Is your child curious about COVID-19 or life during a pandemic? This weekend, healthcare superheroes answered your kids’ questions in a special edition of “Coronavirus House Calls.” Watch the next episode with special guest Mark Cuban on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT! Submit your questions about the reopening of the country, work protections, health and safety issues, sports, and racism as a public health crisis to CoronaQuestions@nexstar.tv. Video submissions are highly encouraged!
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — As the death—and mental health—toll from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to rise in the U.S., we’re looking past statistics. With all 50 states reopening in some fashion, confusion surrounds our ever-evolving situation. This weekend, we’re here to talk about your child’s concerns, differentiate between fact and fiction, and move from fear to hope as we navigate this “new normal” together.
[WATCH: Dr. Fauci answers your questions on ‘Coronavirus House Calls’]
That’s why we’ve assembled a panel of the nation’s top doctors and child health experts to answer their biggest questions about COVID-19 and pandemic life in the Nexstar digital original, “Coronavirus House Calls,” hosted by Emmy award-winning CBS 42 Anchor Art Franklin.
If you have a fever or cough, you might have COVID-19. Most people have mild illness and are able to recover at home. Keep track of your symptoms. If you have an emergency warning sign (including trouble breathing), get medical attention right away.
MEET THE DOCTORS
Riana Elyse Anderson, PhD (Detroit, MI)
Family psychologist & assistant professor, University of Michigan
Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. She earned her PhD in Clinical and Community Psychology at the University of Virginia and completed a Clinical and Community Psychology Residency at Yale University’s School of Medicine and a Fellowship in Applied Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She uses mixed methods in clinical interventions to study racial discrimination and socialization in Black families to reduce racial stress and trauma and improve psychological well-being and family functioning. She is particularly interested in how these factors predict familial functioning and subsequent child psychosocial well-being and health-related behaviors when enrolled in family-based interventions.
Dr. Anderson is the developer and director of the EMBRace (Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race) intervention and loves to translate her work for a variety of audiences, particularly those whom she serves in the community, via blogs, video, and literary articles. Finally, Dr. Anderson was born in, raised for, and returned to Detroit and is becoming increasingly addicted to cake pops.
Check out Dr. Anderson’s website and follow her on Twitter: @rianaelyse
David Kessler, MD, MSc (New York City, NY)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics in Emergency Medicine, Columbia University
Dr. David Kessler is a pediatric emergency medicine doctor passionate about leveraging new technology and education to improve safety and enhance the quality of patient care. He is currently an associate professor of pediatrics and the Vice-Chair of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives in Columbia University’s Emergency Medicine department. He treated some of the first inflammatory syndrome patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is an advocate for the use of emergency ultrasounds as early detectors of inflammation and disease. He is at the forefront of using ultrasound technology, and can speak on the importance of integrating and leveraging new technologies for improved care.
Follow Dr. Kessler on Twitter: @y2kessler
Cara Natterson, MD (Los Angeles, CA)
Pediatrician, bestselling author & cofounder of the OOMASK
Cara Natterson, MD, is a pediatrician, popular speaker, consultant, and New York Times bestselling author of multiple parenting and health books, including The Care and Keeping of You, a three-book series with more than six million copies in print, and Guy Stuff, the corollary for boys. A graduate of Harvard College and Johns Hopkins Medical School, Dr. Natterson trained in pediatrics at University of California at San Francisco. She began practicing medicine in her home town of Los Angeles, joining Tenth Street Pediatrics in Santa Monica where she cared for thousands of infants, children and teenagers. After working as a general pediatrician for many years, she founded Worry Proof Consulting, a first-of-its-kind practice offering parents open-ended time to cover medical, behavioral, and parenting issues in depth.
Dr. Natterson is passionate about community-based programs and innovation as she is about health and wellness. She sits on the Board of Starlight Children’s Foundation, acts as an Advisor to Zemcar, and served on the the Medical Board of Advisors for The Honest Company. Dr. Natterson lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two teenagers. Her newest book, Decoding Boys: New Science Behind the Subtle Art of Raising Sons, was released in February 2020. Dr. Natterson also co-founded and launched OOMLA as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the US – OOMLA’s first product, the OOMASK, is a super soft, comfortable, reversible, washable mask with a built-in filter, and the first of many OOMLA products designed to feel unbelievably good while being good for you. For more information visit https://myoomla.com and http://www.worryproofmd.com
Follow Dr. Natterson on Facebook and Twitter: @CaraNatterson
Michael Saag, MD (Birmingham, AL)
Director of the Center for AIDS Research, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Michael Saag is a prominent HIV/AIDS researcher and a COVID-19 survivor. Dr. Saag received a B.S. in chemistry with honors in 1977 from Tulane University, earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Louisville, and completed his residency and infectious disease and molecular virology fellowship training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During the last six months of his fellowship, Dr. Saag conceived the concept of a comprehensive HIV outpatient (1917) clinic dedicated to the provision of interdisciplinary patient care in conjunction with the conduct of high quality clinical trials, translational science, and clinical outcomes research. Within the clinic structure, he established a clinical trials unit, a data management center, and a Clinical Specimen Repository designed to support the activities of the newly established Center for AIDS Research at UAB. In essence, the clinic became a “hub” for the clinical, basic science, and behavioral science investigators by creating a dynamic interface between the patients and the investigators.
Dr. Saag has participated in many studies of antiretroviral therapy as well as novel treatments for opportunistic infections. He has published over 450 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the first description of the use of viral load in clinical practice (Science, 1993), the first description of the rapid dynamics of viral replication (Nature, 1995), the first guidelines for use of viral load in practice (Nature Medicine, 1996), and the first proof of concept of fusion inhibition as a therapeutic option (Nature Medicine, 1998). He directed the ‘first-in-patient’ studies of seven of the 30 antiretroviral drugs currently on the market.
Dr. Saag co-edited a textbook entitled “AIDS Therapy” (now in its 3rd edition) and currently serves as an Editor of the “Sanford Guide for Antimicrobial Agents” and the “Sanford HIV Guide.” Dr. Saag serves on the International AIDS Society-USA Board of Directors, is a past president of the HIV Medical Association, is Chair of the IAS-USA Antiretroviral Therapy Guidelines panel, was a founding Co-Chair of the AASLD/IDSA Hepatitis C Guidelines Panel, and is a past-member of the HHS Guidelines Panel on Antiretroviral Therapy and the WHO Antiretroviral Therapy Guidelines panel.
In 2014, he was the Castle-Connolly National Physician of the Year and was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame. An accomplished teacher, Dr. Saag has been awarded Argus awards annually by the UAB medical students as Best Lecturer in the Patient, Doctor, and Society module. Dr. Saag recently published a memoir entitled “Positive: One Doctor’s Personal Encounters with Death, Life, and the US Healthcare System,” now in its second printing.
Follow Dr. Saag on Twitter.
