LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIR

It is with great pleasure that I present the 1999 Annual Report of the UCLA Department of Pediatrics and the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA.

The past year has been an extremely successful one on many levels. Our endeavors have continued to secure our position as one of the leaders in academic pediatrics.

The Mattel Children's Hospital Executive Board added three new members in 1999: artist Beth Cutler, investment management consultant Jeff Susskind, and president of CBS Entertainment Nancy Tellem. The Board's Research Endowment was established with the goal of continued growth to support our academic mission. The Casey Lee Ball Foundation established a chair for the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology; the Cutler family funded a fellow in the Division of Neonatology; Page and Lou Adler and the Monterey Pop Festival Foundation underwrote the cost of remodeling the pediatric pre-op room; Russ Kunkel, Graham Nash, and Board member Becky Mancuso-Winding organized a benefit concert for the Nicolette Larson Pediatric Endowment, with proceeds from CD sales to benefit the endowment; and Mattel, Inc. provided funds and volunteers to paint and refurbish the Children's Hospital lobby, as well as continuing to supply toys for the Child Life/Child Development Program. In the coming year, the Board will be organizing the first annual fundraising event which will be held on the Santa Monica Pier in September, 2000.

In the past three years, the Department of Pediatrics has made great strides in NIH funding. We have gone from a national ranking of sixteenth to our present level of eleventh among pediatric departments nationally. In 1999, we obtained over $12 million in funding (total contracts and grants). I am very pleased with our progress, and we will continue to work to improve our research program in Human and Molecular Development. To support our growth in pediatric investigations and training, we recruited our first Vice Chair for Research, Dr. Sherin Devaskar, who will also be the new chief of neonatology.

In August, we had our Fourth Annual Pediatric Board Review Course. Once again, it was well received, attracting participants nationally, and attendees said they would recommend the course to friends. Our goal is to provide an educationally informative course that will assist participants in passing the pediatric boards, while imparting knowledge useful in the practice of pediatric medicine. This is the only course of its type offered on the West Coast, and we are pleased to offer this resource to the pediatrics community.

The Department of Pediatrics participates in the Primary Care Network (PCN) with the Department of Medicine. The goal of the PCN is to render total patient care in one location. Family Medicine will be joining the group this year. The PCN gives UCLA a greater presence in the community, and gives patients access to UCLA doctors in a local setting. We currently see nearly as many outpatient visits in our primary care and subspecialty satellites as in the Children's Health Center on the Westwood Campus.

As we face the 21^st Century, I am confident that UCLA Department of Pediatrics and Mattel Children's Hospital will continue to meet the challenges facing all academic pediatric health centers. Our superb faculty, staff, students and trainees form the foundation for our future achievements. I thank them all for our successes, and anticipate continuing excellence in the future.

Respectfully submitted,

Edward R.B. McCabe, M.D., Ph.D.