Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s Celebrates 2-Year Anniversary

Newswise — LOS ANGELES (Sept. 13, 2024) -- When Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s launched in 2022, it sought to build a pioneering children’s health destination that combined multidisciplinary excellence in pediatric care with advanced research to identify and treat the roots of childhood diseases.

Now, as Guerin Children’s marks its two-year anniversary, it is realizing its vision of becoming an internationally recognized children’s health enterprise—with dozens of distinguished faculty members who are elevating and improving children’s healthcare.

“We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone and reflect on the incredible progress we have made,” said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, executive director of Guerin Children’s and the David and Meredith Kaplan Distinguished Chair in Children’s Health. “Our vision is to continue combining the best clinical care with translational and foundational research to bring the latest advances to our patients and their families.”

Guerin Children’s has recruited a multitude of nationally and internationally renowned physicians and investigators to advance care for children, building a faculty of nearly 130 members.

The team currently offers more than three dozen pediatric subspecialties, taking a multidisciplinary approach to deliver highly specialized care for children in neonatology, oncology, gastroenterology, cardiac services, orthopedics and neurology, among others.

Guerin Children’s was made possible by a generous $100 million gift from the Shapell Guerin Family Foundation—at the time, the largest lifetime gift in Cedars-Sinai’s 122-year history. The foundation’s president, Vera Guerin, along with her husband, Paul, and their children—Dana, Lisa and Michael—are longtime supporters of Cedars-Sinai. 

“We are immensely proud of the progress and accomplishments made by Guerin Children’s over the past two years,” said Vera Guerin, the immediate past chair of the Cedars-Sinai Health System Board of Directors. “Our vision was to provide exceptional clinical care and foster groundbreaking research in pediatric medicine.”

Taking a Multidisciplinary Approach to Medical Care

One of the highlights of Guerin Children’s is the multidisciplinary nature of its clinical care. It pairs expertise in numerous specialties with lifesaving procedures and medications to deliver personalized healthcare to patients as they grow from newborns into adolescence and adulthood.

“The medical team at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s is amazing,” said Krista Hazelwood, mother of 9-month-old Vita Carletti, who was born with a severe case of meconium aspiration syndrome, which led to a critical condition with heart and lung failure.

Guerin Children’s physicians consulted with experts in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai and the Cedars-Sinai Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and placed the newborn on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for nearly a month. ECMO is a complex dual-bypass life support machine that performs the functions of the heart and lungs. After a lengthy hospital stay, Vita is now thriving.

“Vita had the best team in the country she could have had working on her and caring for her,” Hazelwood said.

Dana Guerin, director of the Shapell Guerin Family Foundation, said she is gratified to hear such success stories.

“Seeing the impact on the lives of children and their families reaffirms our commitment to this mission,” she said. “We look forward to continuing this journey and making even greater strides in the years to come.”

Notable Appointments to Advance Pediatric Care and Research

Guerin Children’s is building a formidable research enterprise that is attracting internationally distinguished investigators and clinicians to build a robust bench-to-bedside capacity.

Guerin Children’s appointed renowned neuroscientist and stem cell investigator David Rowitch, MD, PhD, to lead research initiatives. Rowitch, a professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery, is expanding the genomic medicine program and translational research, bringing leading-edge advancements and expertise in precision medicine to pediatric care.

Guerin Children’s has recruited or promoted several other high-caliber clinicians and investigators during the last year:

• Leo Mascarenhas, MD, MS, a distinguished pediatric hematologist-oncologist and sarcoma expert, was appointed director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Guerin Children’s and medical director of the Sarcoma Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. In this role, Mascarenhas is working to advance innovative clinical trials and investigations and develop novel treatment strategies for children with cancer and blood diseases.
• To bolster specialty surgical services at Guerin Children’s, Eugene Kim, MD, a leading pediatric surgical oncologist and neuroblastoma research expert, was named surgeon-in-chief and associate director of Surgery at Guerin Children’s. In his new role, Kim will collaborate with the leadership of all pediatric surgical subspecialties at Cedars-Sinai to support the Guerin Children’s mission.
• Deborah Holder, MD, a distinguished pediatric neurologist, was named program director of the new Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Guerin Children’s. The clinic offers comprehensive, one-stop care for children with epilepsy and aims to leverage leading-edge advancements and expand treatment access for childhood epileptic seizures.
• Rangasamy Ramanathan, MD, MBBS, an internationally recognized innovator of nasal cannulas for newborns—and the Ruth and Harry Roman Chair in Neonatology in honor of Larry Baum—was named director of Neonatology in the Department of Pediatrics with the goal of significantly enhancing the newly expanded neonatology program.
• David Traver, PhD, a developmental biologist and stem cell investigator, was appointed director of a new developmental biology and regenerative pediatrics center. Traver is recruiting a cohort of investigators to study the cellular processes involved in regenerative medicine, including research into how the body grows, repairs and rebuilds. This could lead to potential discoveries of new therapies for childhood diseases, such as cancer and related disorders.

“We are on a journey toward building an international destination for children’s care that can positively impact the health of our region and the world, and provide children and their families with a comfortable, state-of-the-art environment for the highest level of care,” said Shervin Rabizadeh, MD, MBA, associate director of Guerin Children’s and chair of the Department of Pediatrics.

Training Future Leaders in Pediatrics

In addition to its clinical and research advances, Guerin Children’s also has introduced a pediatric residency program to train future pediatric specialists. An inaugural cohort of eight pediatric residents kick-started the program on July 1. 

The program aims to train the next generation of pediatricians by providing comprehensive education, hands-on experience and mentorship in various pediatric specialties. The residency program is designed to equip pediatric residents with the skills and knowledge needed to excel in various inpatient and outpatient practice settings while caring for diverse patient populations throughout their lifespans.

“As we continue to grow and expand over the coming years, Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s will offer a continuum of exceptional and seamless care,” Klein said. “We are committed to our vision of becoming a world-class center for innovative clinical care and impactful research.”

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