Chair of pediatrics, critical care medicine specialist, is appointed as Wallace Professor

George Lister, M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics, chief of pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), and physician-in-chief at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, has been named the Jean McLean Wallace Professor of Pediatrics.

A 1973 graduate of the School of Medicine, Lister focuses his research on the factors affecting infants at risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He was a member of the medical school’s Department of Pediatrics for 25 years before moving in 2003 to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where he was professor, the Robert L. Moore Chair of Pediatrics, and associate dean for education until 2011. He also served as pediatrician-in-chief at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Lister completed a residency in pediatrics at YNHH, and a fellowship in pediatric cardiology and neonatology at the University of California-San Francisco. There, he began research that led to his specialization in critical care medicine, a field in its formative stages at the time.

Lister’s longstanding research interest in oxygen transport has contributed significantly to the understanding of cardiopulmonary interaction in congenital heart disease and cardiorespiratory control in infants at risk for SIDS.

He has also played an active role in medical education throughout his career. A member of the Institute of Medicine, he has had numerous national leadership roles in pediatric professional organizations and, among other publications, is co-editor of the 21st and 22nd editions of Rudolph’s Pediatrics, one of the most widely read pediatric textbooks in the world.