NEW YORK (July 29, 2014)—The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have named Betsy Herold, M.D., chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, CHAM and Einstein. She assumed her new position on July 1. Dr. Herold also serves as vice chair for research development in the Department of Pediatrics at CHAM and Einstein. She is a professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Immunology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health and holds the Harold and Muriel Block Chair of Pediatrics at Einstein. 

Betsy Herold, M.D.“Dr. Betsy Herold is a world renowned physician scientist and academic leader known for her innovative and ground breaking translational research in the prevention of viral infections. This appointment is a tribute to her numerous academic accomplishments and I feel fortunate to have her as part of CHAM’s leadership team,” said Judy Aschner, M.D., physician-in-chief, CHAM, professor and Michael I. Cohen, M.D., University Chair, Pediatrics, Einstein. “Dr. Herold will serve as a transformative leader and role model in her division and our department.”

Dr. Herold joined Montefiore and Einstein in 2007 after serving as the division chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the former Mount Sinai School of Medicine. At Einstein, she built and directed the Translational Prevention Research Center. A board-certified pediatric infectious disease specialist, she has over 20 years’ experience caring for children with infectious diseases. In her new role at Montefiore and Einstein, Dr. Herold will be responsible for continuing the expansion and further development of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases’ clinical, translational and basic research efforts, and will oversee the Department’s educational missions.

“We are privileged to have an innovative researcher like Dr. Herold lead our Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases,” said Allen M. Spiegel, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein. “We are truly grateful for Dr. Herold’s dedication to her research and to training the next generation of outstanding physician-scientists.”

“This appointment is a tribute to Dr. Herold’s dedication to pursuing advanced research and education in infectious diseases.”

– Judy Aschner, M.D.

Dr. Herold is an accomplished, NIH-funded investigator whose basic and translational research program at Einstein has focused on the prevention of HIV and herpes simplex viruses (HSV). Most recently, Dr. Herold’s lab has concentrated on developing a vaccine for HSV in collaboration with William Jacobs, Jr., Ph.D., professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Einstein. Her lab also directs clinical trials to study strategies designed to protect women and babies from HSV and HIV, and basic and translational studies to determine how the two viruses interact with one another.

In addition to her lab research, Dr. Herold also conducts clinical research related to the prevention of infectious disease complications in children who receive organ or bone marrow transplantation. CHAM will be participating in a multicenter study on the epidemiology of respiratory infections in transplantation recipients, which will pave the way for studies of new antivirals and vaccines.

“Infections often complicate the lives of our patients,” Dr. Herold said. “I am proud to be a part of a Department that is dedicated to finding the best ways to treat and prevent these infectious diseases so we can keep children healthy and out of the hospital.”

Dr. Herold received her Medical Degree in 1982 from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and completed her residency, fellowship and postdoctoral virology training at Northwestern University. Some of Dr. Herold’s accomplishments include the Henry and Jacob Lowenberg Prize in Pediatrics from the University of Pennsylvania (1982); the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society Young Investigator Award (1995); the IDSA/Burroughs Welcome Young Investigator Award in Virology (1995); the University of Chicago Department of Pediatrics’ Outstanding Teacher Award (1996); and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Faculty Mentoring Award (2012). She is secretary-treasurer of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America.