Dr. Ignacio Tapia New Chief of Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine

Ignacio Tapia, M.D., will assume the roles of chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine for UHealth – University of Miami Health System Department of Pediatrics and Jackson Health System and the Batchelor Professor of Cystic Fibrosis and Pediatric Pulmonology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Tapia will begin in his new roles on July 10.

Headshot of Dr. Tapia
Ignacio Tapia, M.D.

Dr. Tapia is board certified in general pediatrics, pediatric pulmonology, and sleep medicine. He comes to UHealth from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has held the roles of associate professor of pediatrics, Distinguished Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, and attending physician in the Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). At CHOP, Dr. Tapia was also the Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship program director, co-director of the Sleep Center, and director of sleep research. While at UPenn, he was the faculty advisor for the Latino Medical Student Association and a member of the CHOP Anti-Racism Curriculum Development Committee.

Dr. Tapia is currently the deputy editor of Paediatric Respiratory Reviews and an editorial board member of Chest. He has received multiple national and institutional honors and awards, including the CHOP Diversity Endowment Award, the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award, and the American Thoracic Society’s Carole L. Marcus Outstanding Achievement Award.

As reflected in his 63 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Tapia’s main research interests are the pathophysiology and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children and the consequences of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in individuals with Down syndrome. His research has been funded by the American Heart Association, the American Sleep Medicine Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. He is principal investigator on a current $2.9 million NHLBI R01, “Investigating socio-ecological factors in pediatric sleep-related health disparities,” and has been PI on an NHLBI R33, an R61, and two R21s.

Dr. Tapia obtained his medical degree from the University of Concepción in Chile, and completed his pediatric residency and pediatric pulmonology fellowship at CHOP and a master’s degree in translational research at UPenn.


Tags: Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, Dr. Ignacio Tapia, obstructive sleep apnea