children's Center, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Queensland Medical School and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Tulane. He is the editor of Clinical Pediatrics, Global Pediatric Health and the section editor for pediatric infectious diseases of E Medicine. His main clinical activity is for children with primary immunodeficiency and HIV infection. His current research activities are in clinical trials for vaccines and antimicrobial therapy.
Fellows have the opportunity to conduct research with full-time members of the division. In addition, opportunities for research can be found in collaboration with the Department f Microbiology at Tulane and LSU, the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, the Delta Regional Primate Center, the Westmore Tuberculosis Clinic, and the National Hansens' Diesease Program are available. Epidemiological research opportunities exist through the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the Adolescent School Based Programs.
Applications can be lodged at any time of the year. If you are interested in applying to our program, please submit the application via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) system. Fellowship applicants have to request an electronic token to access the ERAS system. Details are available at:
https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-residency/applying-residencies-eras/
Or you can contact the Ms. Mildred Freemon, mfreemon@tulane.edu for details.
