Dr. Sherin U. Devaskar is Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UCLA.
Hospital Appointments
Sherin U. Devaskar, M.D. is Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Mattel Executive Endowed Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She is the Physician-in-Chief, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and Assistant Vice Chancellor of Children’s Health, UCLA Health. She is also the Executive Director of the UCLA Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute.
Dr. Devaskar is a highly accomplished pediatrician/neonatologist, researcher and educator.
Dr. Devaskar's research is renowned for elucidating mechanisms and processes responsible for fetal and neonatal origins of chronic childhood disorders such as obesity, diabetes and neuropsychiatric conditions. Her research is supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Devaskar has authored over 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals. She served as a member of the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council, National Institutes of Health, Chair of the NICHD-Maternal and Child Health Committee and member of the NIH-Human and Embryology Study Section. She was also the President of the American Pediatric Society and served on the International Pediatric Research Foundation Board. She is currently a Board member of the American Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs. Dr. Devaskar was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in October 2012.
Dr. Devaskar has a particular interest in academic development and focuses on supporting and mentoring fellows and junior faculty interested in becoming physician-scientists or clinician-researchers. Dr. Devaskar serves on multiple UCLA, national and international committees. She served as the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the Pediatric Academic Societies. She was a member of the Perinatal-Neonatal Subsection of the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Devaskar served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Pediatric Research journal. These positions allow her to help shape the careers of pediatric fellows and junior faculty nationally.
More locally, she is very well known to Pediatricians in the Los Angeles Area and within the entire UC-system. She is passionate about providing the best and safe care for babies and children and has worked tirelessly to make this happen in Los Angeles. She has also worked towards creating a network with multiple community hospitals to serve as a referral base for the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. She is active in philanthropy and has raised the community’s awareness and need to fund Children’s Health at UCLA.
