Miami, Florida 33136
About the Division of Pediatric Critical Care
The Pediatric Critical Care specialists at the University of Miami are renowned for their expertise in mechanical ventilation, respiratory and cardiac failure, traumatic brain injury, trauma care and injury prevention, multiple organ dysfunction, postoperative cardiac care, palliative care and procedural sedation. Their excellent care is supported by a 30-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and a 3-bed Pediatric Special Procedure Room in the Holtz Children’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The PICU is the hub for the care of all critically sick and injured children from birth to age 22. The PICU supports the vast array of pediatric surgical specialties including cardiothoracic surgery and organ transplantation. Trauma and burn patients are admitted directly to the PICU.
The pediatric intensivists provide emergency respiratory support and a wide range of supportive procedures including intubation, mechanical ventilation, central vascular access, arterial access, hemodynamic monitoring (invasive and non-invasive), thoracostomy, ECMO, renal replacement therapy (dialysis and continuous hemofiltration), and intracranial pressure monitoring. In addition, they support a procedural sedation service to provide moderate and deep sedation for subspecialty procedures such as endoscopies, bronchoscopies, biopsies, lumbar puncture, bone marrow studies and radiographic imaging.
All physicians in the division are board certified/eligible in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and are members of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
The Division members are noted for their diverse interests:
• G. Patricia Cantwell, MD, Chief of the Division teaches Pediatric Advanced Life Support and has special interests in trauma, Emergency Medical Services for Children, disaster management and palliative care.
• Michael Nares, MD is the Medical Director of the PICU and serves as the Critical Care Fellowship Director.
• William Harmon, MD has been recruited as Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Medicine Program and will closely interact with the Children’s Heart Center.
• Gwenn E. McLaughlin, MD, serves as Chief Safety Officer of the Holtz Children’s Hospital stemming from her expertise in Quality Management. She has basic science and clinical research interests in new respiratory therapies, complications of organ transplantation and outcome measures.
• Barry Gelman MD serves as the Program Director for the Pediatric Residency and is Associate Chair of Education in the Department of Pediatrics. His expertise is focused upon innovative educational and training strategies, medical ethics and procedural sedation.
• John W. Kuluz, MD is the Director of the Critical Care Laboratory in the Batchelor Research Institute where he conducts basic science research in pediatric traumatic brain injury and stroke.
• Manny Gonzalez-Brito, DO has escalated the diversity of basic science research within the Division and has secured NIH funding to explore mechanisms of axonal growth and guidance utilizing a knock-out rodent model. He is recognized as an investigator by the Pediatric Critical Care Scientist Development Program.
• Juan Solano, MD is focusing his basic science research initiatives upon mechanisms and management of brain edema and intracranial pressure following traumatic brain injury. Investigations include the impact of secondary insults such as hypoxia and hypotension.
• Jorge N. Hernandez, MD maintains clinical research interests in procedural sedation and palliative care. He is directly supervising the ancillary sedation initiatives of the Division.
• Joseph J. Frassica, MD Chief Medical Officer of Holtz Children's Hospital, Chief Medical Information Officer at Jackson Memorial Hospital and Associate Chair, Dept. of Pediatrics - participates as a member of the clinical faculty and renders expertise in the technology needs of the PICU.
The Pediatric Critical Care physicians strive to maintain excellent working relationships with their sub-specialty colleagues and are often consulted for assistance in managing pediatric patients in the Ryder Trauma Center, Emergency Department, on pediatric wards and in other areas of the hospital. The faculty provide mentorship for the ACGME accredited pediatric critical care fellowship program (8 positions) at the Holtz Children's Hospital. All faculty play an integral role in participating in academic research which is focused upon bridging the gap between basic science bench work and the clinical bedside.
Faculty frequently participate in multi-institutional investigations to maintain a high profile in the field of pediatric critical care medicine and to aim for excellence in clinical family centered patient care.
