Nia Heard-Garris, MD, MSC
Nia Heard-Garris, MD, MSC
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago/Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Nia Heard-Garris is a pediatrician and a researcher in the Department of Pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University; and also in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics and Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research, Outreach, and Advocacy Center at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Heard-Garris is an active member in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and serves as the Chair and founding member of the Provisional Section of Minority Health, Equity, and Inclusion.
Dr. Heard-Garris completed a prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Fellowship at the University of Michigan. As a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, Dr. Heard-Garris served as a fellow at the United States Department of Health and Human Services with the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Dr. Heard-Garris trained at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC for her pediatric residency. During her residency, she completed a health policy fellowship and worked in Honduras, as a part of the global health track. She received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Howard University College of Medicine and earned her Bachelor of Science in biology at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Heard-Garris’s overarching research interests revolve around the relationship between adversities experienced early in childhood and health. She is also interested in the factors that contribute to a child’s ability to thrive despite these experiences. She aims to generate the knowledge to help inform evidence-based interventions that allow pediatricians and policymaker’s to help build resilience in children and in the communities that support children. As a pediatrician, she enjoys caring for children from diverse backgrounds, including children from immigrant backgrounds. Through her research and clinical work, she hopes to help all children thrive.