About Leslie Kerzner, MD

Dr. Leslie Kerzner is the Associate Medical Director of the Special Care Nursery at MGH. She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.  She is the Director of the Newborn Developmental Follow-up Clinic  and the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) program at MGH.  Dr. Kerzner completed a 3 year post-graduate fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Women & Infants' Hospital at Brown University (1998-2001).  She completed a 2 year residency in Pediatrics and a 1 year internship in Pediatrics/Adult & Child Psychiatry also at Brown University (1995-1998). She attended medical school at the University of Vermont (1995) and received a B.A. in psychology from Boston University (1988). She is board certified in both General Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. Dr. Kerzner is certified in the Neonatal Behavioral Observation system and has been a trainer at the Brazelton Institute at Children's Hospital, Boston.

Currently, Dr. Kerzner attends in both the Newborn ICU and Special Care Nurseries at MGH and directs the Newborn Developmental Follow-up Clinic to follow high risk infant development.  Clinics are held in Boston  Newton, Waltham, and Danvers. Dr. Kerzner directs a multi-disciplinary NAS Working Group to improve the care of  families and infants affected by opiate use in pregnancy and NAS.  She provides consultation during pregnancy to women who take opiates and has developed protocols for caring for the infants affected by NAS.  She runs the Quality Improvement projects related to NAS in the division, and she represents MGH at the state NeoQIC NAS Collaborative and the Vermont Oxford Network national INICQ NAS Collaborative.  She sits on the MGH Opioid Task Force and the OB Substance Use Disorder Committee.  In 2016, she was appointed to the Advisory Council to Support the Interagency Task Force on Newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome with the MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Clinical Interests:

Treats:

Locations

Mass General for Children: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
55 Fruit St.
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-724-4310

Medical Education

  • MD, University of Vermont College of Medicine
  • Residency, Hasbro Children's Hospital/Lifespan
  • Fellowship, Women and Infants Hospital/Brown University

American Board Certifications

  • Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics
  • Pediatrics, American Board of Pediatrics

Accepted Insurance Plans

Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.


Research

Substance Use Disorder in mothers and their infants.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Marijuana Use in Pregnancy and Lactation 

Publications

    1. Kerzner, LS, Stonestreet, BS, Wu, KY, Petersson, KH, Sadowska, G, McKnight, AJ, and Malee, MP. Effects of single versus repetitive dosing of antenatal dexamethasone (DEX) on ovine placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11ß-HSD-2) expression and fetal growth. Abstract in Pediatric Research, 2000;47:72A.
    2. Kerzner, LS, Stonestreet, BS, Wu, KY, Sadowska, GB and Malee, MP. Antenatal dexamethasone: Effect on ovine placental 11-beta-hydroxysteriod dehydrogenase type 2 expression and fetal growth. Pediatric Research, 52(5):706-712,2002.
    3. Desai, Rishi J.; Huybrechts, Krista F.; Hernandez-Diaz, Sonia; Mogun, Helen; Patorno, Elisabetta; Kaltenbach, Karol; Kerzner, Leslie S.; Bateman, Brian T. 2015, Vol. 351 (8022), 2102-h2102

Reviews: Comments and Ratings