John Scott Baird, MD

Dr. Maria Kwok is an Associate Professor of Pediatric in Emergency Medicine at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and an attending physician at the New York Presbyterian (NYP) – Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Outside of her clinical work, Dr. Kwok is a clinical researcher. Dr. Kwok's recent research has focused on children with asthma, including efforts to identify needs and improve chronic and acute asthma care. Dr. Kwok serves as the Hospital Emergency Department Affiliates Principal Investigator (HEDA PI) to oversee and implement multi-center studies initiated by the federally-funded Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). In addition, Dr. Kwok is a research collaborator with the Pediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN), an association of pediatric emergency medicine networks globally. Dr. Kwok was a former medical director for the Washington Heights/Inwood Network Best Asthma Care for Kids to improve asthma care in the ambulatory clinics at NYP. Aside from her own research, Dr. Kwok has mentored pediatric residents and pediatric emergency medicine fellows on their research projects. She is also a member of the Scholarly Oversight Committee, Clinical Competency Committee, and Faculty Development Committee with the goals to improve the quality of the scholarly projects and clinical teaching of the trainees and to assist junior faculty with career development. Dr. Kwok received her BA from the Rutgers University in New Jersey; MPH and MD from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) School of Public Health, and the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School respectively. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at the Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, NY. She went on to complete her fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. Dr. Kwow is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine

Dr. Zitsman graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in natural sciences, and received his M.D. degree from Tufts University Medical School in 1976. He received his training in General Surgery at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, and completed his Pediatric Surgery training at the Babies & Children's Hospital of New York. He is Board-Certified in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery, and also holds a Certificate of Special Competence in Surgical Critical Care. Dr. Zitsman has maintained an active clinical practice in pediatric surgery in the New York area since 1985. He holds the rank of Professor of Surgery at the Columbia University Medical Center. His areas of interest include applications of minimally invasive techniques in pediatric surgery, chest wall deformities, and weight loss surgery in adolescents. Dr. Zitsman has been named to Castle Connolly’s Best Doctors in the New York area list annually since 2002. Dr. Zitsman is founder and Director of the Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. He is Principal Investigator for an FDA-approved adolescent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding study. He has performed over 500 minimal access weight loss procedures and served as Chairman of the Committee on Obesity of the American Pediatric Surgical Association as well as Chairman of the Childhood Obesity Committee of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Dr Zitsman has served as a Consultant to the Medical Devices Evaluation Panel of the FDA.

For over 20 years, I have served as a pediatric nurse in various care settings. Before becoming a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner in 2014, I worked in the neonatal intensive care unit as a registered nurse. My first NP position, within a busy pediatric clinic, allowed me to form a strong foundation as a generalist. Then in 2016, I had the distinct honor and privilege to join Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), working in pediatric urology for 2 years, then moving over to pediatric pulmonology. As a nurse practitioner, I can diagnose, order labs, imaging, and prescribe medication. I treat a variety of pulmonary conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, and sleep apnea. As a mother of 3 children, 2 of whom have had chronic asthma issues, I have deep empathy for the children and families I treat. Education is an important part of the care I provide, and I greatly enjoy the time I spend educating patients and their families. I conduct CPAP desensitization training, asthma education, home spirometer teaching and transition guidance. At CUMC, we utilize a transition program called CF R.I.S.E to help prepare for transition to the adult CF center. I am also involved in quality improvement for sleep medicine and cystic fibrosis. I am proud to be part of a pulmonary team here at CUMC that is always striving to give the best care!