Cynthia D. Downard, MD, MMSc, was named division chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery in July. Dr. Downard is a professor of Surgery, the Hirikati S. Nagaraj, MD Chair of Pediatric Surgery, Program Director of the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship and Surgeon-in-Chief, Norton Children’s Hospital.

She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and fellow of the American College of Surgeons. A graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. Downard completed her general surgery residency at Oregon Health & Science University and a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at Children’s Hospital Boston, where she also was a Clinical Research Fellow in Surgery. She has a Masters in Medical Science in Translational Research from Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Dr. Downard also completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at Emory University – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Cynthia Downard began practicing Pediatric Surgery in 2007.