Department of Pediatrics

University of California San Diego

Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego. Established in 1969, the Department became the primary pediatric provider for Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego in 2001. We are also the primary pediatric subspecialty provider for UCSD Health. Together, these institutions share a unified mission centered on excellence in clinical care, scientific discovery, medical education and community benefit.

Our Mission

1. Provide children and families in San Diego and beyond with access to exceptional, state-of-the-art healthcare across communities in Southern California.
2. Advance discovery to improve diagnostics and develop innovative therapies for childhood diseases.
3. Educate and train the next generation of pediatricians, subspecialists, physician-scientists, PhD researchers, advanced practice nurses, and allied healthcare professionals.
4. Continuously improve and extend community services to the benefit of all children in the San Diego region.

Clinical Care, Research, and Education

This website offers an introduction to the Department of Pediatrics, including an overview of our comprehensive clinical programs, robust research efforts spanning clinical, translational, and basic sciences, and diverse educational opportunities for medical students, pediatric residents, and subspecialty fellows. Whether your goal is to become a primary care pediatrician, a medical informatician, or an NIH-funded investigator, our faculty are committed to individualized career development. Trainees benefit from expert mentorship and access to extensive resources across UC San Diego and the broader San Diego biotechnology sector.

The Department of Pediatrics is the second-largest department within the School of Medicine and includes 19 divisions, over 285 faculty members, 52 Pediatric residents, 2 chief residents, 80 postdoctoral fellows (MDs and PhDs), and approximately 435 staff members. Clinical services are delivered across multiple sites, including the UC San Diego School of Medicine campus, Jacobs Medical Center, and the UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest. Our primary clinical operations, however, are based at Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego, one of the largest children’s hospitals in the United States. The hospital has consistently been named to the U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll—an accolade awarded to only a select group nationwide.

In January 2025, Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego merged with the Children's Hospital of Orange County to form Rady Children's Health. This partnership is expected to expand opportunities for collaboration in pediatric care and research, ultimately improving outcomes for children.

Shaping the Future of Pediatrics

There has never been a more exciting time in pediatrics. Advances in multiomics, computational biology, and artificial intelligence—alongside foundational disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry, and physiology—are transforming our understanding of disease mechanisms. Conditions once considered fatal are now treatable or manageable as chronic diseases, with curative therapies on the horizon. As we deepen our understanding of the molecular basis of disease, pediatricians are increasingly able to develop targeted treatments, including gene and cell-based therapies, small molecules, and biologics.
The advancements in medicine, but especially pediatrics, has been astonishing since the discovery of double helix in 1953. The future or pediatrics is exceptionally bright—be inspired, join us!