Biography

Heather A. Fagan, MD, MS, FAAP is a distinguished pediatric critical care physician and award-winning medical educator. She is Pediatrician-in-Chief at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, and the hospital’s designated institutional official for graduate medical education.

Dr. Fagan joined Nemours Children’s Health in 2014 to develop a graduate medical education infrastructure. Under her leadership, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida, achieved institutional accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2016. She has since overseen the successful accreditation of the pediatrics residency program and multiple subspecialty fellowships, as well as spearheaded the administration of medical student educational programs and the training of more than 220 visiting residents and fellows annually. In 2019, Dr. Fagan received the Deans Award from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in recognition of her contribution to medical student education and program development.

Dr. Fagan served as interim Chair of Pediatrics from 2020–2021 and was subsequently named Chair of the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and Nemours Children’s Health Department of Pediatrics in July 2025. She brings innovative and strategic leadership to the pediatrics team, ensuring the highest standards of patient care, quality and safety, faculty engagement, scholarly activity, education, and training.

During her time at Nemours, Dr. Fagan has been awarded the Nemours Service Excellence Award for Community Service and for Excellence in Education. In 2024, she received the Dr. Steven E. Lichtenstein Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career that has inspired and challenged many by action and word. Finally, Dr. Fagan graduated from the prestigious Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program through Drexel University in 2025, poised to expertly serve children, families and our academic community at Nemours and the University of Central Florida.

She received her M.D. degree from Chicago Medical School and completed her residency and chief residency at Comer Children’s Hospital/University of Chicago Medicine. She went on to complete a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at the University of Chicago. Dr. Fagan is double board-certified in Pediatrics and in Pediatric Critical Care by the American Board of Pediatrics.