When it comes to medical care, children need doctors, nurses and other clinicians who understand the anatomical and emotional differences in patients whose bodies and brains are still forming. Clinical care in the Department of Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine is focused on the whole child, and parents and families are considered partners in the health care decision-making process. Doctors in this department work closely with the entire pediatric care team—from nurses and therapists to child life and social work professionals. They also take seriously their role as partner with a child’s local and community care team at home.
At IU School of Medicine, pediatric clinicians provide care in 18 subspecialized areas of medicine. Department of Pediatrics faculty are highly respected in their fields and take pride in training the next generation of pediatricians. The department seeks pediatric residents and fellows with a passion for caring for children, who want to help the department and school continually improve health care, and who are dedicated to conducting innovative clinical research treatments and therapies.
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To schedule an appointment with an IU School of Medicine pediatric specialist, contact Indiana University Health at 888-484-3258 or online using the Find a Doctor portal.
The Adolescent Health Program addresses the unique developmental needs for young people between the ages of 11 and 21. Adolescence is a time of great change in a young person’s life–adolescents go through puberty, expand their thinking and problem solving capacity, become more autonomous, and undergo enormous change in their social and emotional lives. Adolescence can also be a time of challenge for youth and their families. Occasionally, a physical, behavioral or emotional problem may persist or prove difficult to solve. This team of IU School of Medicine faculty pediatricians approaches each problem by providing immediate attention to the area of concern and then helping young people and families learn new long-term strategies for treating and coping with their specific issues. The Adolescent Health Program provides a range of health-related services for this stage of a young person’s development.
The interdisciplinary Child Development team provides evaluation and assessment for learning, behavioral and other developmental conditions that include autism, communication disorders, cognitive abilities, ADHD and learning disabilities, and more. Child development clinicians work with each family to better understand their child’s particular needs and develop intervention plans to help with daily living. Depending on the child’s needs, the team may include developmental pediatricians, psychologists, nurses, speech and language pathologists, social workers, occupational or physical therapists, audiologists, nutritionists and pediatric dentists. Several team members are providers for First Steps, Indiana’s early intervention program for children birth through age three.
The Division of Child Protection at IU School of Medicine is home to the Child Protection Program, which cares for children who have been sexually or physically abused or neglected. Faculty in the Division of Child Protection provide crisis counseling services to bridge the gap in services from the time a child is identified as a possible child sexual abuse victim to the four- to eight-week timeframe in which formal ongoing counseling may become available. The division’s Trauma Treatment Services provide cognitive behavioral therapy for victims of child maltreatment, and the Child Abuse Consultation Service of this program offers comprehensive medical evaluations for children alleged to have been physically abused or neglected.
Faculty in the Division of Developmental Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine provide both inpatient and outpatient services to children with complex medical conditions, sometimes compounded by difficult social situations. The Division’s Complex Care Inpatient Program, based at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health is a high-volume inpatient service focused on family-centered outcomes. Using an interdisciplinary team approach, this team of pediatricians cares for all aspects of the patient in order to best meet their needs. Outpatient services are comprised of programs dedicated to helping children with disabilities reach their fullest potential. Physicians and nurse practitioners in this pediatric specialty area work with social workers and a dietitian to optimize patient care by assessing all medical, nutritional and social needs of each patient. These specialists also have close working relationships with other subspecialists at Riley Hospital to enhance the patient experience and overall coordination of care.
The Division of General and Community Pediatrics offers comprehensive outpatient care in a mix of metropolitan, suburban, semi-rural and under-served settings. With a team of 30 full-time and 100 volunteer faculty the division hosts one of the nation’s leading Pediatrics Community Training Initiatives.
Clinicians from the Division of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine work hand-in-hand with the Maternity and Newborn Health team to identify health concerns and develop a holistic plan of care prior to labor and delivery. Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine faculty provide care for the sickest of newborn infants in Indiana and surrounding states utilizing the advanced technologies. The 60-bed NICU at Riley Hospital for Children is one of Indiana’s only comprehensive Level IV NICU nursery, providing the highest level of care available for all neonatal patients needing specialized treatment options. In addition to Riley Children’s Hospital, the multi-disciplinary care team also provides patient care at six other sites in Central Indiana.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology at IU School of Medicine is a group of experienced and dedicated of faculty who excel in the diagnosis, treatment and counseling of patients with congenital heart abnormalities. Complementing their expertise in the hands-on physical exam, pediatric cardiologists employ a variety of tests to evaluate cardiovascular defects, including echocardiography, EKG, X-ray, ambulatory EKG, exercise stress testing, electrophysiologic testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diagnostic heart catheterization. The Pediatric Cardiology team also offers a preventive cardiology program to help children and their families make healthy lifestyle choices and an adult congenital heart disease program, in collaboration with IU School of Medicine adult cardiologists, to provide continuity of care for patients as they grow into adulthood. In addition to services based at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, the cardiology clinical team also provides care in outreach clinics located throughout Indiana.
Children in critical care may be required to have extended hospital stays, numerous surgical procedures and ongoing, meticulous care. Pediatric Intensive Care faculty from IU School of Medicine provide skilled multi-disciplinary care to patients at Riley Hospital for Children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Cardiovascular Critical Care Unit and Level 1 Trauma Center. Some of the more advanced services this group provides are advanced mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, continuous renal replacement therapy, and targeted temperature control for children recovering from cardiac arrest. Clinicians also offer compassionate support to the families going through these medical challenges and prepare them for the transition to home.
The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology provides comprehensive services for infants, children and adolescents with dysfunction of the endocrine glands. It also offers extensive, multi-disciplinary educational services for newly diagnosed patients and parents requiring specialized instruction. Outpatient diabetes and endocrine clinic appointments are offered at Riley Hospital for Children, IU Health North Hospital, St. Francis Hospital on the Southside, and in Bloomington, South Bend and Evansville. The pediatric diabetes team is led by childhood diabetes specialists and supported by specialized nurses, nutritionists and social workers who design individual management plans that optimize glycemic control and reduce the risk of long-term complications. In collaboration with the Division of Adolescent Medicine, the Youth Diabetes Prevention Clinic delivers targeted interventions to at-risk adolescents with obesity and pre-diabetes. In addition to diabetes, clinicians treat children with both common and extraordinarily rare endocrine problems. These include, but are not limited to, abnormalities of growth & puberty, disorders of sex development, thyroid, adrenal, pituitary and bone conditions, and syndromes with endocrine manifestations.
The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition provides comprehensive clinical services for children with diseases of the digestive track: esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas. Multi-disciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners and educators, dieticians and psychologists treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal failure, liver disease, eosinophilic diseases, short bowel syndrome, cystic fibrosis, obesity, aerodigestive and motility disorders. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program is part of the national ImproveCareNow quality network. Liver transplantation as well as small bowel/multivisceral transplant are available. Gastrointestinal physicians perform procedures and diagnostic tests that include upper, lower and capsule endoscopy, motility studies, and esophageal and anorectal manometry. Patients are treated at Riley Hospital for Children, IU Hospital North and IU Health Saxony in the Indianapolis area and at clinics in Bloomington, Evansville and South Bend.
IU School of Medicine pediatric hematologists and oncologists provide preeminent care for children and adolescents with various forms of cancer, brain tumors, leukemia and lymphoma, and blood-related diseases such as sickle cell anemia, clotting disorders and primary immunodeficiency diseases. Doctors and staff log more than 12,000 outpatient visits per year, and offer comprehensive specialty clinics in sickle cell anemia, stem cell transplant, neuro-oncology and immunology. Because approximately 75 percent of children diagnosed with cancer today survive their illness, a cancer survivor clinic meets the unique needs of this growing population. The hematology/oncology team treats 80% of all new pediatric cancer diagnoses in Indiana and sees an average of 200 new cancer patients each year from a multi-state regional area. A longstanding member of the Children’s Oncology Group, the Division of Hematology/Oncology provides the only local access to a variety of investigational treatments.
Pediatric Hospital Medicine faculty physicians at IU School of Medicine provide a broad range of bedside care and care coordination for patients at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health and at three other hospitals in the IU Health hospital system in Indianapolis.
The Ryan White Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Global Health at IU School of Medicine is the primary referral center for children with pediatric infectious diseases in the state of Indiana, and the center serves children from other states and countries as well. The center sees more than 1600 patients annually at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health and the Riley Outpatient Center.
The Division of Pediatric Nephrology at Indiana University School of Medicine has the largest and most experienced group of pediatric nephrologists in the state of Indiana. These faculty physician specialists at Riley Hospital for Children offer care for all forms of pediatric kidney disease and are national and international experts in hypertension, congenital kidney disease, kidney stones, chronic kidney disease, end-stage kidney disease, and glomerulopathies. Pediatric Nephrology at Riley Hospital has the largest dialysis program and the only kidney transplant program in Indiana. US News and World Report annually names Riley Pediatric Nephrology as one of the best in the nation. This care team incorporates nurses and nurse practitioners as well as multi-disciplinary clinics with other pediatric subspecialties to treat patients and train future leaders in this field of medicine.
The Division of Pediatric Palliative Care uses full range of both traditional and integrative palliative care services to help patients and their families achieve quality of life in the face of life-threatening and/or life-limiting medical conditions.
The Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team at IU School of Medicine focuses on each family’s and child’s goals for optimum care and quality of life when coping with a physically disabling condition. A wide spectrum of services are provided by a multi-disciplinary team of experts to help support families and patients.
Faculty in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergy and Sleep Medicine at IU School of Medicine provide a broad range of services to patients at Riley Hospital for Children and other clinical partner sites in Indiana. This team provides diagnosis and treatment of infants, children and adolescents with acute and chronic respiratory conditions, allergies and sleep disorders. Using sophisticated technology, pediatric pulmonologists manage one of the only infant lung function labs in the country, a large bronchoscopy program for children needing airway evaluation, a metabolic and exercise testing lab, and one of the largest pediatric sleep labs in the country.
Subspecialists in the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology provide comprehensive care for children and adolescents with arthritis and related inflammatory diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, dermatomyositis, vasculitis, Sjogren syndrome, the anti-phospholipid syndrome, and a variety of autoimmune and auto-inflammatory diseases. The team sees inpatients at Riley Hospital for Children and offers ambulatory consultations at Riley, IU Health North Hospital and in South Bend. Science is advancing rapidly in this field, which has led to more and better medications to treat once debilitating or life-threatening diseases. The opportunity to participate in clinical research is offered to those who are interested.
Clinical Research
Clinical care and research are closely connected at IU School of Medicine, as pediatric physician scientists here study the basis of disease and, through discovery and translation science, improve treatment for children in Indiana and abroad. Clinical care in Indianapolis takes place at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, IU Health Methodist Hospital, Eskenazi Health, IU Health North Hospital, and more than 20 outpatient sites and clinics. Additional specialty outpatient clinics are held at clinical partner locations around the state with schedules arranged by each pediatric specialty service.
