Debra Lotstein, MD

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics (Clinician Educator) (Part-Time)

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Overview

As the Director of the Division of Palliative Care, Dr. Lotstein oversees the expanding clinical, educational and research activities of CHLA’s interdisciplinary program. She is an attending physician for the team’s inpatient and outpatient clinical services. The Division of Palliative Care seeks to promote services to achieve the highest possible quality of life for children with complex conditions and their families.

Prior to coming to CHLA, Lotstein served as Medical Director of the Children’s Pain and Comfort Care Program at UCLA. She was also an associate program director of the UCLA Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency program, and was the founding medical director of the Transition Care Consult Program, providing support to adolescents with chronic conditions as they transition into adult care. She has served as an investigator on a number of quality improvement learning collaborative efforts, including the First 5 LA Early Developmental Screening and Intervention Partnership from 2005 to 2010. Most recently she was the project co-director for research on “The Life Course Health Development Primary Care Residency Curriculum” funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Lotstein received her medical degree from Stanford University and completed her combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In addition to her medical training, she was a health services research fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar’s Program, and received her master’s in public health, from UCLA. She is triple Board-certified in pediatrics, internal medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine.

Publications

  • Using health-related quality of life to predict and manage pediatric healthcare. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2005 Aug; 5(4):489-98.. View in PubMed
  • Transition planning for youth with special health care needs: results from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. Pediatrics. 2005 Jun; 115(6):1562-8.. View in PubMed
  • Participatory patient-physician communication and morbidity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum. 2003 Dec 15; 49(6):810-8.. View in PubMed
  • Psychosocial correlates of morbidity in women with systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol. 1999 Oct; 26(10):2153-8.. View in PubMed
  • Socioeconomic status and health in women with systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol. 1998 Sep; 25(9):1720-9.. View in PubMed
  • Seasonality of reproductive function and weight loss in rural Nepali women. Hum Reprod. 1993 May; 8(5):684-90.. View in PubMed