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Dr. Christine Salvatore has been named chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine. An expert in general pediatric infectious diseases, Dr. Salvatore is leading an expansion of the division’s clinical, research and education programs.

In her new role, Dr. Salvatore will recruit two new faculty members with varied backgrounds and interests in order to grow and diversify her team, with the main focus of continuing to deliver state-of-the-art clinical care. She will also work to fully implement the Antibiotic Stewardship Program, a hospital-wide program that aims to optimize antimicrobial use with the intention of stabilizing antimicrobial resistance, improving patient safety and decreasing antimicrobial costs, at the Komansky Center for Children’s Health at NewYork-Presbyterian.

“I am looking forward to expanding the division and implementing a consistent pediatric representation within the Antibiotic Stewardship Program here at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center,” said Dr. Salvatore, an associate attending pediatrician at the Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children’s Health and associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Initiating collaboration with other institutions – from a clinical and research perspective – is very important for our division. For instance, I would like to start collaborating with colleagues at the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children’s Health at Weill Cornell Medicine, as well as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University.”

Dr. Salvatore is currently leading clinical trials investigating pharmacokinetics, the branch of pharmacology that refers to the movement of drugs within the body, as well as safety and effectiveness of antifungals in children, which is indicative of the broad range of cases pediatric infectious disease experts encounter. Her interest in pediatric infectious diseases began in Italy, where she collaborated as principal site investigator with the Pediatric European Network for the Treatment of AIDS, supporting research on HIV and other pediatric infectious diseases, and the Italian Register for HIV Infection in Children.

“One of the most interesting aspects of my clinical work is the diversity of my patients,” Dr. Salvatore said. “Requests for consultations range from fevers of unknown origin to congenital infections such as congenital cytomegalovirus infection, from opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts to bone infections or severe pneumonias, from brain abscesses to perforated appendicitis.”

In addition to her clinical work, she has a longstanding commitment to medical education, instructing and mentoring fellows, residents and medical students. In 2016, she received an award for Clinical and Teaching Excellence by the pediatric house staff. As chief, she plans to focus on expanding medical education within the division.

“I envision developing a fellowship program for our division in the future,” Dr. Salvatore said. “Education is one of the reasons I joined an academic medical center, because teaching medical students, residents and hopefully fellows in the future is so incredibly rewarding.”

Dr. Salvatore received her medical degree from the University of Trieste, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Italy in 1993, and completed her pediatric residency in Italy at Burlo Garofolo Children`s Hospital in Trieste, Italy. After working in Italy as an attending pediatrician, she came to the United States and completed additional pediatric training at Jacobi Medical Center in New York City, as well as a fellowship in pediatric infectious disease at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Dr. Salvatore joined NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell in 2008 and in 2009, she completed her Advanced Certificate in Clinical and Translational Investigation at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.