Mary Kate Abbadessa, MSN, ACCNS-P, RN, RN-BC, CPEN

Emergency Department Clinical Nurse Specialist, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Mary Kate Abbadessa is the Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Emergency Department (ED) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Villanova University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing Education, as well as a Post-Master’s certificate from the Pediatric Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist program at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the CHOP ED in 2009, with past experience in pre-hospital and adult emergency care, as well as pediatric PACU and neonatal nursing. Ms. Abbadessa’s clinical and research interests include the care of the child with fever, resuscitation, and trauma. Ms. Abbadessa has been the ED nursing clinical champion for sepsis since 2012, serves as the nursing lead for CHOP’s Pediatric Sepsis Program and the co-lead for the hospital’s sepsis governance committee for quality improvement. Ms. Abbadessa is an active member of the Children’s Hospital Association’s Sepsis Collaborative and a 2018 recipient of the Erin’s Campaign for Kids Nursing award for Sepsis.

Scott L. Weiss, MD, MSCE, FCCM

Assistant Professor and Attending Physician, University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Weiss completed medical school at Harvard, pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital, and pediatric critical care fellowship at Northwestern/Lurie Children’s Hospital.  He currently serves as the co-Vice Chair for the SCCM/ESICM Pediatric Surviving Sepsis Campaign Taskforce. Dr. Weiss’ clinical focus is pediatric sepsis and his NIH-funded research focuses on epidemiology and mitochondrial dysfunction in pediatric sepsis, including risk factors, biomarkers, and mechanisms of sepsis-induced immune dysregulation and organ dysfunction.  Dr. Weiss co-directs the Pediatric Sepsis Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which includes post-hospital follow-up for children and their families through the Pediatric Sepsis Survivorship Program.