Pediatrics
General Pediatrics
Our pediatricians examine your children regularly to assess their growth, development, and assess their general physical condition. They also refer patients to pediatric medical specialists and provide other medical referrals when necessary with healthcare devoted to the well-being of children of all ages, from infancy through adolescence.
Specialty Pediatrics
The UNLV Health Pediatric Clinic is devoted to the well-being of children of all ages. Our specialists are a referral resource to your child’s pediatrician. When a specialist is required they are conveniently located in the same building along with your child’s general practice doctor.
General Pediatrics
Click on the map for directions to UNLV Health Pediatric Clinic from Google Maps
- Call Us: 702-944-2828
- Parking: Free parking is available in our parking lot. Street parking is also available at this location.
- Click here to see the homepage of this clinic
Specialty Pediatrics
Click on the map for directions to UNLV Health Pediatric Clinic from Google Maps
- Call Us: 702-944-6868
- Parking: Free parking is available in our parking lot. Street parking is also available at this location.
- Click here to see the homepage of this clinic
Rabea Alhosh, MD
Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
Pediatric gastroenterology – it is the specialty practiced by Dr. Rabea Alhosh, an assistant professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Pediatrics.
Because parents are often concerned and anxious when they bring their child to see a gastroenterologist, a physician specializing on the digestive system, Dr. Alhosh says he spends a lot of time helping parents understand their child’s diagnosis and treatment options.
David Di John, MD
Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases
Dr. David Di John, a professor of pediatrics at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, Interim Chair of Pediatrics, and the program director of the UNLV Health Maternal-HIV program.
He has more than 30 years of experience in research and treatment of pediatric infectious diseases, including clinical care for women, infants, children and youth with HIV/AIDS.
Mayra Alejandra Jones-Betancourt, MD
Pediatrics
Dr. Jones-Betancourt is originally from Vista, CA located in San Diego county. She was the first person in her family to attend college. Dr. Jones-Betancourt completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley where she studied environmental biology with an emphasis on human health. She attended University of California, Davis for medical school where she was involved with student run clinics and the Latino Medical Student Association. She completed her residency training at University of Southern California Los Angeles county. Dr.
Pamela Girgis, APRN, CPMP-PC, PMHS
Pediatric Family Support Center
Pam Girgis, a UNLV Health pediatric nurse practitioner and project manager for school-based health clinics in Las Vegas, has specialized in working with uninsured children, the homeless, the sex-trafficked, and refugees, advocating for these populations through state legislatures, the media, Children’s Health Fund Network and Nevada Children’s Health Project.
Rebecca Meyers, MD, FAAP
Pediatrics
Rebecca Meyers, MD, was born and raised in Northport, AL. She received her undergraduate degree from New York University in New York, NY, followed by a graduate degree in physical therapy at California State University, Northridge. She completed medical school at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA, where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. She then completed her pediatric residency training at the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital.
Beverly Neyland, MD
Pediatrics
Beverly A. Neyland, professor of Pediatrics at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, earned the B.S. degree from Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Additional training includes an externship at the University of Zagreb in Yugoslavia; an internship at the Long Beach Memorial Children’s Hospital, Long Beach, California; and pediatric residency at the UCLA/Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California. She is Board Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.
David Parks, MD
Pediatrics, Pulmonology
Dr. David Parks, a pediatric pulmonologist and associate professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Pediatrics, believes that patient education and establishing rapport with patients and their families are essential to the art of medicine.
For asthma patients, he developed a two-page “asthma action plan” that details what they should do while living with asthma, how to use an inhaler, and the actions to take when different symptoms arise.
Fateh Peera, MD
Pediatrics
Dr. Fateh Peera, who at the University of Arizona College of Medicine studied the importance of calories obtained from beverages as a contributing factor to obesity in children, joined UNLV Health as a pediatrician in 2018.
A 2007 graduate of the University of Arizona College of Medicine where he also completed his residency program in pediatrics, he worked as a pediatrician in Tucson, AZ for five years before becoming an assistant professor of pediatrics at Texas Tech University in 2015.
David Savarese, MD
Pediatrics
Dr. David Savarese, an associate professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Pediatrics, was director of a community health center in Connecticut that offered medical care, behavioral health care and dental health care to children and their families who were traumatized by the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, Conn. That tragedy took the lives of 20 children and six adults.
Rebecca Scherr, MD, MPH
Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition
Dr. Rebecca Scherr,an associate professor of pediatrics at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, is the division chief of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.
She is also vice chief of pediatrics at University Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Nevada.
Dr. Scherr treats patients with general GI concerns as well as complex issues including inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease and patients requiring nutritional support.
Dodds P Simangan Jr., DO
Pediatrics
Dr. Dodds Simangan is an an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, and a board-certified general pediatrician; who sees patients while teaching medical students and pediatric residents at the UNLV Health Pediatric Clinic and the newborn nursery at Sunrise Children’s Hospital.
Josephine Sun, MD
Pediatrics
Josephine Sun, MD, is originally from Salt Lake City, UT and spent half of her childhood in Taiwan. She received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Utah. During medical school, she was involved in many volunteer activities including the Somali Refugee Program and health fairs for the underserved community.
Julpohng “JP” Vilai, MD
Pediatrics
Julpohng “JP” Vilai, MD, is an assistant professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Vilai’s clinical interests include children with chronic healthcare needs, underserved populations, behavioral and mental health, transplantation medicine, telehealth, and LGBTQ+ and adolescent medicine.
Osman Khan Yousufzai, MD
Pediatrics
Osman Khan Yousufzai, MD, a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, is an assistant professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Pediatrics.
Named chief resident during his pediatric residency training at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, Dr. Yousufzai’s writing has been published in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics.
Pediatrician’s Philanthropic Work Is a ‘Game Changer’
Award-winning associate professor and nonprofit medical director shares what drew her to a career in medicine.
One of eight children, Dr. Oriaku A. Kas-Osoka, MD, an associate professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV department of pediatrics, began reading fluently on her mother’s knee at age three. During her childhood, nothing was more enjoyable than burrowing deep under her bed covers and reading by flashlight late into the night.
The Interview: Frederick “Rick” Smith
This UNLV Health Pediatric Clinic administrator, gospel quartet singer, and colon cancer survivor is an unstoppable force.
UNLV Health Maternal Child Wellness Program Awarded Renewal of Grant To Help HIV-positive Women And Youth
Dr. David Di John, professor and section chief for pediatric infectious diseases at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, is the director of the UNLV Health Maternal Child Wellness Program
In the 1980s and 90s, when David Di John, MD, worked at and later headed an AIDS clinic in New York City, an outbreak of HIV and AIDs swept across the United States and the rest of the world. He remembers it, in part, as a time when there were numerous instances of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which led to children dying young.
Pediatrician Alerts Community About Polio, Need For Vaccinations
Assistant professor Josephine Sun offers expertise on the re-emergence of the polio virus and the importance of routine immunizations.
When Josephine Sun, MD, finished her pediatric residency last year at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, it had been more than 40 years since a case of polio originated in the United States.
Nurse Practitioner Improvises as She Earns Doctoral Degree
Dianne Galgana focuses on well-child care and management of common pediatric acute illnesses.
You look at a photograph of UNLV Medicine pediatric nurse practitioner Dianne Galgana and her daughter, Penelope, both dressed in red graduation regalia, and you can’t help but be reminded that a single image can carry a lot of power.
There’s pure joy in the photos. Pride of accomplishment. Love for each other. Love for life.
Sacrificing Family Time and Finances to Help Fight Coronavirus
You might say Tiffany Robledo is on the front line of the front lines — she swabs inside the noses those arriving for UNLV Medicine’s curbside COVID-19 testing program. After the medical assistant collects specimens, they are then taken to a lab for testing. She is part of the program that has tested more than 3,000 people in Southern Nevada in less than a month.
“I’m only 21 and super proud that I’ve already been put in an important position to help people,” says Robledo. “It’s something that must be done to try and curtail the spread of this disease.”