Press Release
February 2005
St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children Names
Ramasamy Manikam, PhD, Director of Its Pediatric Feeding Disorders Center
Dr. Manikam Brought on Board to Expand
a Program to Address A Startling Statistic that 25% of All Children Present with
Some Form of Feeding Disorder; 80% among Developmentally Delayed Population
Bayside, NY
St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children, one of the nation's premier
providers of care for children with special needs and life threatening illnesses,
announced today the appointment of Ramasamy Manikam, Ph. D. as Director of its
Pediatric Feeding Disorders Center. St. Mary's Pediatric Feeding Disorders Center
offers the only inter-disciplinary feeding program in New York State, and one
of a few from around the nation, solely dedicated to helping children with feeding
disorders thrive. Researchers have indicated that 25% of all children present
with some form of feeding disorder. The percentage rises to 80% among developmentally
delayed children (Manikam, Perman J Clinic Gastro 2000:30(1): 34-46).
Dr. Manikam will oversee and expand the services of St. Mary's distinguished program
staffed by a team which includes a pediatric gastroenterologist, speech pathologists,
occupational therapists, behavioral psychologists, nutritionists, social workers
and nurse practitioners. Dr. Manikam, a licensed clinical psychologist, is an
internationally renowned expert in pediatric feeding disorders and brings over
two decades of related experience to his new position at St. Mary's.
Prior to joining St. Mary's, Dr. Manikam served as Assistant Professor, University
of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD); Behavioral Director, Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Maryland School of
Medicine and Hospital for Children (Baltimore, MD) and Co-Director of the Pediatric
Feeding Disorders Program, University of Maryland Hospital for Children and Mount
Washington Pediatric Hospital.
Well-respected in his field, Dr. Manikam's professional experience also includes
numerous other directorial positions with other pediatric feeding disorders and
obesity programs. For example he was the co-director of the feeding program at
the Children's Hospital, Richmond, Virginia; the director of the nations first
day patient feeding program at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine; as well as a clinical and school psychologist, researcher
and university faculty member.
Dr. Manikam's certification/license in Clinical Psychology is from the Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene, Maryland State Board of Psychologists. He received
his Bachelor of Science and Master's degrees from Northern Illinois University
( Dekalb, IL). He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. He performed
his pre-doctoral and post-doctoral internships at Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine and the Kennedy-Krieger Institute.
With his in-depth knowledge in high demand, Dr. Manikam holds many prominent
advisory and consulting appointments including those with Scientific/Medical Advisory
Board, National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, USA and National Association
of Autism of Malaysia. His previous appointments include that with St. Mary's
Hospital for Children in Bayside, NY, Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg,
VA, Children's Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, Black Mountain Center, Ashville,
North Carolina, and Pinecrest Developmental Center in Pineland, Louisiana, among
others.
Dr. Manikam is frequently sought out to share his expertise at prestigious
international conferences. Among those in which he has participated are the Ninth
International Congress on Celiac Disease, the First and Second International Conferences
on Child and Adolescent Mental Health, “Pediatric Obesity: The runaway train,”
“Criteria for Appropriate Non-oral to Oral Transition Interventions,”
and “Developing Measurable Research Outcomes,” are among the topics
he has covered in presentations and workshops before various media groups. Additionally,
he has served on many editorial boards including the International Journal of
Eating Disorders and Journal of Family and Child Studies, as well as in a guest
review capacity for such publications as the Journal of Developmental Pediatrics,
Journal of Gastroenterology, Applied Research in Mental Retardation and Behavior
Therapy.
A published author, Dr. Manikam's titles include, Pediatric feeding disorders
in Journal of Gastroenterology, Functional gastrointestinal disorders in Encyclopedia
in Applied Developmental Science, Mental Health in Children and Adolescents in
International Perspectives in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
In addition to his journal participation, Dr. Manikam has also served as an
expert for major national and regional broadcast media. He has appeared on such
prominent shows as ABC-TV's Good Morning America, PBS' Mark Steiner Show and WBAL-TV
in Baltimore.
He resides in Owings Mills, MD.
About St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children's Pediatric Feeding
Disorder Center
St. Mary's offers the only inter-disciplinary feeding program in New York State,
with a variety of specialists who are solely dedicated to helping children with
feeding disorders to thrive. These children range in age from birth to 12 years
and have gastrointestinal disorders, oral-motor deficits and behavioral problems.
They present with eating difficulties such as dependence on liquid or pureed foods
or nutritional supplements, poor suck, swallow and chewing skills, food refusal
and nutritional deficiency. St. Mary's offers its feeding disorder program on
an inpatient, day and homecare basis. Regardless of the setting, patients have
access to a wide range of services including: evaluation, medical management,
sensorimotor, oral-motor and behavioral therapies, etc. Important aspects of the
program include caregiver education and training, development of individualized
treatment plans aligned with parents' goals, and a minimum of three to four therapeutic
meals per day, five days per week for a six to 12 week period. The goal of St.
Mary's feeding disorder program is to achieve measurable outcomes for its patients.
These objectives include: decreased dependence on nutritional supplements and
tube feeding; weight gain and maintenance; increase in food volume and varieties
of foods consumed; oral-motor competency; and improved mealtime behaviors. For
more information about St. Mary's Pediatric Feeding Disorders Center, or to make
a referral, contact: Anna Fernandez at: (718) 281-8541 or email: info@stmaryskids.org
Dr. Manikam (center) supervises a feeding session with Ana Fernandez (left)
and a young patient, Gilbert (right).
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