Z. Leah Harris Joins Research Leadership Team
Post Date: August 11, 2026 | Publish Date:
A nationally recognized physician-scientist and academic leader, Harris will help reinforce the clinical foundation that enables discovery, translation and better outcomes for children.
Turning discovery into better care requires more than scientific breakthroughs. It depends on close collaboration among researchers, clinicians and educators, along with health systems capable of rapidly translating those discoveries into practice in ways that are safe, equitable and meaningful for children and families.
Beginning Sept. 7, Cincinnati Children’s will strengthen that connection with the appointment of Z. Leah Harris, MD, as vice chair of clinical affairs and education for the Department of Pediatrics. Harris succeeds Samir Shah, MD, MSCE, MHM, who has served in the role for several years and will continue at Cincinnati Children’s as a faculty member, physician and researcher.
In her new role, Harris will help advance consistent clinical operations across the department while driving improvements in safety, patient and family experience and equitable outcomes. By strengthening the systems that support care delivery across multiple pediatric specialties, she also will help create an environment where clinical innovation, translational research and continuous learning can flourish.
“While clinical excellence will be fueled by innovative research, targeted data mining and accelerated drug discovery, it will be the partnership between the bedside physician and the engaged researcher that will define our successes,” Harris says. “The talent and resources here are unfathomable. Cincinnati Children’s is already leading the way and is poised to continue defining the standard of care for the future.”
Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, chief medical officer, chair of Pediatrics and director of Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, emphasized that scientific discovery has the greatest impact when it is translated into patient care quickly, safely and equitably.
“Dr. Harris has devoted her career to building organizations where clinical excellence, research and education reinforce one another,” Cheng says. “Her leadership will strengthen the infrastructure that allows our investigators, clinicians and trainees to transform discoveries into better care for children.”
Harris joins Cincinnati Children’s from the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and Dell Children’s Medical Center, where she served as chair of the Department of Pediatrics, physician-in-chief of Dell Children’s Medical Center and director of the Dell Pediatric Research Institute. During her tenure, she also served as interim president and CEO of Dell Children’s Medical Center.
As a pediatric critical care physician-scientist, Harris has built a career dedicated to discovery and care delivery. Her research has advanced understanding of pediatric critical illness, iron metabolism and neurobiology, while her leadership has fostered multidisciplinary collaboration, faculty development and innovation across academic health systems. She has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to leading pediatric textbooks and served in national leadership roles that have helped shape the field of pediatric critical care medicine.
Before joining Dell Children’s, she held leadership positions at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University. She has been recognized nationally for her contributions to pediatric medicine, including election as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Dharmapuri Award for Excellence in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.
Harris earned her medical degree from Chicago Medical School before completing her pediatric residency, chief residency and pediatric critical care fellowship at the University of Chicago. She also completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program, preparing senior faculty for leadership roles in academic medicine.
At Cincinnati Children’s, she will oversee a group of clinical translational science divisions and provide senior leadership to Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation. Together, these responsibilities will position her to strengthen the partnerships among clinicians, scientists and educators that are essential to translating research discoveries into meaningful improvements in child health.
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The Research Horizons blog features news and insights about the latest discoveries and innovations developed by the scientists of Cincinnati Children's. This blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Email researchnews@cchmc.org with questions or ideas.
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