Robert Shaddy named chair of pediatrics

Robert E. Shaddy, MD, has been named chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and as pediatrician-in-chief and senior vice president of Academic Affairs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
He was selected after an extensive nationwide search and is expected to start by July 1, according to Paul Viviano, president and CEO of CHLA, and Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, dean of the Keck School and director of the USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute.
In his new position, Shaddy will oversee department faculty at CHLA and Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center. As pediatrician-in-chief and senior vice president of Academic Affairs at CHLA, he will oversee all faculty appointments as well as educational and research activities. In addition, Shaddy will head the effort to identify a leader for CHLA’s Saban Research Institute as well as advancing the strategic planning of CHLA’s research enterprise.
“We are confident that his knowledge and expertise will serve us well as we continue to fulfill our mission of creating hope and building healthier futures for the patients we serve,” Viviano and Varma wrote in a joint memo announcing the appointment.
As a cardiologist, Shaddy has more than 25 years of experience caring for children, most recently as chief of the division of cardiology and the Jennifer Terker Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cardiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He also served as professor of pediatrics and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Recognized nationally for his research into pediatric heart failure and heart transplantation, Shaddy’s areas of expertise also include the use of echocardiography and other imaging in pediatric heart patients, transplant coronary artery disease, the effectiveness of pharmaceutical drugs in treating heart failure in children and the use of ventricular assist devices in pediatric patients.
He has written more than 180 journal articles for publications including Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Transplantation, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Circulation and The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. He has authored or co-authored 21 book chapters for textbooks used by students and practicing physicians, and authored or co-authored six books about heart defects and heart failure.
Shaddy received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston College and his medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. He completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa, and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco.
In the memo, Viviano and Varma thanked Roberta Williams, MD, who served as interim chair of pediatrics during the search and was a member of the search committee.
Other members of the search committee included co-chair Vaughn Starnes, MD, chair and Distinguished Professor of Surgery and H. Russell Smith Foundation Chair for Stem Cell and Cardiovascular Thoracic Research; Robert Adler, MD, professor of pediatrics; Henri Ford, MD, professor of surgery and vice dean for medical education; Judy Garner, PhD, vice dean for faculty affairs; Laila Muderspach, MD, chair of obstetrics and gynecology; Lawrence Opas, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics and associate dean for medical education; Brad Peterson, MD, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry; and Alan Wayne, MD, professor of pediatrics (clinical scholar).