Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Mary Ellen Vajravelu, MD, MSHP, for recently being awarded a Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Award from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Dean’s Summer Research Program (DSRP). Vajravelu is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology and focuses her research and clinical interests in pediatric insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and pediatric obesity. She is also an investigator within the Center for Pediatric Research in Obesity and Metabolism (CPROM). 
The DSRP is a summer program for Pitt School of Medicine students that provides a major source of student stipend support for summer research activity. Funded primarily by the Dean and various NIH training grants, the DSRP requires students to attend workshops, research gatherings, and present a poster at the yearly Fall symposium.
Students are required to identify a project at the beginning of the application period and work with a faculty mentor through the program, culminating in their research poster presentation. To be awarded this Mentoring Merit Award, faculty must demonstrate a significant impact in guiding their mentee through their research project effort.
Vajravelu completed her undergraduate education in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She completed residency in pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Motivated by the challenges of translating interventions into practice, Vajravelu completed a Master of Science in Health Policy Research degree with a concentration in Healthcare Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the recipient of the Endocrine Society’s Early Investigator Award and NIH Loan Repayment Award. Prior to joining Pitt Pediatrics, Vajravelu was an instructor and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and served as the Quality Improvement Director for the Division of Endocrinology & Diabetes at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Her research focuses on pediatric obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as the use of mobile health (mHealth) to improve patient care and health outcomes. With the support of an NIH K23 Mentored Career Development Award, she is evaluating the impact of an mHealth-based physical activity intervention for adolescents and young adults with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Vajravelu also has expertise in the use of large datasets for assessing health outcomes.
Join us in congratulating Vajravelu on this wonderful recognition!
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