Vasum Peiris MD MPH, FAAP, FACC, FASE

As Chief Medical Officer for Pediatrics and Special Populations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Vasum provides executive and clinical leadership. He serves as the Center’s senior expert on pediatric clinical science and practice. He provides executive leadership on Center policies and initiatives associated with medical devices intended for use in pediatric and special populations.

He leads Center efforts with respect to innovation, development, assessment, regulation and safe use of pediatric medical devices. He advances strategic initiatives that facilitate internal and external relationships and synergy among matrixed public and private sector organizations that enhance the ability of the Agency to optimally fulfill its public health mission. Vasum’s innovative, collaborative, and cross-cutting work at the FDA has been recognized with multiple awards including the Commissioner’s Special Citation.

Prior to joining the FDA, Vasum was the Joon Park MD Endowed Chair in Medical Excellence and Chief of Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and University Medical Center (UMC), with appointments in both the Departments of Pediatrics and (adjunct) Internal Medicine. In his clinical role, Vasum provided full-spectrum critical care and outpatient services and served as the Medical Director of the Pediatric and Adult Congenital Imaging Laboratory and Medical Director of the Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardio-Respiratory Exercise Laboratory at TTUHSC/UMC.

In his teaching role, Vasum supported and developed novel courses across the University including at the Law School. He was honored to be selected to co-teach the Basic Science to Clinical Science Translational Seminar, a course fundamental to helping young doctors provide high-quality patient- and family-centered care by critically evaluating the science behind clinical management.

As endowed faculty, Vasum provided senior leadership for the University in a number of strategic areas, including creating the Department of Public Health for which he was inaugural faculty and assisted in developing the curricula and program offering unique training in rural health. He also helped develop the TTUHSC Clinical Research Institute, promoting patient-oriented translational and outcomes research, served on the institutional review board (IRB) and faculty credentialing committee.