UI names new head of pediatrics, chief at Children's Hospital

IOWA CITY -- University of Iowa Health Care leaders announced Wednesday the selection of Raphael Hirsch as the new professor and head of the Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief at UI Children's Hospital.

Hirsch will begin his duties July 1. He succeeds Thomas Scholz, who has served as interim head of the department and physician-in-chief of UI Children's Hospital since October 2010. Scholz will continue in the position until Hirsch's arrival.

Hirsch is currently chief of the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he is also the Aldo V. Londino Professor of Pediatrics and vice chair for faculty development in pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Under his direction, the division grew from a one-physician program in 2002 to one of the largest and most comprehensive programs in the United States, with six full-time faculty members and the nation's only National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded training grant in pediatric rheumatology.

At Pittsburgh, Hirsch leads a NIH-funded research program focused on answering fundamental questions about arthritis. His areas of expertise include gene transfer and modulation of immune responses in autoimmune diseases. Hirsch is board-certified in pediatric rheumatology. He is a member of several national professional groups including the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Rheumatology, where he also serves on the board of directors.

Prior to his service at Pittsburgh, Hirsch was on the faculty of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Before that he was a medical staff fellow at the National Cancer Institute, focusing his research on modulation of T-cell function in transplantation and autoimmunity. He completed a pediatric rheumatology fellowship at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Hirsch earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Northwestern University, Chicago, and a medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He completed his pediatric residency at the University of Minnesota from 1983 to 1986, where he also served as chief resident.