Awards & Recognition

2025 US News & World Report

In 2025, the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital ranked nationally in ten pediatric subspecialty areas: 

Behavioral Health Top 50 

Cancer #46

Cardiology & Heart Surgery #40

Diabetes & Endocrinology #46

Gastroenterology & Gastrointestinal Surgery #20

Neonatology #39

Nephrology #25

Neurology & Neurosurgery #39

Orthopaedics #27

Urology #31

Overall, the children’s hospital ranked 6th in the Pacific region and 5th in California. This is the 19th consecutive year that UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital has been nationally ranked in multiple subspecialties, reflecting broad and sustained excellence.

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA placed in the top tier in the research category and tier two in primary care.

FY25 Awards and Recognition

• Dr. Grace Aldrovandi was selected as the recipient of the SPR 2025 Douglas K. Richardson award.
• Dr. Elizabeth Marcus was appointed as the Departmental Fellowship Research Liaison faculty member
• Drs. Alison Chu, Mindy Ross, Neeraj Srivastava, and Maureen Su were accepted into the 2025 DGSOM-Anderson Program for Leadership in Academic Medicine.
• Dr. Deborah Lehman was selected for the 2025 UCLA Leadership Academy Program.
• Dr. Viviana Fajardo Martinez was elected to the California Association of Neonatology (CAN) Board as the next Southwest representative, representing areas of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara.
• Dr. Paul Lukac was named UCLA Health’s first chief AI officer (CAIO).
• Four fellows were announced as recipients of the Fellows Research Support Award: Drs. Teryn Igawa (Neonatology), Bassem Shoucri (Endocrinology), Christiana Santiago (Neonatology), and Hiroya Ono (Neurology).
• Dr. Marlin Touma received the Outstanding Mentorship Award from the UCLA B.I.G. Summer Research Program.
• Dr. Theodore Moore was appointed Interim Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs
• Dr. Audrey Kamzan was appointed Director of Quality in the Department of Pediatrics.
• Dr. Carlos Lerner was appointed as the Medical Director of Population Health.
• Dr. Liz Barnert was selected as the 2025 recipient of the Ninth Annual Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research
• Dr. Colin Sallee was awarded the NIH/NICHD Pediatric Critical Care and Trauma Scientist Development Program (PCCTSDP) award.
• Dr. Yonca Bulut was elected as the UCLA Representative at the California Specialty Care Coalition
• Dr. Robert Cherry was honored with the Press Ganey Physician of the Year Award.
• Dr. Maureen Su was awarded the Senior Investigator Award from the Pediatric Endocrine Society.
• Dr. Claudia Wang was named the recipient of the Patrick Award from the Los Angeles County Complex Child Abuse Unit.
• Dr. Kara Calkins received the 2025 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Serge & Yvette Dadone Clinical Teaching Award.
• Dr. Sonia Voleti was selected as a 2025-26 DGSOM’s Global Health Seed Grant Awardee.
• Dr. Chattip (Mook) Prueksapraopong (second year hematology oncology fellow) was awarded the Friedman Family Fellowship.
• Dr. Natalia Perecki (first year critical care fellow) was awarded the virtual T32 Child Health Research Fellowship Training Award.
• Pediatric Resident, Emily Duan, received the 2025 DGSOM Big Sib Lil Sib Excellence in Mentorship Award.
• Dr. Solomon Behar received the John A. Fricker Teaching Award.
• Drs. Cambria Garell and Micah Kadden were honored with the Robert C. Neerhout Teaching Award.
• Dr. Huan Dong received the Fellow Award for Excellence in Teaching.
• Dr. Cody Aros was recognized with the Alice Litman Moss Award for scholarship and scientific productivity during residency.
• Cherie Lewis received the Special Person Award.
• Pediatric Resident, Dr. Tae- León Butler, was honored with the 2025 "Excellence in Teaching with Humanism" award.
• Dr. Robert E. Morris was selected as the recipient of the 2025 Bernard P. Harrison Award of Merit.

FY25 UCLA Pediatric Residency Faculty Teaching Honor Roll 

FY25 Team Awards and Recognition

• Pediatric Hospitalist Fellow, Dr. Alexandra Gabrielle Kelley, and her mentor, Dr. Deepa Kulkarni, were one of the two winners for the Annual UCLA Health Resident Informaticists Project Symposium for their project: Improving Accuracy of Language and Interpreter Use Documentation

• Drs. Ivanna Maxson, Bonnie Brooks, and Yonca Bulut received the 2025 HETSS Seed Grant for their project: Bridging Crucial Gaps: Family-Partnered Callbacks to Advance Post-Discharge Equity in Critically Ill Children.