Alan S. Wayne, MD, has been named chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and senior vice president of academic affairs and pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He will begin the role on Sept. 1.

Wayne was selected from a national search to lead the department. He will oversee the department’s clinical care delivery at CHLA and Los Angeles General Medical Center — as well as its medical education, research, strategy, faculty affairs and budget management.

Wayne is recognized as a foremost expert in pediatric hematology-oncology. In 2013, he was recruited from the National Cancer Institute to serve as director of the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute and chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at CHLA, as well as the associate director for pediatric oncology at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Continuously funded by the NIH since 1999, Wayne’s primary research is in development of new treatment approaches for leukemias and lymphomas. He is a leader in the development of genetically modified chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells to target and fight cancer.

Wayne was instrumental in the creation of the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) cell manufacturing facility in partnership among CHLA, the Keck School, Keck Medicine of USC and USC Norris. This partnership facilitated the awarding of a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine grant to establish a new Alpha Clinic to further cell and gene therapies.

Wayne also serves as medical director of the Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia/Lymphoma Consortium, a multinational clinical trials group headquartered at CHLA.

Wayne earned his medical degree at Northwestern University. He completed internship, residency and chief residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and hematology-oncology fellowship training at Boston Children’s and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is board-certified by the American Board of Pediatrics’ Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Subboard.

Wayne will report to Paul S. Viviano, president and CEO of CHLA, as pediatrician-in-chief; and to Carolyn C. Meltzer, dean of the Keck School, as chair of the Department of Pediatrics; and jointly to both leaders as the senior vice president of academic affairs.

—Kevin Joy