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Dr. Gerald Loughlin, a leading authority on children's respiratory disorders, has joined NewYork Weill Cornell Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian as the newly appointed Pediatrician-in-Chief. He also is Chairman of Pediatrics and the first Nancy C. Paduano Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Loughlin joins the Medical Center from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Eudowood Division of Pediatric Respiratory Sciences. A national expert on such disorders as sleep apnea, asthma, and cystic fibrosis, Dr. Loughlin is credited with building one of the country's leading programs for pediatric respiratory disease at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Loughlin comes to his new post with 25 years experience devoted to children with lung disease. He hopes to carry his expertise into his career at the Weill Cornell Children's Hospital, where he plans to create a stronger presence in allergy, asthma, and in children's respiratory disorders. Other specialties that Dr. Loughlin plans to strengthen include gastroenterology, genetics, developmental pediatrics, infectious diseases, neurology, and neonatology.

Dr. Loughlin will also focus on creating a greater pediatric presence on the NewYork Weill Cornell campus by enhancing the Hospital environment to make it more child and family friendly; strengthening the research enterprise within the Department; and building relationships among community and NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System physicians.

"As a Hospital, we strive to maintain the highest quality of care for children and to have access to all of the latest and most advanced findings and techniques," said Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "Dr. Loughlin's devotion to children, coupled with his initiative and drive, will optimize our abilities to give our child-patients the best possible care."

In addition to his commitment to clinical care, Dr. Loughlin is committed to enhancing NewYork Weill Cornell's educational and research missions in pediatrics. He will pursue innovations in education, such as the utilization of teleconferencing to provide better communication within the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, and to improve access to the educational programs. He also plans to recruit new leadership for certain divisions, and update the research space to attract new investigators.

"With Dr. Loughlin's extensive background in research and education plus his clinical expertise, I am delighted that we are in capable hands," said Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. "The enterprising spirit that he brings to the job will serve us well in meeting the rigors and demands of the 21st century."

Above all, Dr. Loughlin wishes to remain an ardent advocate for children: "I believe firmly that advocacy for children is an essential role for any pediatrician and especially for the leader of a Department of Pediatrics at a major academic Medical Center," he said. "I'm looking forward to exploring all of the possibilities of my new role here at the Medical Center to the fullest."

About Dr. Loughlin

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Loughlin studied medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and received a Master of Science degree in business health care from Johns Hopkins. Dr. Loughlin completed an internship and his residency in pediatrics at the University of Arizona Medical Center, where he was also chief resident and later, a pulmonary fellow. Before joining Johns Hopkins in 1984, Dr. Loughlin was on the faculty of the University of Florida, where he received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the House Staff Department of Pediatrics. He served as a faculty member at Hopkins from 1987 to 2002 and as Associate Director of the Pediatric Clinical Research Unit from 1991 to 1999, among other clinical, research, and academic posts, including Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs and Vice President for Medical Affairs at the Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital. He was awarded the Schaffer Award for the Outstanding Teacher from the House Staff at Johns Hopkins in 1985.

Dr. Loughlin has served on the Board of Directors for several major health-care organizations, as well as on the Board of the American Thoracic Society. In 1998, he was the recipient of the George Will Comstock Award from the American Lung Association of Maryland. Dr. Loughlin has also published extensively on the topic of pediatric respiratory and sleep disorders.

This position represents a return to New York for Dr. Loughlin and his wife, Barbara. Dr. Loughlin grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He is married to a native New Yorker who grew up in Port Washington, Long Island, and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College, just a few blocks away from New York Weill Cornell. Barbara Loughlin matches her husband's educational dedication, having received no fewer than three graduate degrees—including an MS in Education from Johns Hopkins, and both an MA in Special Education and an Educational Specialist in Administration from the University of Arizona. For the past decade, she has been teaching science to eighth graders in the Maryland public school system and plans to explore new teaching opportunities in the City as well as volunteer work. Gerald and Barbara have two daughters, Dr. Ceila Loughlin, an intern in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins, and Shaye Loughlin, Program Assistant in the Civic Education Project at Northwestern University.