Endocrinology Research
At Seattle Children’s, our research team partners with families to find new and better ways to care for kids and teens with endocrine conditions.
Our studies look at:
- How to help kids grow with new treatments for short stature and growth hormone needs
- Better care for complex conditions like congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and Prader-Willi syndrome
- How treatments for low or missing hormones support puberty and development
- Ways to support healthy weight and metabolism as kids grow
When families join a study, they help us learn. We are proud to work together with families and community partners, so every child can look forward to a healthier future.
Delayed puberty
Metabolism, weight regulation and hypothalamic obesity
Registries
Patricia Y Fechner, MD
Patricia Fechner, MD, is attending physician at Seattle Childrens Hospital and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Turner syndrome, androgen insensitivity syndrome and other disorders of sex determination as well as growth hormone and IGF-1 deficiency. She is the Medical Director of the CAH Center of Excellence, Medical Director of the DSD program and Medical Co-Director of the Turner syndrome clinic. She serves as the contributing editor for the section of endocrinology AAP Grand Rounds and as contributer to the BMJ Clinical Practice Turner Syndrome section.
Grace J Kim, MD
Grace Kim, MD, is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital. She serves as clinical director of the Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Clinics at Seattle Children’s and is the pediatric liaison for the University of Washington Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program. Dr. Kim’s clinical and research work focuses on pediatric obesity, insulin resistance and the implementation of emerging pharmacotherapies for obesity in youth. She is principal investigator on multiple clinical trials evaluating novel treatments for syndromic and non-syndromic obesity and is actively involved in national efforts to advance evidence-based obesity care for children and adolescents.
Christian L Roth, MD
My clinical work is based at Seattle Children’s Hospital as an attending of the Endocrine Division. This work involves the care of children with early onset of morbid obesity, children with brain tumors and complex endocrine disturbances such as hypothalamic obesity, as well as children with other endocrine disorders.
Most of my research to date has focused on clinical obesity studies and translational studies regarding metabolic changes associated with obesity. I have extensive experience in evaluating metabolic risk factors before and after weight loss due to lifestyle intervention. I also have experience in drug intervention studies and in connecting clinical studies with lab-based research. In my lab, which is located at Seattle Children's Research Institute, we analyze different peptides involved in the regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis as well as inflammatory markers. We also do functional neuroimaging studies in lean and obese children to better understand reward circuits and the driving forces of excessive eating and weight gain. I am a principal investigator and currently lead two NIH-funded clinical obesity intervention studies in children.
Melinda June Pierce, MD
Dr. Pierce was born in Washington state but has lived all over the United States. She grew up mostly in Oklahoma, with time on both coasts for medical training. She returned to Seattle finally after living and working in Minnesota for six years.
Endocrine Research Team
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Adam Fiebelkorn
Clinical Research Coordinator III
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Beth Loots, MPH, MSW
Research Manager
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Stephanie Purdy, BS, BA
Clinical Research Coordinator III