Mark Steven Sklansky MD

Mark S. Sklansky, M.D. is Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and Professor of Pediatrics within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Sklansky received his B.A. degree in biomedical ethics from Brown University in 1984, and his medical degree from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine in 1987. Dr. Sklansky then completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (1987-1990). This general pediatrics training was followed by a three-year fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (1990-1993).

Dr. Sklansky has been board-certified in pediatric cardiology by the American Board of Pediatrics since 1994. He has served as an Associate Editor of Pediatric Cardiology since 1996. An internationally recognized leader in the field of fetal cardiology and fetal cardiac imaging, Dr. Sklansky serves as Vice-Chair of the Section on Fetal Echocardiography of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He has authored or co-authored over 50 articles and chapters in his fields of expertise, including fetal cardiology, three-dimensional fetal echocardiography, general pediatric echocardiography and cardiology, biomedical ethics, and veterinary cardiology.

In 2014, Dr. Sklansky published a (then controversial) commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting banning the handshake in the healthcare setting. He subsequently published the first study demonstrating the feasibility of handshake-free zones and in 2020 composed an original song and produced international music video-NO MORE HANDSHAKES-encouraging global adoption of alternative greetings in place of the handshake.