WPSRC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
2028-2030 Fellowship Opportunity
Position Available: 2028-2030 cycle (starting July 2028)
Clinical Call Required?: Yes
Clinical Call Requirements: 5x/month
Program Length: 2 years
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Program Director:
Lorraine Kelley-Quon, MD, MSHS, FACS, FAAP
Associate Professor of Surgery (Clinical Scholar) and Population and Public Health Sciences
Website: https://www.westernpedsurg.com
Source of Support: Institutional Grants, NIH Grants, WPSRC
Program Description: This position is a Western Pediatric Surgery Research Consortium (WPSRC) Research Scholar fellowship hosted at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The WPSRC is a multi-institutional surgical collaborative of 10 freestanding children’s hospitals across the Western United States, established in 2017 to advance the science and practice of pediatric surgery through high-quality, evidence-based collaborative research. The Consortium leverages the combined expertise and clinical volume of its member institutions to conduct studies of surgical problems and diseases that would not be feasible at a single site, with the goal of advancing best practice, improving quality, and decreasing cost burden. The Research Scholar leads and contributes to multi-institutional WPSRC studies using data drawn from across member sites and participates in the Consortium’s collaborative research infrastructure, including protocol development, multi-site coordination, and dissemination through WPSRC publications and presentations. Additional work will include participation in the Health Outcomes and Policy Effects (HOPE) Lab at CHLA, which works with several large administrative and clinical datasets, as well as CHLA clinical projects exploring opioid use in infants, children, and adolescents in collaboration with the Institute for Addiction Science at the University of Southern California (USC). Fellows commit two years to this research program and obtain either a Certificate or Master’s in Clinical, Biomedical, and Translational Investigations in order to maximize productivity. Clinical opportunities include multi-disciplinary conference attendance as well as call on the pediatric surgical service.
Past/Current Fellows
2023-2024
Utsav Patwardhan, MD
Host Site: Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, CA
Residency: Naval Medical Center San Diego, CA
Dr. Patwardhan has joined us as our first WPSRC research fellow. He is a resident in the US Navy and will be located at Rady Children’s Hospital under the direct mentorship of Dr. Romeo Ignacio. We anticipate that he will be involved on multiple WPSRC projects and we are excited to work with him. His research interests include pediatric trauma and acute care surgery, with a special interest in surgical care of the military child. His goal is to apply to pediatric surgery fellowships after the completion of his research time.
2024-2026
Sasha Kahan, MD
Host Site: Primary Children’s Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT
Residency: Mount Sinai Hospital, NY
Dr. Kahan is the inaugural WPSRC Research Scholar. She will start in the summer of 2024 and will be located at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital under the direct mentorship of Dr. Katie Russell. She has committed to a 2-year research term to the WPSRC. Sasha will be focused on a combination of clinical, research, and academic requirements during her tenure. The fellowship will include clinical shifts on the pediatric surgery service, and a Masters in Clinical Science and Investigation.