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Message from the Chair

Department of Pediatrics
The Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami has a 60+ year history of innovative research with international implications, preventive health that changes communities, standard-setting education, and child health care that brings hope to families.

Breakthrough Science

At UM Pediatrics, our teams have defined or contributed to significant pediatric advancements, including:

  • Touch Therapy or skin-to-skin care newborns
  • The diagnosis of—and prevention of—neonatal HIV
  • Prematurity survival rates, reductions in respiratory disease, infection, vision, growth, and neurodevelopment sequelae;
  • The chromosomal basis of Fragile X syndrome
  • The demonstrated benefits of mesynchymal stem cells in improving graft sustainability in solid organ transplantation;
  • How to reduce the risk of child abuse
  • How to mitigate the long-term effects of cancer treatments
  • Improvements in early detection and treatment for congenital heart disease
  • New assistive technology for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities

In all of these cases, our goal is to give children the opportunity to live healthy and full lives, to enjoy meaningful social relationships, to succeed in school, and to grow into adults who make the world a better place for their own children.

Far-Reaching Education that Cares

Our faculty have trained thousands of young doctors to care about children, families, and communities in Miami and abroad. The Department of Pediatrics is made up of physician-scientists, pediatricians, child psychologists, PhDs, social workers, education doctorates, physical therapists, occupational therapists, audiologists, speech pathologists, the healthcare team that children need. Our teams work across the scientific/health spectrum as we develop innovative approaches to care for children – and to train those who will care for them in the future – in a comprehensive fashion.

The UM Child Health family extends across the Americas. We provide full-service primary and subspecialty care to children throughout South Florida in a number of convenient locations. We are also the preferred source of care for international patients from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America and are actively working with colleagues in Paraguay, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.

Expert Comprehensive Care

Our primary hospital partner is Holtz Children’s Hospital at the UM/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. Holtz, ranked by U.S. News and World Report, hosts our internationally recognized Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the largest pediatric dialysis unit in Florida, and a globally recognized transplant program. The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is recognized as the finest in the region, and cares for children admitted through Ryder Trauma Center. 

The University of Miami Department of Pediatrics dedicates itself to science so that children can live healthy lives. When something interferes with that, we are here to treat them as part of our family.

With a focus on education (165 medical students, 69 residents and 39 fellows this year), our goal is to create highly engaged, lifelong learning professionals who see themselves as child health leaders.