Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Whitney Sunseri, MD, for receiving the 2022 “Whatever It Takes Award” from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation local chapter. Sunseri was honored with this award at the Chapter’s annual Take Steps fundraiser and walk-a-thon.
Each year, the Foundation’s local chapter presents the “Whatever It Takes” award to an individual who has “gone above and beyond with their service and support for the chapter and its mission.”
Sunseri received this years’ award for her work as a member of the Executive Leadership Council in 2019, her annual commitment as Camp Doctor for West Virginia Camp Oasis, a week-long sleep away camp for children with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
She also received the award for her more recent Exclusive Eternal Nutrition Challenge where Sunseri consumed all her nutrition and daily calories for 8 weeks from a diet of 100% meal replacement shakes. She did this to increase awareness around exclusive enteral nutrition as an induction agent for mild to moderate luminal Crohn’s Disease.
“The challenge was also a way for me to empathize and connect more deeply with my patients. If I am recommending this option as a therapy to my patients and their families, I wanted to make sure I could do it as well so others could learn from my experience,” says Sunseri. “It was an invaluable and very eye-opening experience, highlighting what I already knew as a clinician that cares for children with IBD: that they are all amazingly resilient, courageous, and stoic in the face of significant health challenges. I am forever in awe of them.”