About us The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, Delhi was established in 1981 by Prof. PSN Menon. It is one of the few dedicated academic units in the country dealing in this sub-specialty, and the second in the country to start the super-specialty DM Program in Pediatric Endocrinology. Our division provides services to children with poor growth, early or late puberty, disorders of sex development (DSD), thyroid and adrenal disorders, calcium and bone disease and metabolic problems (hypoglycemia, lipid disorders, diabetes and obesity).

Faculty

Prof.Vandana Jain, MD, FAIMER fellowship in medical education, LWPES international scholarship in Pediatric Endocrinology Professor and Chief, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics Office address: Room no 819, 8th Floor, Mother and Child Block, AIIMS, New Delhi E-mail: drvandanajain@aiims.edu Telephone: 011-29576833 Areas of interest: Developmental origins of health and disease, growth and body composition in infancy, vitamin D in health and disease, obesity, metabolic syndrome and NAFLD in adolescents, innovations in diabetes technology

Dr.Rajni Sharma, MD Additional Professor, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics Office address: Room no 830, 8th Floor, Mother and Child Block, AIIMS, New Delhi E-mail: drrajnisharma@yahoo.com Telephone: 011-29576846 Areas of interest: Disorders of growth and puberty, polycystic ovarian syndrome, obesity, diabetes and disorders of sex development

Current DM students

Other team members:

• Nurse: Sister Sethulakshmi
• Senior residents: We have a specialty SR posted with us for 6 to 9 months. Our DM program is starting from July 2022 batch.
• Other Staff: We currently have five staff members (SRO, SRF, Lab technician, dieticians) supported by funded projects.

We treat newborns, infants, children and adolescents with various endocrinological disorders, as well as provide care for children with syndromes or systemic illness with concomitant endocrine issues.
Broadly, some of the disorders that we treat are:

a. Growth Hormone Deficiency as well as other causes of growth disturbances (short or tall stature)
b. Pubertal disorders (early or late sexual development, menstrual problems, polycystic ovarian syndrome)
c. Diabetes in children including neonatal diabetes, type 1 diabetes as well as type 2 diabetes in adolescents
d. Hypothyroidism, Graves’ disease, goiter and thyroid nodules
e. Obesity (including monogenic exogenous, endocrine and syndromic) and related metabolic complications hindi brochure | english brochure
f. Rickets: Nutritional, Vitamin D resistant rickets, hypophosphatemic rickets, RTA, osteoporosis
g. Hypo- and hypercalcemia: Primary hypoparathyrodism, psedohypoparathyroidism, hyperparathyroidism
h. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia hindi brochure | english brochure
i. Disorders of sex development (ambiguous genitalia, micropenis)
j. Adrenal gland disorders: Addison’s disease, Cushing disease, primary hyperaldosternism, pseudohypoaldosternism
k. Neuroendocrine disorders
l. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
m. Congenital hypoglycemia Syndromic conditions such as Turner’s syndrome, McCune Albright, Prader- Willi syndromeetc
n. Endocrine complications of systemic illness and their therapies (as in children with cancers, thalassemia, chronic renal disease, cystic fibrosis etc)

We provide advanced diagnostic care and treatment for children with hormone disturbances including

1. Growth disturbances (short or tall stature)
2. Pubertal disorders (early or late sexual development, menstrual problems, polycystic ovarian syndrome)
3. Pediatric Diabetes
4. Thyroid disorders
5. Obesity and related metabolic complications
6. Neonatal disorders (hypoglycemia, diabetes, congenital adrenal hyperplasia)
7. Disorders of sex development (ambiguous genitalia, micropenis)
8. Adrenal gland disorders
9. Bone disorders (osteoporosis, rickets)
10. Neuroendocrine disorders
11. Syndromes with endocrine disorders (Turner’s syndrome, McCune Albright and Prader Willi syndrome)
12. Endocrine complications of systemic illness and their therapies (as in children with cancers, thalassemia, chronic renal disease, cystic fibrosis etc.

We have dedicated multi-disciplinary care programmes involving pediatric endocrinologists, specialty nurses, educators, psychologists, dietician and doctors of other specialties for the following conditions:

1. Childhood obesity programme (based on evidence based guidelines)
2. Pediatric diabetes (http://www.type1diabetes.co.in)
3. Disorders of sex development
4. Syndromes with endocrine disorders (Turner’s syndrome, McCune Albright and Prader Willi syndrome)
5. Endocrine complications of systemic illness and their therapies (as in children with cancers, thalassemia, chronic renal disease, cystic fibrosis etc)

We carry out hormonal stimulation tests to diagnose growth hormone disturbances, disorders of pubertal development and metabolic disorders. Apart from this, we carry out advanced hormonal testing and molecular diagnosis for children with disorders of sex development.

• Pediatric Endocrine Laboratory (Room No. 8, Genetics Unit Extension, Old OT Block) is a dedicated state of the art laboratory for providing services to pediatric endocrine patients. Assays for growth hormone, cortisol, thyroid function tests, parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, insulin, HbA1C, urinary microalbumin and 17-hydroxyprogesterone are being done in our Departmental labs.
• In collaboration with the Genetics unit, we provide genetic diagnosis for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and disorders of sex development, and support fornewborn screening program for congenital hypothyroidism and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
• We are also performing molecular assays for several genes responsible for short stature, monogenic obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in our laboratory, and have established academic collaborations with labs in UK and France for genetic tests for congenital hyperinsulinemia, neonatal diabetes, monogenic obesity, pseudohypoaldosteronism, etc.
• We have a dedicated body composition analysis facility, as a means to understanding the programming of adiposity by developmental factors in early life.
• Equipment available in Pediatric Endocrine Division :
  • State of the art fully automated electrochemiluminiscence based autoanalyser
  • PCR machine, Gel Doc system
  • Deep freezer, refrigerator, cold centrifuge
  • Continuous glucose monitoring system, Insulin pump
  • Point of care HbA1c and urine microalbuminanalysers
  • Continuous ambulatory blood pressure monitor
  • Bioelectrical impedance analyser for body composition assessment
  • Triaxial accelerometers
  • PEAPOD (infant body composition analysis by air displacement plethysmography)
  • BODPOD (pediatric and adolescent body composition analysis by air displacement plethysmography)

The broad research areas of the division are depicted below:

• Growth and body composition in small for gestational age (SGA) babies
• Developmental origins of health and disease
• Vitamin D deficiency
• Diabetes in children
• Idiopathic short stature
• Childhood obesity
• Metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents
• Fatty liver in adolescents in children and adolescents
• Disorders of sex development
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Links to training opportunities :

Course	Duration	Institution	Admission	Details
DM Pediatric Endocrinology	3 years	AIIMS, New Delhi	INI CET	https://www.aiims.edu
Clinical observership (For in-service candidates)	1-6 months	AIIMS, New Delhi	As per AIIMS, New Delhi rules	https://www.aiims.edu
ISPAE (Indian Society of Pediatric & Adolescent Endocrinology) fellowship (For in-service candidates working in government or private medical colleges)	1- 3 months	ISPAE observership award	INI CET	https://www.ispae.org.in

1. With IGIB, New Delhi and MDRF, Chennai for research and diagnostic genomics; with St. John’s medical College, Bengaluru for research into catch-up growth and early body composition

2. APEC (AIIMS Pediatric Endocrinology Consortium) is a consortium for academic interaction with other AIIMS

3. We also have academic collaborations with LHMC, Delhi (have done three joint CMEs) and PGIMER, Chandigarh (for planned combined DM academic sessions)

1. With Universities of Exeter and Cambridge in UK for genomic testing for monogenic diabetes, hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia and obesity

2. With UCL, London for research into genetic determinants of fetal hypoxia adaptation andweight regulation, and investigation into effect of infancy growth acceleration on body composition (did jointly funded research Indo-UK projects with UCL)

3. With University of Lubeck, Germany, for research on Disorders of Sex Development (did jointly funded research Indo-German projects with Lubeck University)

4. With University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for academics (guest lectures, CMEs and joint academic session.

Click here to view Key Publications of the division