Children’s Hospital Appoints Internationally Known Leader in Child Health, Accomplished Researcher, and 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Dr. Mark Kline, as Physician-in-Chief and Chief Academic Officer for the LCMC Health Pediatric Market

Working in collaboration with the Departments of Pediatrics at both LSU Health New Orleans and Tulane University School of Medicine, Kline will drive initiatives to improve the health of the next generation.

NEW ORLEANS – In July, Children’s Hospital New Orleans will proudly welcome Dr. Mark Kline, an internationally recognized leader in child health, as the hospital’s Physician-In-Chief. In this role, Dr. Kline will partner with Dr. Raymond Watts, Professor and Head of the Department of Pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans, and Dr. Samir El-Dahr, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine, to advance academic medicine, training, and teaching at Children’s Hospital, the first and largest full-service hospital exclusively for children in Louisiana and the Gulf South.

“Dr. Kline’s expert leadership, together with the excellent pedigree of our academic partners, will allow Children’s to innovate care delivery while training our next generation of pediatricians,” said John R. Nickens IV, President and CEO of Children’s Hospital New Orleans. “Over the last several years, Children’s has recruited administrative and physician leaders trained in some of the top pediatric programs across the country to join our mission. Combining the new perspectives of these extraordinary leaders with the strong, energized collection of LSU and Tulane pediatric experts has created a dynamic and distinct group of professionals ready to tackle the health challenges our kids and communities are facing – Dr. Kline is at the top of that list.”

In his role, Dr. Kline will oversee Children’s Hospital’s pediatric academic medical programs. With a strong vision for pediatrics, he will also help expand academic programs at both LSU Health New Orleans and Tulane University School of Medicine, building alignment in the areas of education, research, and medicine. In addition to Dr. Kline’s primary responsibility as an executive leader for Children’s Hospital, he will hold faculty positions at both LSU and Tulane, working directly with LSU’s Dean Steve Nelson and Tulane’s Dean Lee Hamm to develop innovative, cohesive strategies to improve the future health and wellbeing of Louisiana’s children.

“Dr. Kline’s visionary ability to create a positive environment for academics and research compliments the generational change already happening at Children’s Hospital New Orleans,” said George Bisset, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Hospital. “His passion and unmatched expertise will be transformational for child health outcomes in our state.”

A pediatric infectious disease specialist by training, Dr. Kline founded an international pediatric HIV/AIDS program, Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI), a program that builds healthcare infrastructure, trains health professionals, and provides medical care and treatment to children and families across sub-Saharan Africa and in Romania. BIPAI currently provides HIV/AIDS care and treatment to more than 350,000 of the world’s poorest and least fortunate children and families, more than any other organization worldwide. This pioneering work led to Dr. Kline’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Additionally, Dr. Kline has been the recipient of more than $150 million in research and training grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most recently, Dr. Kline served in the esteemed roles of Physician-in-Chief at Texas Children's Hospital and Chair of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, from 2009-2020. Dr. Kline serves as Editor in Chief of Rudolph’s Pediatrics, one of the world’s most widely recognized and read medical textbooks. He has authored more than 250 articles and textbook chapters, and has presented throughout the world on a myriad of child health topics. Honors include the Association of American Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award in 2002, the Medical Award of Excellence from Ronald McDonald House Charities in 2007, the Distinguished Faculty Award of Baylor College of Medicine in 2007, the Millie and Richard Brock Award of the New York Academy of Medicine in 2009, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Public Service in 2010, just to name a few.

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