Dr. Nisha Mangalat
Pediatric Gastroenterology
SLUCare Physician Group, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
Becoming a pediatrician was always Mangalat’s career goal, but she had no idea just how impactful the work would be. In medical school, Mangalat cared for children suffering from intestinal failure. Their lives were difficult, with many hospital visits and few of the markers of a normal childhood. Watching kids face such daunting health challenges, Mangalat found it inspiring to see them carry on joyfully despite their condition. “The resiliency and happiness of these kids who were sick in the hospital, and then they’re running around with their backpacks carrying their life-saving IV nutrition supply—it was incredible,” Mangalat says. “Just to be a part of the medical team that helps these kids have as much of a normal life as possible is a real privilege for me.”
Dr. Keith Mankowitz
Cardiovascular Disease
Heart Health Specialists
A patient came to Mankowitz this spring in grave condition. He appeared to be suffering from congestive heart failure, and there were serious doubts about his ability to recover. None of the modern treatments seemed to work, so Mankowitz turned to a nearly century-old medication called digoxin, which he says isn’t administered as much as it used to be. “I still use it because it can be extremely beneficial,” says Mankowitz, director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at St. Luke’s Hospital. “Within two days, he was back to normal. It was very gratifying and incredible to see the response he had to old medication.” Often, preventative care is the most important thing that Mankowitz can offer a patient. “‘Moderation’ is the magic word,” he says. “I tell them to enjoy life but take everything in moderation.”
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Dr. Robert B. Rilpuou
Endocrinology
BJC Medical Group
For Rilpuou, the most fulfilling aspect of endocrinology is helping a patient who has struggled with a chronic condition gain control of their health. Recently, Rilpuou treated a young person with a case of unrestrained diabetes. Within months, Rilpuou and his colleagues at Missouri Baptist Medical Center were able to drastically reduce the patient’s blood sugar level to the point at which they no longer needed medication to manage their diabetes. “The recent advances in the field of diabetes, such as continuous glucose monitors, are very exciting,” Rilpuou says. “These new advances allow those with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to have a much better quality of life.”
Dr. Cynthia X. Ma
Medical Oncology
Washington University Physicians, Siteman Cancer Center
Ma understands how difficult it is for her patients to be on the receiving end of a cancer diagnosis. She considers it a privilege to be the one tasked with guiding patients and their families through the fog of battle against the menacing disease. “It requires not only knowledge but also compassion and humanity,” Ma says. She is especially excited about recent advancements in breast cancer care, including molecularly targeted drugs and new approaches to immunotherapy treatments that work to harness the body’s own immune system to better fight the cancer. “We have seen patients with metastatic breast cancer become long-term survivors,” Ma says. “This was not imaginable years ago.”
Dr. Carolyn J. Pryor
Obstetrics and Gynecology
SSM Health Medical Group–OB/GYN
This past year, a patient needed prenatal care in the last month of her pregnancy. But this was no ordinary case: The woman was desperate, homeless, and alone. Although she had recently weaned herself off of drugs, she was not receiving the proper care for her addiction. Pryor and the team at the The OB Care Center at SSM Health DePaul Health Hospital recognized the stakes and found a recovery home for the woman and her unborn child. “She stayed at the center the entire day while we secured housing and provided transportation to the home,” Pryor says. “As health care providers, it’s not only important to provide compassionate and quality care, but it’s equally important to provide a source of hope and healing.”
Dr. Howard B. Hsu
Internal Medicine
Esse Health, Southroads Internal Medicine
Of all the things that came from the past two years, Hsu will especially remember how the pandemic inspired so many in health care to join forces and collaborate. Before COVID-19 vaccines were widely available last year, for example, Hsu and a group of health care workers worked to treat a high-risk patient who had contracted the virus and needed swift help. “We didn’t have a lot of experience with the new medications at the time,” Hsu says. “The office worked as a team to find where medication was available and how we could get it to the patient. It all worked out as we had hoped, and the patient did really well. It’s gratifying to be able to work with patients, our office team, and our local health care systems during these challenging times.”
Dr. Steven J. Lawrence
Infectious Disease
Washington University Physicians
By the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., in early 2020, Lawrence had been an infectious disease doctor for more than two decades. One day that spring, as he was walking through his office, he noticed that every conversation he could hear was about viral infections. In other words, his life’s work. “It hit me like a ton of bricks,” Lawrence says. “Everyone was talking about a topic that I’ve spent my life studying. The scope of everything that was going on really hit home.” During the two-plus years since the pandemic’s onset, Lawrence has been heartened by the lessons that people have learned about infectious diseases. For one, people better understand how they have a personal responsibility to stay home when sick, to reduce their exposure to others and protect them from getting ill. The pandemic has also raised awareness that not everyone has equal access to the health care system. “We need to use what we’ve learned from this to continue to reduce health care inequities,” he says.
Dr. Hamsa N. Subramanian
Allergy and Immunology
Signature Medical Group
Amid a challenging time for the medical community, one thing that stood out to Subramanian was the kindness of her patients. Not only does she appreciate the warmth and gratitude so many people expressed during the pandemic, but she’s taken it to heart. “If you ask my mother, she will tell you how impatient I was when I was younger,” Subramanian says. “My patients have taught me patience.” Subramanian’s work involves understanding and treating allergies, including those to food. She’s excited about emerging treatments that can minimize the effects of allergies and allow individuals to live with fewer worries. It’s work that her patients truly appreciate, even when the pandemic made so many things more difficult. “It’s an extremely satisfying branch of medicine,” she says, “because I can see direct improvement in my patients and ultimately give them a better quality of life.”
Dr. Laurie Byrne
Emergency Medicine
SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
In 24 years of working inside an emergency room, one thing has remained the same for Byrne: Every day is a new challenge. “It’s controlled chaos,” Byrne says. “You don’t know what will be coming through those doors.” From chest pains to gunshot wounds, pneumonia to severe fractures and dislocations, Byrne has likely seen and dealt with it. Confronting such a range of conditions and situations has instilled in her a few important reminders. For one, it’s OK to cry. “There are times when it’s really hard,” Byrne says. “You see a lot of bad things, and it’s OK to recognize that you don’t always have complete control. You have to accept that you can’t control everything and that you just have to do your best.”
Dr. Anand V. Palagiri
Pediatric Urology
Mercy Clinic Children’s Urology
Palagiri had his mind set on becoming a urologist for adults. But when his younger sister went into end-stage renal failure while he was completing his residency training, Palagiri felt compelled to change direction. “My brother donated his kidney,” Palagiri says. “It was at that moment that I decided to pursue pediatric urology. Watching my siblings, as kids, go through this and seeing the impact that surgery had on them, their lives, and our surrounding family members, it was the defining moment.” Family has remained at the heart of Palagiri’s work. His own lived experience and his years of working with people who’ve made tremendous sacrifices have informed his quality of care. “I tell my pediatric population that their parents really do love them,” Palagiri says. “These parents go above and beyond, and I try to remind them how much they put forth to take care of them.”
