Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Endocrinologist Receives International Outstanding Clinician Award
Mitchell Geffner, MD—a pediatric endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Ron Burkle Chair in the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism—has received the 2022 International Outstanding Clinician Award from the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE).
“I’m truly honored to receive this award,” he said in his acceptance speech. “It’s clearly a team effort. I’m holding this plaque on behalf of all the members of our team.”
Dr. Geffner is the first U.S. physician to receive the prestigious honor, which recognizes outstanding contributions and lifetime commitment to the practice and advancement of clinical pediatric endocrinology around the world. The award was presented Sept. 17 at the ESPE 2022 60th Annual Meeting in Rome, Italy.
“This is an incredible and well-deserved honor for Dr. Geffner, who is an internationally renowned expert in growth, congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Turner syndrome,” says Jennifer Raymond, MD, MCR, Chief of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. “Moreover, he is a dedicated mentor, consummate educator and a stalwart advocate for the patients and families in his care.”
Growing endocrinology care
Dr. Geffner’s career has spanned 40 years. Originally from New York, he graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine there and completed a residency in pediatrics at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
After two decades at UCLA, Dr. Geffner joined Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2002. He went on to lead the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism from 2009-2019—growing it exponentially and developing comprehensive subspecialty programs for pediatric bone disorders, thyroid conditions, congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and more.
Today, he serves as Co-Director of the Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Clinic—one of the largest clinics of its kind in the country—and is an international expert in the disorder, which limits the adrenal glands’ ability to make cortisol. Along with Co-Director Mimi Kim, MD, MSc, he is involved in multiple CAH research projects, including studies into cardiovascular disease risk and acute illness in infants.
His research also focuses on early and delayed puberty and novel treatments for children with growth failure. He is an endocrinology consultant on the National Institutes of Health-sponsored Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS), which examines the long-term effects of HIV and antiretroviral therapy in children and young adults born with HIV or exposed to the virus or HIV medications in utero.
In addition, Dr. Geffner was Principal Investigator at CHLA of the National Institutes of Health-sponsored Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY2) trial, a 15-year study that completed last year.
The author of more than 170 peer-reviewed research articles, he serves as the Pediatric Endocrinology Editor for UpToDate, Associate Editor of the international journal Pediatric Endocrinology Reviews, and Co-Editor of Pediatric Practice: Endocrinology, a textbook published by McGraw-Hill.
A team effort
International partnerships have been a key part of his research and career. “I have learned so much from those collaborations,” says Dr. Geffner, a Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “I’ve been fortunate to work with some amazing colleagues across the globe.”
He is also grateful for the support he’s received from the entire Endocrinology team at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“These people are incredibly dedicated,” Dr. Geffner says. “The most rewarding part of my job is working with them to provide the best care for our patients.”
