Heather Di Carlo, MD

Dr. Cozumel S. Pruette is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She provides care for children with kidney problems of any type, from microscopic hematuria to kidney transplant recipients. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in biology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Pruette earned a master's degree in neuroscience from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She earned her medical degree with Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois, and completed her internship and residency at Johns Hopkins University, where she was a chief resident. Dr. Pruette went on to complete a fellowship in pediatric nephrology at Johns Hopkins in 2012. As part of her fellowship training, she received a master's degree in clinical epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Pruette’s research is focused on improving self-management, patient engagement, transition of care and medication adherence in patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. She leads the pediatric/young adult transition of care program for the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center. Dr. Pruette is the principal investigator in the development and implementation of a peer-mentoring program for adolescents with kidney transplant. She has established national patient and family advisory councils for the North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies (NAPRTCS) and for the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) Study. She has been the recipient of numerous research grants, including the KL2 Clinical Research Scholars Award, as well as the Pearl M. Stetler Research Fund Award, multiple awards from the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland, and the NIH NIDDK.

Dr. Meredith Atkinson is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She provides care for children with kidney problems of any type, including patients on dialysis; patients with proteinuria, hematuria and chronic kidney disease; and kidney transplant. Dr. Atkinson's clinical research interests focus on chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease in children. Her specific interests include mechanisms and treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease and racial disparities in patient outcomes. She is the recipient of numerous research grants and awards, including a K23 Patient Oriented Research award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH, and young investigator grants from the National Kidney Foundation, the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland, the Thrasher Research Fund and Amgen Inc. She is currently the PI of the Renal Anhydramnios Fetal Therapy (RAFT) trial. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from Mount Holyoke College. She earned her M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins, followed by a fellowship in pediatric nephrology at Hopkins, completed in June 2007. During her fellowship training, Dr. Atkinson received a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Atkinson joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2007. Dr. Atkinson was elected to the Society for Pediatric Research in 2014. She is a member of several professional organizations including the American Society of Nephrology, and is the president of the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology for 2024-2026.

Dr. Hammond is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Department of Psychiatry with a joint appointment in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit (Affiliate). He completed his M.D. at University of Florida and his Ph.D. and residency/fellowship training at Yale University. Dr. Hammond’s research program focuses on characterizing the neurobiological predictors and mechanisms of treatment response for adolescent substance use disorders (SUDs) using multimodal neuroimaging (MRI, EEG) and large-scale brain network analytic approaches. His research is funded by a NIDA/AACAP Career Development Award (K12DA000357). Dr. Hammond’s research group is embedded in a larger collaborative research network within Johns Hopkin University School of Medicine applying translational neuroscience, clinical, and epidemiological methods to improve our understanding of brain-behavior relationships for youth suffering from substance use and mental health problems and aid in designing better evidence-based interventions. Clinically, Dr. Hammond works with youth (ages 13-25) with co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders in his role as Medical Director of the Co-occurring Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults (CODA) Clinic at Johns Hopkins. He currently serves on the AACAP’s Substance Abuse and Addictions Committee and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry’s Youth and Adolescent Addiction Treatment Committee.