Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s Welcomes Four New Specialists

Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s welcomes four new specialists to its regional network of pediatric healthcare providers and hospitals. 

“Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s continues to build its roster of talented physicians,” said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, executive director of Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s and the David and Meredith Kaplan Distinguished Chair in Children’s Health. “The addition of these specialists expands the care options and expertise we can offer patients and their families.” 

The new specialists are:

• Pediatric neurosurgeon David Bonda, MD. Bonda completed a neurosurgery residency at The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital/University of Washington. During residency, he completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory investigating the neural circuitry of executive control in mice. This work serves as the foundation for his current research, which utilizes intracranial recordings from children with epilepsy to better understand executive control circuitry.
• Pediatric orthopaedic surgeon Amelia Lindgren, MD. Lindgren completed an orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of California, San Diego, and a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Nemours Children’s Hospital. She also completed a research fellowship within the Department of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery in Rady Children’s Hospital. 
• Pediatric neurologist and epileptologist Jeffrey Swarz, MD. Swarz completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric neurology at Tufts Medical Center and a fellowship in pediatric clinical neurophysiology at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. He has coauthored several published studies and is currently investigating how brain recordings in children with epilepsy can predict how well brain surgery will control their seizures.
• Diagnostic radiologist Christopher (Travis) Watterson, MD. Watterson completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at Cedars-Sinai where he was also chief resident. He also completed a fellowship in pediatric radiology at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard University and a fellowship in neuroradiology at Emory University. Watterson is an active member of the Society for Pediatric Radiology where he sits on the Fetal Imaging Committee and ER & Trauma Committee.

Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s was established in December 2021. The pediatric enterprise includes state-of-the-art inpatient facilities, infant and newborn care, multidisciplinary treatment programs, specialized care for complex cases, and a network of pediatricians based throughout the Los Angeles region.

“The concentration of pediatric primary and specialty providers available through Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s makes it possible for children to receive the care they need throughout their lives, all in one network,” said Shervin Rabizadeh, MD, MBA, associate director of Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s and chair of the Department of Pediatrics.

Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Early Diagnosis of Autism and ADHD