Education

Our program is intended for individuals planning a career in academic medicine, with a focus on protected time for scholarly work and career development. Fellows receive comprehensive training in clinical Neonatology and their chosen area of scholarly concentration. 

UCSF and the Department of Pediatrics is committed to advancing health equity by upholding the values of Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence (PRIDE). Our fellowship program values the importance of a diverse clinical and research workforce as reflected by the intersecting identities, lived experiences, and academic interests of our current fellows and faculty.   

Each year the program accepts 3 new fellows through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Medicine and Pediatrics Specialties Match. 

Interested candidates should apply via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) starting in July of each year. In addition to the standard application requirements, candidates should include a research statement describing their current and anticipated future research interests, as well as relevant previous experiences. The research statement should also outline potential mentors and specific programs of study available at UCSF that will advance the applicant's career goals. 

UCSF and the Department of Pediatrics is committed to training a diverse healthcare and research workforce. 

Luke Judge, MD, PhD 
Fellowship Director
Email: [email protected] 

Adam Detora, MD, MBE 
Associate Program Director 
Email: [email protected] 

Yao Sun, MD, PhD 
Division Chief
Email: [email protected] 

Kaitlin Zazueta, MS-HCA 
Program Fellowship Manager 
Email: [email protected]  

 

Clinical Curriculum

Required clinical rotations are scheduled in one of our inpatient teams in our Level IV Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco.  The ICN is adjacent to the Birth Center in the UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital where fellows will attend high-risk deliveries and resuscitation of premature infants and those with antepartum diagnosis of congenital anomalies, including patients followed in the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center. 

Elective rotations are available in our Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Unit, in the Neurological-Intensive Care Nursery consulting service, the Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension Consulting service, and in our community level III NICU at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. 

Fellows participate regularly in the ICN Follow-Up Program for long-term neurodevelopmental assessment of high-risk infants. The clinic is staffed by attending neonatologists, nurses, practitioners, psychologists, and physical therapists. 

Didactic and Core Conference Curriculum 

Weekly Neonatal-Perinatal Conferences: 

• Fellow core educational conference (includes didactics, case presentations, simulation, point of care ultrasound) 

• Interdisciplinary perinatal conference 

• Interdisciplinary Fetal Treatment conference 

• Neonatology Division conferences:  rotating schedule of morbidity and mortality, journal club, research, clinical consensus, and long-term follow-up conferences. 

Fellows College:

The Department of Pediatrics sponsors quarterly meetings for all Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows as part of the Fellows College. The purpose of these meetings is to orient the fellows to UCSF, assist in the transition to Fellowship, and prepare the fellows for future careers in academic medicine. These half-day workshops also address issues of common concern to all trainees (e.g., preparing a manuscript, applying for grants, giving presentations, career planning, and job searching) and constitute part of a core curriculum designed especially for all Pediatric sub-specialty fellows.

Research Scholarly Curriculum

Individualized training and mentorship are provided in the desired area of scholarly work, which may include laboratory research, clinical research, health services research, or medical education.  Formal coursework is available through affiliated programs such as the Master’s and Certificate Programs in Clinical & Epidemiological Research and the Master’s Program in Education. 

We support customized schedules for candidates who are participating in the Accelerated Research Pathway of the American Board of Pediatrics and/or the Pediatric Scientist Development Program to provide an additional year of dedicated research training during fellowship. Alternatively, senior fellows may be selected for the Tooley Neonatal Research Fellowship, a division-funded non-ACGME 4th-year program designed to support research and career development in preparation for an academic faculty position. 

 

First Year

Cheryl Hawkins, MD 

Residency: UCSF 
Research Mentors: TBD 
Research Project: TBD 

Jacqueline Kading, MD 

Residency: UCLA 
Research Mentors: TBD 
Research Project: TBD

Rebecca Webb, MD 

Residency: UCSF 
Research Mentors: TBD 
Research Project: TBD

Second Year

Martin Grana Basurco, MD 

Residency: Children’s National Hospital  
Research Mentors: Dr. Xianhua Piao, Dr. Mark Petersen, Dr. Elizabeth Crouch, and Dr. Thomas Arnold 
Research Project: Neurovascular mechanisms of fetal brain injury after maternal immune activation 

Katharine Griffin Gorsky, MD, MPH 

Residency: Boston Combined Residency Program 
Research Mentors: Dr. Deborah Karasek, Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, and Dr. Megan Sandel  
Research Project: Disparities in Paid Parental Leave Access for NICU Families 

Lauren Harasymiw, MD, PhD, MPH 

Residency: University of Minnesota  
Research Mentors: Dr. Patrick McQuillen; Dr. Shabnam Peyvandi, Dr. Roberta Keller, and Dr. Xianhau Piao 
Research Project: Brain dysmaturation and brain injuries in developmental disorders 

Third Year

Faith Goronga, MD, MPH 

Residency: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center  
Research Mentors: Dr. Susanne Martin-Herz, Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, and Dr. Beena Kamath-Rayne 
Research Project: Maternal, perinatal, and neonatal risks for neurodevelopmental impartment in Zimbabwean cohort 

Brennan Vail Higgins, MD, MPhil 

Residency: UCSF 
Research Mentors: Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, Dr. Martina Steurer, and Dr. Laura Jelliffe-Pawlowski 
Research Project: disparities in neonatal health as well as evaluating potential tools to address health inequities 

Benjamin Rodrigues, MD 

Residency: Cincinnati Children's Hospital  
Research Mentors: Dr. Xianhua Piao, Dr. Benjamin Huang, and Dr. Donna Ferriero 
Research Project: Targeting premyelinating oligodendrocytes in perinatal white matter injury 

Fourth Year

Kayla Karvonen, MD 

Residency: UCSF 
Research Mentors: Dr. Matthew Pantell, Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, Dr. Laura Rubinos, and Dr. Valencia Walker 
Research Project: Racial and ethnic disparities in infant quality of care and health outcomes

Melody Lun, MD, PhD 

Residency: UCSF 
Research Mentors: Dr. Samuel Pleasure, Dr. Michael Wilson, Dr. Xianhua Piao, and Dr. Joanna Halkias 
Research Project: Neurodevelopmental impairment by in utero exposure to pathogenic maternal antibodies

Jingshing Wu, MD, PhD 

Residency: St. Louis Children's Hospital 
Research Mentors: Benoit Bruneau, MD and Deepak Srivastava, MD 
Research Project: Mechanisms involved in TBX5 and Mef2c-mediated congenital heart disease