Susan H. Guttentag, M.D., is joining Vanderbilt University on Feb. 1, 2014, as the new director of the Division of Neonatology within the Department of Pediatrics at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Currently, Guttentag is associate professor of Pediatrics with the Perleman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been a faculty member there and has served at both Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania since 1994. Prior, she served as a staff neonatologist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan.
Guttentag is a physician-scientist who leads a highly respected research program studying lung development with a focus on alveolar type 2 cell biology, including their contributions to pulmonary physiology and pathology.
“In addition to significant research expertise, Dr. Guttentag is an excellent clinician and educator. She brings with her important experience as program director for the Neonatal-Perinatal training program at CHOP where she led the development of critical research infrastructure for fellows in Neonatology,” said Steven Webber, MBChB, MRCP, the James C. Overall Professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics.
Guttentag was named after an extensive national search led by Webber. Also serving on the search committee were H. Scott Baldwin, M.D., the Katrina Overall McDonald Professor of Pediatrics; Kelly Bennett, M.D., associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine; Fred Lamb, M.D., Ph.D., Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics; Jeff Reece, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics, and Margaret (Meg) Rush, M.D., professor of Clinical Pediatrics and chief of staff for Children’s Hospital.
“I want to express my appreciation to the search committee for their outstanding service. Identifying such a strong finalist positions the division for an even stronger future,” Webber said.
“I also want to express my gratitude to William Walsh, M.D., chief of Nurseries, for serving as interim division chief during this search. Bill’s sustained commitment to excellence in patient care motivates us all.”
Patient care for newborns was revolutionized nationally at Vanderbilt in 1961 when the Division of Neonatology was founded by Mildred Stahlman, M.D., professor of Pediatrics. Stahlman also began the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the first in the nation to make use of respiratory therapy for infants with damaged lungs.
Since the inception of the U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospital specialty rankings in 2008, the Division of Neonatology has been nationally ranked among the nation’s top 20, finishing in the top 10 several of these years.
“With such a rich history at Children’s Hospital as a national leader in patient care and research benefiting infants born prematurely, and also those born with severe medical complications, the Division of Neonatology is one of our most visible programs and one in which babies and families from throughout Tennessee and surrounding states have come to rely on our services,” said Luke Gregory, CEO of Children’s Hospital. “With her strengths as a superior clinician and researcher, we look forward to Dr. Guttentag assuming this leadership role.”
Guttentag received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.D. from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She served her residency in Pediatrics at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center and underwent fellowship training in the Joint Program in Neonatology at the Children’s Hospital, Boston, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, and Beth Israel Hospital.
“I am truly honored to have the opportunity to lead such an accomplished division, and humbled by the strong history of advances in neonatology that have come from Vanderbilt. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Webber and the members of the search committee for selecting me and look forward to the challenge,” Guttentag said.
Guttentag will be joined in Nashville by her husband, Adam Guttentag, M.D., a thoracic radiologist who will join the faculty in the Department of Radiology & Radiological Sciences.