Pediatrics
Eva A. Cassedy
<p>Eva Cassedy, MD, is an attending physician at Montefiore Einstein. Dr. Cassedy’s clinical focus is providing care and treatment to pediatric patients in the pediatric emergency department.</p><p>After obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Brandeis University in 2009, Dr. Cassedy completed her Postbaccalaureate at Harvard Extension School in 2013. She continued her medical training at Montefiore Einstein, earning her Doctor of Medicine in 2018 and completing her pediatric residency in 2021.</p><p>Dr. Cassedy’s research interests include quality improvement and safety. Her work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including the <em>Journal of Clinical Psychology</em>, the <em>Journal of Clinical Anesthesia</em> and the <em>Journal of Clinical Pediatrics</em>.</p><p>Dr. Cassedy is board certified in Pediatrics. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. In 2018, she won The Evelyne Albrecht Schwaber Listening and Communication Award.</p>
Hannah M. Levine
Florangel De Leon Rodriguez
Ewaenosa E. Isidahome
Megha Malhotra
<p>Megha Malhotra, MBBS, is an attending physician at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein and Assistant Professor, Pediatrics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Malhotra’s clinical focus is on stem cell transplantation and cellular therapies for children with high-risk hematological malignancies, primarily acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia. She has a specific interest in alternative donors and stem cell graft modification for allogeneic transplants.</p><p>After earning her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at Kasturba Medical College of Manipal University in Karnataka, India, in 2013, Dr. Malhotra completed her medical/surgical internship at the same institution in 2015. She then moved to the United States to continue her medical training, completing her pediatrics residency at HSHS St. John’s Hospital of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in 2019. Following this, Dr. Malhotra completed a pediatric hematology & oncology fellowship at St. Louis Children’s Hospital of Washington University School of Medicine in 2022 and a pediatric stem cell transplant and cellular therapy fellowship at the same institution in 2023.</p><p>Dr. Malhotra’s research interests include the clinical application of alpha-beta T-cell depletion and other graft modification techniques for haploidentical stem cell transplantations, primarily in the treatment of high-risk pediatric leukemias. She has shared her work through peer-reviewed publications and presentations.</p><p>Dr. Malhotra is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Society of Hematology and Oncology (ASPHO), the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).</p>
Gita Chadalawada
<p>Gita Chadalawada, DO, DIMPH, is an attending physician at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein and Instructor, Pediatrics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Chadalawada’s clinical interests include chronic disease, specifically type 1 diabetes, global health and socioeconomic determinants of health.</p>
<p>After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in biology and international studies at Loyola University Chicago in 2015, Dr. Chadalawada earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University and her Diploma in International Medicine and Public Health at the Institute for International Medicine in 2020. Following this, Dr. Chadalawada completed her pediatric residency at Tulane University in 2024 through the Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) program. </p>
<p>Dr. Chadalawada’s research focuses on the development of childhood trauma and resilience through neighborhood-level factors, specifically interactions with the criminal legal system. She explores the research gaps in her area of focus, namely positive childhood experiences in relation to community and their implementation in clinical practice. Her work has been shared through several peer-reviewed original investigations, abstract presentations, poster presentations and national and international invited lectures.</p>
<p>Dr. Chadalawada is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Physician Scientist Association and the American Medical Association.</p>
<p>Gita Chadalawada, DO, DIMPH, is an attending physician at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein and Instructor, Pediatrics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Chadalawada’s clinical interests include chronic disease, specifically type 1 diabetes, global health and socioeconomic determinants of health.</p><p>After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in biology and international studies at Loyola University Chicago in 2015, Dr. Chadalawada earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University in 2020 and her Diploma in International Medicine and Public Health at the Institute for International Medicine in 2023. Following this, Dr. Chadalawada completed her pediatric residency at Tulane University in 2024, where she was part of the Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) Program.</p><p>Dr. Chadalawada’s research focuses on the development of childhood trauma and resilience through neighborhood-level factors, specifically interactions with the criminal legal system. She explores the research gaps in her area of focus, namely positive childhood experiences and their implementation in clinical practice. Her work has been shared through several peer-reviewed original investigations, abstract presentations, poster presentations and national and international invited lectures.</p><p>Dr. Chadalawada is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Physician Scientist Association and the American Medical Association.</p>
Michelle M. Shankar
<p>Michelle Shankar, MD, MHS, is an attending physician at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein and Assistant Professor, Pediatrics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Shankar’s clinical focus is on primary care, adolescent health and school health.</p><p>Dr. Shankar earned her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2019. She then completed her residency in categorical pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2022. In 2024, Dr. Shankar completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale University, earning her Master of Health Science.</p><p>Dr. Shankar’s scholarship focuses on aligning health and school systems to improve the health and well-being of children and adolescents. She has been an invited speaker at numerous engagements and her work has been shared through peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, abstracts and presentations at professional meetings.</p><p>Dr. Shankar is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Pediatric Research.</p>
Xiao P. Peng
<p>Xiao P. Peng, MD, PhD, is Director of the Genetics of Blood and Immunity Clinic and Co-Director of the New York Center for Rare Diseases at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Peng cares for patients with complex, undiagnosed disorders, with unique and specific expertise in the diagnosis and care of genetically-driven disorders of blood and immunity (GBIs). She integrates the tools of molecular medicine and the conceptual understanding of human genetics and pathobiological mechanisms to identify novel disease-causing mechanisms and strategies for helping patients.</p><p>After receiving her Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 2005, Dr. Peng earned her Doctor of Philosophy in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology at Sloan Kettering Institute in 2015 and her Doctor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in 2017. She then completed a pediatrics-medical genetics combined residency at Johns Hopkins University in 2021 and served an additional year as both Chief Resident and a Research Fellow. During her residency and fellowship, she also worked as a geneticist for the Genetics and Genomics Unit at the Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency, University of Freiburg, Germany.</p><p>Dr. Peng’s research focuses on the nexus of genome maintenance, transcriptional gene regulation and post-translational modifications. She is greatly interested in host-pathogen co-evolution, or how interactions with our fellow species, particularly microbes, have shaped human genomes and human history. She has been principal investigator and co-investigator on a number of funded research projects and contributed her time to many initiatives that advance the goals of the GBI community at large. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, case reports, book chapters, monographs, reviews and abstracts, and she has given many invited presentations. She serves in several groups within the ClinGen Immunology CDWG and as a reviewer for <em>Genetics in Medicine, Clinical Immunology, Frontiers in Immunology</em> and the <em>Journal of Clinical Immunology</em>.</p><p>Dr. Peng is board certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics in Clinical Genetics and Genomics and the American Board of Pediatrics in General Pediatrics. She holds multiple leadership roles in the North American Immuno-Hematology Clinical Education & Research (NICER) Consortium. She serves as Geneticist for the Johns Hopkins Ataxia Telangiectasia Clinic and the Genetic Disorders of Mucociliary Clearance Consortium and Related Research Network. She is also an active member of the Clinical Immunological Society (CIS) and the European Society of Human Genetics.</p>
Bavan P. Singh
<p>Bavan P. Singh, MD, FAAP, is a Child Abuse Pediatrician in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics at the JE and ZB Butler Center for Children and Families at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein. Dr. Singh is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.</p><p>Dr. Singh’s clinical focus is on the prevention and evaluation of child maltreatment. Dr. Singh’s research focus includes medical education regarding child maltreatment, sexual exploitation of children, and inflicted trauma. He has shared his work through invited presentations, abstracts, book chapters and review articles.</p><p>After obtaining his Bachelor of Health Sciences at Kasturba Medical College International Center in Manipal, India, in 2012, Dr. Singh earned his Doctor of Medicine at the American University of Antigua in Antigua and Barbuda in 2016. In 2020, he completed his pediatric residency at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital and served as Chief Resident until 2021. Dr. Singh subsequently completed a child abuse pediatrics fellowship at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University in 2024.</p><p>Dr. Singh is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is board eligible in Child Abuse Pediatrics. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the AAP Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the Ray E. Helfer Society.</p>