2021 Carol Marcus Award Recipients Exemplify the Power of Mentorship

By Nancy McCann

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recognizes the empowering mentors among its ranks with the Carol Marcus Award. This two-year award sponsored by the Department of Pediatrics and the Research Institute is named in honor of CHOP’s pioneering sleep researcher, Carol Marcus, MBBCh, who died in 2017. Dr. Marcus was an outstanding and generous mentor for fellows and faculty alike, having earned the CHOP Faculty Mentor Award in 2015.

As a midcareer distinction, the Carol Marcus Award supports the implementation of innovative mentorship programs that facilitate the successful research careers of CHOP junior investigators. Congratulations go out to this year’s recipients: Joanne Wood, MD, MSHP; Robert Sutton, MD, MSCE; and Christopher Bonafide, MD, MSCE.

Joanne Wood, MD, MSHP

Dr. Joanne Wood, Committed to Improving Outcomes for Vulnerable Children

Dr. Wood, a faculty member in both PolicyLab and the Clinical Futures, a CHOP Research Institute Center of Emphasis, and director of research of Safe Place: Center for Child Protection and Health at CHOP, is committed to improving the quality of care for children — especially abused and neglected children. Her research concentrates on improving the screening practices for occult injuries, or hidden injuries, for children suspected of being victims of physical abuse. She also focuses on positive parenting interventions designed to support caregivers of young children and strengthen families.

“I am honored and thrilled to be one of this year’s recipients of the Carole Marcus Award,” Dr. Wood said. “With the support provided by this award, I hope to further improve my mentoring skills through formal training and to build an infrastructure within Safe Place to support a diverse group of multidisciplinary mentees working to advance health disparities research in the field of Child Abuse Pediatrics.”

Specifically, Dr. Wood plans to establish a Safe Place Undergraduate Minority Student Research Program, a multidisciplinary Safe Place Research in Progress Seminar session, and a Safe Place Pilot Grant Program.

Robert Sutton, MD, MSCE

Dr. Robert Sutton: Working to Improve Care Delivered During In-Hospital Resuscitation Attempts

An internationally recognized expert in the field of pediatric resuscitation, Dr. Sutton has dedicated his career to developing and evaluating novel techniques and devices to improve the care delivered during in-hospital resuscitation attempts. As co-director of CHOP’s Resuscitation Science Center, Dr. Sutton develops and evaluates novel interventions — both educational and technological — aimed to improve cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performance and pediatric cardiac arrest outcomes.

“Truly an honor to receive an award emblazoned with the name of Dr. Marcus, who inspired us all,” Dr. Sutton said. “Not only will this award drive more mentee research through the Research Institute’s Resuscitation Science Center of Emphasis, but this will catalyze mentorship opportunities within our new national training center, the Academy for the Resuscitation of Children (ARC). There is a real desire for other institutions to learn how we have achieved outstanding resuscitation outcomes at CHOP, and the Marcus Award will allow this to happen.”

Christopher Bonafide, MD, MSCE

Dr. Chris Bonafide: Discovering Best Methods to Identify Deteriorating Patients in Hospital

Dr. Bonafide, a core faculty member of the Clinical Futures, and research director of General Pediatric Hospital Medicine at CHOP, focuses his research on developing, evaluating, and implementing interventions at the intersection of patient safety and technological innovation, and measuring the effects of these interventions on children and families. One area of his investigation is seeking the best methods to identify deteriorating patients in the hospital, and the best mechanisms for responding to those patients. Noting that barriers exist in the ability for physicians and nurses to identify deteriorating patients — including alarm fatigue from physiologic monitors — Dr. Bonafide is working to establish effective solutions to the problem of alarm fatigue in hospital units.

“I’m honored and humbled to receive the Marcus Award,” Dr. Bonafide said. “My mentoring philosophy is to serve mentees by not only acting as a mentor who provides training, advice, and guidance, but also as a sponsor: championing their advancement, promoting their visibility, and using my own network and influence to market their science to those in positions to provide them with unique opportunities.”