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Children's Hospital Los Angeles Names Chief for Division of Infectious Diseases
[May 16, 2014]

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Names Chief for Division of Infectious Diseases


LOS ANGELES --(Business Wire)--

Grace Aldrovandi, MD, CM, has been named the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, effective July 1. A board-certified pediatric infectious disease specialist, she has over 20 years' experience caring for children with infectious diseases. Aldrovandi has been an investigator at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles since 2003 and leads an internationally recognized research program studying transmission of HIV in breast milk. She is also a professor of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Grace Aldrovandi, MD, CM (Photo: Business Wire)

Grace Aldrovandi, MD, CM (Photo: Business Wire)

The Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital Los Angeles offers superior inpatient and outpatient care - consulting on more than 400 cases in California each year as well as serving over 1,000 patients with complex bacterial, fungal and viral infections including toxic shock syndrome, bone and joint infections, meningitis, encephalitis, tuberculosis, viral infections, HIV, and infections that arise in transplant and immunocompromised patients. Within the division, areas of research include meningitis, Kawasaki's disease, mother to child transmission of HIV, development of new antibacterial agents, and the management of patients who have undergone bone marrow or organ transplant.

"We are fortunate to have a pediatric infectious disease expert of Dr. Aldrovandi's stature within our institution. In this leadership role, she will continue to advance the standard of excellence that has been achieved in this division both in terms of clinical care and research," said Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Aldrovandi has been involved in studies on breastfeeding and HIV transmission for many year. Her research demonstrated that there was no net benefit to early cessation of breastfeeding to prevent HIV transmission to newborns. This research ultimately resulted in a change in World Health Organization guidelines. She is part of a national consortium that was recently awarded over $19 million from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for studies that will advance the prevention and treatment of HIV and its complications for infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant/postpartum women throughout the world.



"Dr. Aldrovandi is a world-class translational physician-scientist. Her innovative research, far-reaching collaborations, and commitment to education and mentoring position her to be a true resource for physicians and scientists within our community as well as patients in Los Angeles and beyond," said Brent Polk, MD, chair and physician-in-chief at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and director of The Saban Research Institute.

Dr. Aldrovandi has chaired national and international studies on HIV pathogenesis within the International Maternal, Pediatric and Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT) and the Adolescent Trials Network (ATN). Her lab is one of only three funded by IMPAACT Virology to perform assays in support of its clinical trials and to develop novel assays to probe pathogenesis within these trials.


Aldrovandi has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and eight book chapters, and lectures internationally. She has been a member of multiple NIH study sections and has served as a member of the AIDS Immunology and Pathogenesis Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review. In 2004, she was awarded the prestigious Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award, given by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, for her work on breast milk transmission of HIV-1.

Currently, she is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric AIDS and the Brighton Collaboration Vaccine Safety Working Group. She has been the American Academy of Pediatrics representative on the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Smallpox Guidelines Project.

Aldrovandi received two bachelor's degrees and her medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She completed her internship and residency at McGill, as well as a research fellowship in pediatric infectious disease at the University of California, Los Angeles.

About Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children's hospital on the West Coast and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, or visit our blog: WeTreatKidsBetter.org.


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