Originally from Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Rima Fawaz received her undergraduate and medical degree at the American University of Beirut. She then completed her pediatric residency at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, Gastroenterology fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center and her Pediatric Transplant Hepatology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Dr Fawaz married her co-fellow Dr Leonel Rodriguez in her last year of GI fellowship. Once she completed her training, Dr. Fawaz moved to Boston to work in the Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Mass General Hospital for Children for 3 years before transitioning to Boston Children’s Hospital for 11 years to devote more time to the care of transplant patients. At Boston Children’s Hospital, she was appointed the Medical Director of Intestinal and Multivisceral Transplant Program, spending much of her time treating complex patients with end stage liver disease and intestinal failure referred both nationally and internationally. Dr Fawaz was recruited to Yale University School of Medicine and appointed to the Medical Director of Pediatric Hepatology and Liver Transplantation in September 2019. Since being at Yale, Dr Fawaz has worked on establishing a collaborative relationship with obesity medicine and endocrinology; and she became a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. She is Yale Site Investigator for multiple national and international studies. Other clinical expertise includes cholestasis as seen by her first author publication on the Guideline for Neonatal Cholestasis for NASPGHAN and involvement with FISHPGHAN updated Guidelines.
Dr. Fawaz’s enthusiasm and dedication to teaching has been recognized at Boston Children’s Hospital and Yale. She will tell you she is a New Yorker at heart but her love for New England and the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod might dispute that. She is Fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish. Dr. Fawaz enjoys traveling and spending time at the beach with her family.
Current position and institution:
Rima Fawaz, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Yale University School of Medicine
Medical Director of Pediatric Hepatology and Pediatric Liver Transplant
Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital
Favorite GI Disease: Anything related to the liver!!
Hobbies: Biking, running and traveling
Favorite Vacation Spot: Cape cod for the Summer. Favorite vacation destination is harder to choose as there are so many beautiful places around the world and the United States. Machu Picchu, Peru, Yellowstone National Park, Arches National Park, and Spain (all of it) are probably some of my favorites.
Favorite Activist: Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and newer generation activists include Malala Yosafzai and Greta Thunberg. We can only break barriers through education!!
Book You Recommend: The Good Life, Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schulz, PhD. This book discusses the findings from the longest scientific study of happiness.
Most Recent Book: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Best Career Advice You’ve Received: I have received a lot of career advice to be thankful for. One that resonated and shaped my career was to “Pursue expertise in a field, as that will fuel your passion and expand your capacity to grow and contribute” ….. I chose Hepatology
If you have people you’d like to see highlighted for future months, please nominate them by sharing their name and contact information with Eyad and Faith. They can be any full member of NASPGHAN, CPNP, or APGNN (attendings, RDs, APNs, RNs, PAs).
Faith Ihekweazu: faith.ihekweazu@bcm.edu
Eyad Hanna (He/They): emhanna @uic.edu
February: Black History Month
March: National Women’s History Month; Irish American Heritage Month
April: Arab American Heritage Month
May: Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month; Jewish American Heritage Month
June: PRIDE month
September: National Hispanic-Latine/x Heritage Month (Sept 15 to Oct 15); Women in Medicine Month
October: National Italian American Heritage Month; National Disability Employment Awareness Month
November: National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
