Pediatric Endocrinologists in New York

Care Philosophy: Pediatric endocrinologists diagnose and treat conditions caused by disturbances in hormone production or function. These conditions often require a multifaceted and coordinated approach among the medical teams, families, school staff, and most importantly the child being treated. I specialize in the care of children with type 1 diabetes, growth and pubertal disorders, thyroid disorders, and the multiple hormone disorders that can result following treatment for childhood cancer. I believe the most important part of a patient-doctor relationship is having an open and honest line of communication with patients and their families. Involving the children in decisions about their own care helps then overcome any fear and anxiety on their part, and leads to the most successful therapeutic outcomes.

Biography: Dr. Marisa Censani is Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, an Associate Attending Pediatrician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, andDirector of the Pediatric Obesity Program at NYP Komansky Children's Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine.She is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology and in Obesity Medicine.Dr. Censani received a B.S. in Biology from Fordham University in Bronx, New York, graduatingsumma cum laude. She received her medical degree (M.D.) from Penn State College of Medicine where she was the recipient of the Bedrick Pediatric Medical Student Research Scholarship and completed both her internship and residency at Weill Cornell Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York. After residency, she remained in New York City and completed a fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Censani's professional areas of interest and expertise include pediatric obesity, bone and mineral metabolism, growth, and diabetes. During her fellowship, she was involved in several obesity and bone mineral metabolism related patient oriented research studies, including the effects of bariatric surgery and weight loss on adolescent bone health, and was the recipient of a 2012 Clinical Research Grant from the Genentech Center for Clinical Research in Endocrinology.She has published original articles in peer-reviewed journals pertaining to her research and has presented her work at both national and international conferences. Dr. Censani was one of three featured speakers in the 2012 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting news conference on vitamin D and her research has been reported in numerous media outlets, including Clinical Endocrinology News,Science News, and Science Daily.DR. CENSANI IN THE NEWS[Endocrine News, July 2017]:An Ounce of Prevention: New Studies Look at Childhood Obesity[Medscape, 4/3/17]: Low Vitamin D Tied to CV Problems in Kids -- Improving Vitamin D Status May Reduce Cardiometabolic Risk[VIDEO: NY1]Fit Kids: Families Learn to Tame Kids' Taste Buds

Biography: Patricia Vuguin, MD, MSc, is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatric Endocrine Fellowship Program at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). She is also Medical Director of the Pediatric Thyroid Center at CUMC and NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. Her expertise includes thyroid disease, metabolic syndrome, glucose metabolism, growth, puberty and disorders of puberty, and fetal programming of adult disease. Dr. Vuguin is an accomplished clinician, researcher, and educator. She is fluent in Spanish and English and empathetic to the medical needs of New York's Hispanic community. In her leadership role for the Pediatric Thyroid Center, she collaborates with a multidisciplinary team of specialists to care for children and adolescents with thyroid disorders, such as thyroid nodules and papillary thyroid cancer. In addition, Dr. Vuguin was the recipient of K08 and R21 awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), independent grants from pharmaceutical companies, and funding from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles in research journals; presented her research findings at national and international meetings; and is an active member of the Pediatric Endocrine Society and the Society of Pediatric Research. Dr. Vuguin also completed a Master of Science Training Program in Clinical Research, an NIH-funded program offered by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to Columbia, Dr. Vuguin provided clinical care at Jacobi Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, and North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System (now Northwell Health). She is a member of the SuperDoctors ® list and received an Outstanding Teacher Award from North Shore-LIJ Health System. The American Medical Association's Board of Trustees also selected her to serve on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Review Committee for Pediatrics.

Biography: Dr. Kristen Williams, MD is an Endocrinology, Diabetes /amp Metabolism Specialist who practices in New York, NY. Dr. Kristen Williams, MD is affiliated with Newyork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and Newyork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

Biography: Dr. Levon Agdere, MD is an Endocrinology, Diabetes /amp Metabolism Specialist who practices in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Levon Agdere, MD is affiliated with Newyork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

Biography: Dr. Oberfield, a professor of pediatrics, has been the director of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Columbia University Irving Medical Center since 2004. Throughout her career, Dr. Oberfield has been dedicated to educating the next generation of pediatric endocrinology sub-specialists. She was for many years director of the fellowship training program in pediatric endocrinology, and is currently associate program director. Since 2005 she has been the principal investigator of a T32 training grant in pediatric endocrinology from the NIH National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, one of only a handful of such programs in the country. Since 1998, she has mentored more than 35 fellows and more than 30 pre-doctoral students including Endocrine Society, DERC, and Doris Duke summer fellows. From 2021-2022 Dr. Oberfield served as president of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES), an international organization of more than 1,300 members, that provides resources for healthcare professionals and trainees and affords educational support for patients and families affected by disorders of the thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary glands; growth disturbances; and conditions of bone metabolism and diabetes. Her priorities as president, she says, were "to maintain and expand the relevance of bench, translational and clinical researcher as well as the importance of the practicing pediatric endocrinologist, even in an era when delivery of health care and research related to children and adolescents is being dramatically eroded." Dr. Oberfield has been engaged in patient-oriented research for her entire career, with a particular focus on disorders of adrenal hormone synthesis, adrenarche, and PCOS. She has conducted studies of body composition in children and continues to be involved in multiple studies of childhood obesity. Her clinical research has centered around the developmental/pediatric endocrinology, specifically the HPA axis which intimately affects metabolic function, interacting with adiposity, including studies of body composition in adrenarche and PCOS. She has been the author or co-author of more than 225 articles, multiple chapters and reviews, and is an invited speaker at national and international meetings, including the 2012 NIH-sponsored Evidence Based Methodology Workshop on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. She is currently an editor for the Journal of Pediatrics and is an associate editor for Hormone Research in Pediatrics. She continues to be listed in Castle Connelly's "America's Top Doctors" and NY Magazine's "Best Doctors."

Biography: My interest in the physical and mental wellbeing of children and adolescents started in medical school and was solidified during my pediatric residency. I cared for underprivileged children and teenagers with growth failure, failure to thrive, and obesity. Those experiences led me to the field of pediatric endocrinology, which provided me with the opportunity to treat children of all ages with a wide spectrum of endocrine disorders. I have a special interest in growth and puberty disorders as well as the late endocrine effects of childhood cancer. My clinical academic background has helped me to build a unique practice in which I take care of very complex patients with endocrine disorders, including oncology patients, transplant patients, and international patients with complex endocrine disorders. My training in pediatric endocrinology and metabolism also sparked my interest in clinical research. In a study funded by the New York Empire Clinical Investigator Program I explored the metabolic effects on children exposed to diabetes in utero, and I also worked on the NIH Bone Mineral Density Childhood Project. Following these projects I had five years of rich experience working with Columbia's Center for Children's Environmental Health, exploring the effects of air pollution and endocrine disruptors on children's metabolism and their link to obesity. I have been lucky to share my experience and passion for endocrinology through teaching many pediatric endocrinology fellows, pediatric residents, and medical students. My goal as a physician is intertwined with my goal as an educatorteaching the new generation of physicians the art of pediatric medicine and endocrinology.

Biography: I am a pediatric endocrinologist with interests that include polycysytic ovary syndrome (PCOS), bone health, disorders of puberty, thyroid disorders, pituitary disorders and growth disorders. In addition to my training in pediatrics and pediatric endocrinology, I have Master of Science degrees in Nutrition (1999) and in Patient Oriented Research (2014) and have completed a research fellowship at the Body Composition Unit of Columbia University Medical Center (2003). I comleted the TRANSFORM KL2 program sponsored by the Irving Institute of Clinical and Translational Research, a mentored career development program. My responsibilites include my clinical practice, overseeing clinical and research fellows, mentoring students, and running a clinical study. I have been certified as a clinical densitometrist by the International Society of Clinical Densitometry and interpret pediatric bone mineral density studies performed at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. My research project, "A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial assessing the efficacy of metformin for hepatic fat in adolescents and young adults with polycystic ovary syndrome" has the primary goal of exploring the use of novel and noninvasive testing and a pilot double-blind placebo-controlled trial of metformin with the intention of identifying and potentially treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in adolescents and young adults with PCOS. My research is unique in that it uses minimally invasive body composition methodology, which makes it particularly attractive for use in adolescents and young adults. My overall clinical research goal is early identification and treatment of metabolic and body composition abnormalities associated with PCOS and to prevent lifelong morbidity associated with this disorder in a young population

Biography: Dr. Fennoy is a board certified pediatric endocrinologist with additional certification as a Physician Nutrition Specialist as well as an Obesity Medicine specialist. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree form the University of California, San Francisco and her Masters Degree in Public Health from Columbia University, School of Public Health. Her pediatric training was done in the Department of Social Pediatrics, Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, New York, Nutrition training at the Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University and Pediatric Endocrine training with the Pediatric Medicine Branch off the National Institute of Child Health, Bethesda, Maryland. She has focused much of her research on the comorbidities identified in morbidly obese children and adolescents as well as the impact bariatric surgery has on these problems. In addition, she has been involved in a school based study to evaluate the impact of a nutrition education curriculum and exercise program on the changes in insulin resistance in middle school children.