BOSTON (February 14, 2023) — Boston Children’s Hospital has named Wendy Chung, MD, PhD, the hospital’s next Chief of the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Chung will be responsible for leadership, strategy, oversight, and vision for the Department of Pediatrics, ensuring alignment with the goals, strategic priorities, and mission of Boston Children’s, the Physician’s Organization, and Harvard Medical School.
In addition to her role as Chief of the Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Chung will serve as the Mary Ellen Avery Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and President of the Children’s Hospital Pediatric Associates.
“Dr. Chung is a tremendous addition to our Boston Children’s team,” says Kevin B. Churchwell, MD, President and CEO Boston Children’s Hospital. “We’re excited to benefit from her exceptional track record of success in pediatric care and leadership, genetic research, mentoring, advocacy, and also her vision of where pediatric medicine is headed.”
Dr. Chung joins Boston Children’s from Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, where she served as Chief of the Division of Clinical Genetics within the Department of Pediatrics, the Associate Director for Education at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Medical Director for the Columbia Genetic Counseling Graduate Program, and the Precision Medicine Resource Leader at the Irving Institute. Dr. Chung was also a Kennedy Family Professor of Pediatrics in Medicine who led the Chung Laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center.
“I am looking forward to this opportunity to join Boston Children’s Hospital’s leadership team,” says Dr. Chung. “From clinical care to groundbreaking research and teaching, I look forward to the collaborative and innovative ecosystem that brings together so many types of people, working together for the benefit of children and families.”
With more than 20 years of experience as a clinical and molecular geneticist, Dr. Chung has directed many National Institutes of Health-funded research programs. She is the tenured Kennedy Family Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and currently serves as the Director of Clinical Research at the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), where she leads two large autism and neurodevelopmental disorder cohorts, SPARK and Searchlight. She is also the Director of the Pediatric Neuromuscular Network Molecular Core and the New York Obesity Center Molecular Genetics Core.
Dr. Chung received her BA in biochemistry and economics from Cornell University, her MD from Cornell University Medical College, and her PhD in genetics from Rockefeller University.