Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV): Advancing Care in Wisconsin
Monday May 4 7:30AM – 4:30PM
Pyle Center Alumni Lounge
Sponsored by The University of Madison Department of Pediatrics and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Birth Defect Prevention and Surveillance Program
Intended Audience
This activity is intended for audiologists and multidisciplinary perinatal providers including nurses, midwives, obstetricians, family practitioners, and pediatric providers. In addition, this activity is also intended for social and public health care workers, providers of newborn hearing screening and families with lived experience. This activity is also appropriate for health professional students, residents and fellows.
Total hours of education offered will be 6 hours
Program Details:
This statewide conference will offer participants a comprehensive and up‑to‑date overview of best practices for identifying and managing congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV). Attendees will delve into current approaches to screening, clinical follow‑up, and family support, and will gain familiarity with tools and resources developed by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) in collaboration with the cCMV WiSPER (Wisconsin Screening, Prevention, and Early Recognition) stakeholder group. Participants will leave this event equipped with practical, actionable strategies to strengthen the care provided to newborns affected by cCMV across Wisconsin.
Faculty:
Elizabeth Goetz, MD
Elizabeth Goetz, MD, MPH is Professor (CHS) in the Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and serves as Medical Director of the Newborn Nursery at UnityPoint Health–Meriter. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where she earned both her MD and MPH, Dr. Goetz completed her pediatric residency and chief residency at the University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals. Her clinical and academic work focuses on the care of healthy and at-risk newborns, with particular expertise in neonatal abstinence syndrome, non-pharmacologic care for substance-exposed infants, health equity, and medical education. She has led quality improvement initiatives through the Wisconsin Perinatal Quality Collaborative, helped advance care coordination for perinatal opioid use disorder, and has contributed to peer-reviewed research and national presentations on newborn care and substance exposure. Dr. Goetz is board certified in pediatrics, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and has been recognized with multiple teaching, advocacy, and professional honors.
Julie Kessel, MD
Julie Kessel, MD, is Associate Professor (CHS) in the Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and practices as a neonatologist at both UnityPoint Health–Meriter and American Family Children’s Hospital. She earned her MD from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, completed her pediatric residency and fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Kessel specializes in the care of critically ill newborns, including infants with extreme prematurity, respiratory failure, and congenital anomalies. Her scholarly and educational interests include neonatal resuscitation, family-centered NICU care, and the use of high-fidelity simulation to improve team communication, technical performance, and patient safety. An active mentor and educator for fellows, residents, and medical students, Dr. Kessel has contributed to research and presentations on neonatal outcomes and clinical training, and she is board certified in both Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and General Pediatrics.
Mark Schleiss, MD
Mark R. Schleiss, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics in the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Schleiss received his MD degree from the Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. He completed his residency at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, and his Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellowship at Seattle Children's Hospital/Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. He also completed a fellowship in Molecular Medicine studying cytomegalovirus (CMV) molecular genetics at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
His work in basic, translational and clinical research related to CMV infection is described at cmv.umn.edu
Megan Pesch, MD
Megan Pesch, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan. Dr. Pesch's research focuses on developmental and behavioral outcomes of children born with congenital cytomegalovirus, a common "cold" virus that can cause hearing loss and other delays. She also examines how mothers' feeding and eating behaviors may influence their children's risk of excess weight gain.
Karen Fowler, PhD
Karen Fowler is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research has focused on the epidemiology, natural history, and pathogenesis of maternal and congenital cytomegalovirus infections and the role of congenital CMV infection in sensorineural hearing loss in children. She is also interested in evaluating whether social determinants may be contributing to the disparities seen in HCMV infection rates and could identify the subset of HCMV seropositive women who are at increased risk of in utero transmission of the virus. She was the Co-Director of the NIDCD-funded CHIMES Study, which screened and enrolled over 12,000 infants at UAB and 100,000 infants nationally. Her current NIH grant is recruiting young pregnant women in Jefferson County prenatal health clinics into a 12-week cognitive-behavioral intervention to increase knowledge about HCMV, decrease self-reported risk behaviors, and demonstrate reduced primary and nonprimary maternal HCMV.