Academic General Pediatrics


​Bretten Pickering, MD

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​
Section Chief, UCSD Academic General Pediatrics​
Medical Director, UCSD General Pediatrics Clinic​

Clinical Interests
Compassionate care for infants, children and adolescents and expertise in caring for medically fragile children with complex health care needs.​

Academic Interests
Teaching medical students and residents about pediatric primary care. Chronic medical conditions and medically complex children.

​Eyla Boies, MD

Clinical Professor 

Clinical Interests
Primary care for infants, children and adolescents with an expertise in lactation and assisting mothers who are experiencing difficulties breastfeeding their newborns.

Academic Interests
Premature infant nutrition, breastfeeding, and pediatric infectious diseases.

​Adam Braddock, MD, MPhil

Associate Clinical Professor

Clinical Interests
General Pediatrics, Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics

Academic Interests
School Health, Ethics, Developmental Behavioral Disorders

​Janet K. Crow, MD​

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​

Clinical Interests
Providing excellent longitudinal care for infants, children and adolescents throughout their developmental stages. Teaching future physicians to deliver comprehensive and compassionate care.​

Academic Interests
Early Childhood Literacy​, Global Immunization​, Challenges in Parenting 

​Nancy Graff, MD

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​

Clinical Interests
Caring for children of all ages, with a particular passion for the health of those in foster care.​

Academic Interests
Advocacy and teaching the next generation of pediatricians the importance of community to improve the health of children and their families.

​Leah Kern, MD

Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​

Clinical Interests​
Providing high quality pediatric care; promoting safe & healthy travel at the UCSD Pediatrics Travel Clinic; care of HIV-infected and HIV-exposed infants and children​

Academic Interests​
Quality improvement projects for general pediatrics clinic-based screening programs (cholesterol screening, maternal postpartum depression screening); pediatric travel medicine; pediatric HIV care


MICHELLE LEFF, MD, IBCLC​

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​
UCSD Health Medical Director of Breastfeeding​
Better Outcomes through Research of Newborns (BORN ) site director​

Clinical Interests
Newborn medicine, breastfeeding, neonatal abstinence syndrome​

Academic Interests
Improving breastfeeding rates and outcomes, medical education surrounding newborn care, teaching child safety, and optimizing neonatal abstinence syndrome treatment​.


​​SHANNON LEUNG KIM, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​

Clinical Interests​
Providing excellent pre​ventive and acute care to infants, children, and adolescents.  She also has a special interest in breastfeeding support.​

Academic Interests​
Increasing patient health literacy and patient-provider communication to improve breastfeeding education and transitions of care from pediatric to adult medicine.​

​Lawrence Ma, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor

Clinical Interests
Providing comprehensive care to children with complex needs and transitions between pediatric and adult care. 

Academic Interests
Transitions of care. 




​Joshua Rothman, MD​

​​Assistant Clinical Professor

Clinical Interests
Providing longitudinal care to infants, children, and adolescents, with an interest in preventative medicine, nutrition, and population health.

Academic Interests
Clinical informatics and optimization of the electronic health record, with the goal ​of improving patient outcomes and providing high value care.


PIPER SANDEL, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​

Clinical Interests
Providing primary care to infants, children and young adults with special interest in Community Pediatrics and Breastfeeding Medicine​

Academic Interests
Health Disparities, Breastfeeding Education and Care

vanessa Scott, MD, ms

Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​
Director, Think Globally, Act Locally Resident Rotation

Clinical Interests
Providing excellent care to infants, children and adolescents, with special interests in newborns and breastfeeding support, nutrition, preventative care, parenting techniques and global health.

Academic Interests
Developing innovative technology-based interventions to improve patient/parent-physician communication to decrease health disparities for a variety of topics such as behavioral interventions to increase plant-forward eating, immunization delivery, and breastfeeding. Global health medical education.

​Lori Wan, MD

Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics​
Director, Combined Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program​
Academic Community Director​
Associate Program Director, Medical Scientist Training Program​

Clinical Interests
Primary care for infants, children, adolescents, and adults, with a focus on preventive care, chronic diseases, and women’s health. ​

Academic Interests
Graduate and Undergraduate Medical Education

​Helen Wang, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics ​

Clinical Interests
Working closely with families and caregivers to care for patients, from infancy to young adulthood,  to help them thrive and reach their potential.  Special interests are in newborn care, nutrition & obesity. ​

Academic Interests
Innovate and improve upon medical education currently provided to medical students and residents and quality improvement for clinical processes.




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