James E. Stein, MD, MSc, FACS, FAAP

Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Ford Theodore Miller Murphy Chair in Surgical Oncology
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Professor of Clinical Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC

James Stein, MD, MSc, FACS, FAAP is CHLA's inaugural senior vice president and chief medical officer. Dr. Stein is responsible for developing care delivery systems that set the bar in all metrics including quality, outcomes and institutional operational and financial performance.

Since joining CHLA in 1996, Dr. Stein, professor of Clinical Surgery at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, has held a variety of leadership roles. He was named vice chair for CHLA’s department of Surgery ahead of the institution’s successful move into the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion in 2011. Between 2004 and 2005, he served as the interim chief of the division of Pediatric Surgery. Additionally, he led the Division of Pediatric Surgery’s efforts to offer outpatient care for families in locations that are closer to home, particularly in the San Gabriel Valley.

He has served as a lead surgeon in no less than six conjoined twin separation surgeries—of which he led four—procedures that require intense multidisciplinary planning and coordination and meticulous execution. He was part of a CHLA and Keck Medicine of USC team trip to Haiti to separate that nation’s first set of conjoined twins with an abdominal fusion, which received international attention.

Board-certified in surgery and pediatric surgery, Dr. Stein obtained a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, where he also fulfilled his internship and residency, and ultimately went on to serve as chief surgical resident. He completed three fellowships: a research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital; a pediatric surgery fellowship at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia; and a pediatric surgery fellowship at Babies and Children’s Hospital in New York. Dr. Stein also obtained a master’s degree in health care management from Harvard School of Public Health.

He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Surgeons and the American Pediatric Surgical Association, and is on the California Children’s Hospital Association Quality Leaders. He is a member of the Children’s Hospital Association Quality Leaders, and an inaugural board member for the California Hospital Patient Safety Organization and the Hospital Quality Institute. Recently, Dr. Stein was selected to the Quality and Patient Safety Board of the California Children’s Hospital Association. He is a past Morris and Mary Press Humanism Award nominee and has been named a Top Doctor by The Hollywood Reporter, Best Doctors in America, U.S. News & World Report magazine, Castle Connolly America’s Top Doctors, Pasadena Magazine and Southern California Super Doctors.

Education

Medical School

Tufts University School of Medicine

Internship

Tufts/New England Medical Center: General Surgery

Residency

Tufts/New England Medical Center: General Surgery

Fellowship

Royal Childrens Hospital/Melbourne: Pediatric Surgery; Babies & Children's Hospital of New York: Pediatric Surgery; Childrens Hospital Boston: Pediatric Surgery Research

Accomplishments

Certification

Surgery: American Board of Surgery; Pediatric Surgery: American Board of Surgery

Memberships

American College of Surgeons
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Pediatric Surgical Association
American Association of Clinical Directors

Publications

Research

Thoracoscopic Spine Surgery; FDA trial VEPTR device for thoracic dystrophy; Cerebral Oximetry and ECMO; Role of VA ECMO in CDH; Outcomes in Stage IV Neuroblastoma; Thoracotomy vs. Thoracoscopy for Metastatic Osteosarcoma; Management and separation of conjoined twins

Media

Yahoo! Finance - Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Recognized as National Surgical Quality Partner by American College of Surgeons

KOST 103.5 FM – The Ellen K Morning Show Joins Children's Hospital Los Angeles For Fifth Annual Giving Tuesday Event

Los Angeles Business Journal - Health Care Awards

People - Formerly Conjoined Twins and Their Sister Enjoy Being 'Normal' Teenagers 17 Years After Surgery

Los Angeles Business Journal - Health Care Awards

Yahoo! Finance - Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Goes Out Into the Community to Offer Free COVID-19 and Flu Vaccine Clinic for the Whole Family

KNBC - Children’s Hospital LA Recognized By U.S. News & World Report

Children's Hospitals Today - Diagnostic Testing and Employee Program Protects Patients and Staff During COVID-19 Pandemic

Los Angeles Times - How hospitalized kids are coping

More Than 200 Physicians From Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Named to Pasadena Magazine’s Top Doctors List

US Domestic Medical Travel - The Leapfrog Group Designates Children's Hospital Los Angeles as a 2015 Top Hospital for Excellence in Safety, Quality and Efficiency

Volunteer Team #2 Departs and Haiti Conditions Update

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Leads Historic Medical Moment 3,000 Miles Away

Volunteer Team #1: Initial Report from Haiti

U.S. News & World Report "Top Doctors"

My Shocking Story: Human Spider Sisters Documentary

People magazine, Separating Conjoined Twins, Macey and MacKenzie Garrison

Inside Edition, Twins Conjoined at Birth Growing Up Separately, Macey and MacKenzie Garrison, Interview

CHLA Blog

Clinics Bring COVID-19 Vaccines to Underserved Communities

Reaching Critically Ill Babies Faster

A Teen's Story of Triumph After Cancer and a Liver Transplant

When Toys Change Everything

Toddler spends 2nd birthday with CHLA doctors who saved her life

'Ella the Great' Strikes Out Cancer

A Lifelong Impression: Abby Meets the Doctor That Saved Her Life

When Toys Change Everything

10 Back-to-School Tips for 2014-15 School Year