Eichenwald Named Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UTHealth

Newswise — HOUSTON – (Aug. 29, 2013) – Eric Eichenwald, M.D., has been named chair of the Department of Pediatrics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School.

As part of his position, he was also named physician-in-chief at the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, a comprehensive, full-service women and children’s hospital with more than 240 beds for pediatric patients and 68 beds for women’s services in the Texas Medical Center.

Eichenwald, professor of pediatrics, leads a department with one of the most robust residency programs in the country, training 70 residents in pediatrics, 27 in medicine/pediatrics, five in child neurology and four in medical genetics/pediatrics each year. In addition, UTHealth has fellowship programs for advanced training in 10 separate pediatric subspecialties. More than 160 faculty members cross the spectrum of general and sub-specialty pediatrics and basic and clinical research.

Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, in partnership with the pediatric department, is home to an internationally known neurology/pediatric epilepsy program and one of the largest Newborn Intensive Care Units in the country. As part of the Eunice Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Development Neonatal Research Network, the UTHealth Division of Neonatology is a leader in cutting-edge research in the prevention and treatment of complications of premature birth and neurologic injury in the newborn.

Eichenwald will continue to serve as chief of the Division of Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine and assistant dean for Children’s Health Care Quality at UT Health.

Eichenwald joined the UTHealth Medical School in July 2010 as an associate professor of pediatrics. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and completed his pediatrics residency and neonatology fellowship at Boston Children’s hospital.

“This is an exciting time for UTHealth, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and pediatrics,” Eichenwald said. “I look forward to leading and growing the department in its mission of excellence in patient care, education, and research.”