Incoming Division Chief of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics

The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce that Douglas Vanderbilt, MD, MS, MBA, has accepted our offer to serve as Chief of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, effective September 2026.

Dr. Vanderbilt will build upon the storied legacy established by Dr. Heidi Feldman during her remarkable leadership of the program over the last 19 years, including her tenure as the founding Chief of the Division in 2017.

Dr. Vanderbilt is currently Professor of Pediatrics and Occupational Science at Keck School of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and the inaugural Las Madrinas Chair in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He has an exemplary record of accomplishments across all mission areas. His NIH-funded scholarship focuses on NICU follow up and collaborative efforts in traumatic stress, autism, ADHD, and learning challenges. He brought the DBP Research Network (DBPNet) to CHLA and recently joined their leadership team for the Health Innovation and Quality node. He co-leads the Best Starts to Life research strategic focus for the CHLA Saban Research Institute and is Co-Director of the Behavioral Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where top experts from four key clinical areas—Psychology, Social Work, Psychiatry and DBP – work together.

Dr. Vanderbilt is a distinguished educator. He established the CHLA DBP fellowship in 2008 and continues to serve as Program Director. He is PI of a competitive Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) funded DBP T77 training program grant. He also leads the California Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (CA-LEND) training program; this program includes over 22 faculty from 16 disciplines and promotes interdisciplinary practice for children with or at risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities and special healthcare needs.

In addition to scholarship and teaching, he has extensive experience in DBP clinical assessment and management in the infant to adolescent age range focused on the core diagnoses of Autism, ADHD, Learning and Behavioral challenges. He has served as Medical Director of the California Children Services High Risk Infant Follow-up Clinic, bringing an interdisciplinary team of nutrition, nursing, occupational and physical therapy, psychology, and social work staff together to diagnose and follow NICU graduates, conduct research, and teach trainees. He provides clinical leadership in the DBP division throughout the community mental health, autism assessment, and general pediatrics clinics.

Dr. Heidi Feldman, the Ballinger-Swindells Endowed Professor of Pediatrics, is an internationally renowned leader in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics who has had an outsized impact on the field at Stanford and beyond. When she arrived at Stanford in 2006, DBP was a Section within the Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine with two subspecialty-trained pediatricians and a high-risk infant follow-up program. Over the subsequent years, the program grew to 13 subspecialty physician faculty with seven psychologists on staff at LPCH. The Division was established in 2017 with Dr. Feldman as the inaugural Chief. The clinical services expanded to include developmental consultations and ultimately differentiated into Young Childhood and Middle Childhood programs. The fellowship program was established in 2008 and is supported by the MCHB T77 Training Grant. Within the T77, Dr. Feldman and her colleagues implemented an innovative Mini-Fellowship Program for primary care clinicians working in federally qualified health centers. The Division has a robust research program that includes medical education, reading screening and assessment, pediatric mental health, the neural basis of neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born preterm, learning health systems and clinical trials in ADHD. The Division is deeply engaged in child health equity and community partnerships, with a strong portfolio that includes two grants funded by the California Department of Developmental Services to promote collaborations with Regional Centers and ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Sonar) in Half Moon Bay. These accomplishments are the result of an outstanding team of dedicated clinicians, educators, and researchers. As evidence of her contributions to the field, Dr. Feldman serves as Editor for Developmental Pediatrics, the premier textbook in the field, and was awarded the AAP C. Anderson Aldrich Award for physician contributions to the field of child development. She has provided leadership to the Society for DBP (including serving as President), DBPNet (including service on the Executive and Steering Committees), and the ABP Sub-Board for DBP. We will have the occasion to celebrate her many contributions at the time of the leadership transition next fall.

Please join me in extending our profound gratitude to Dr. Feldman for her distinguished service as the inaugural Chief of this preeminent Division. Finally, we owe a debt of gratitude to the members of the Search Committee, and especially to Dr. Jon Klein for his outstanding contributions as Chair of the committee.