Leigh Ramos-Platt, MD, a pediatric neurologist with special qualifications in child neurology and clinical neurophysiology, recently joined St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital. She will also serve as vice chair of Pediatrics.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ramos-Platt came East from The Children\u2019s Hospital of Los Angeles, bringing her expertise in genetic therapy and other treatments for Duchenne and Spinal Muscular Atrophy, both genetic diseases that cause progressive muscle weakness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to come to this progressive, growing and friendly system with a goal of working with expert teams to help improve quality of life in pediatric patients who suffer from these and other neurologic conditions, which can be either genetic or acquired,\u201d said Dr. Ramos-Platt, who lives in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
A graduate of the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai\u2019i, Dr. Ramos-Platt completed residencies in general pediatrics and neurology at Loma Linda University Hospital Medical Center, California, and the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals (Children\u2019s Hospital of Wisconsin), respectively. Her fellowship was in clinical neurophysiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, where she was the first pediatric fellow.\u00a0 She earned an MBA from Eastern University.<\/p>\n
She explains that her lifelong medical passion is \u201canything electric affecting kids\u2019 muscles and nerves.\u201d Bringing advanced therapies to St. Luke\u2019s, she says, \u201cwill ease the burden on patients and families so they don\u2019t have to travel to New York or Philadelphia for this specialty medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recent additions of Dr. Ramos-Platt and Amisha Jain, MD, pediatric Pulmonologist and co-division chief of Pediatric Specialty Care expand St. Luke\u2019s expert care across more than 40 pediatric subspecialties, noted Jessika Haynos, Vice President, Women\u2019s and Children\u2019s Service Lines at St. Luke’s University Health Network.<\/p>\n
“St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital is committed to providing families with the best primary and specialty care for their children,\u201d Haynos said. \u201cBy adding Dr. Ramos-Platt\u2019s expertise in pediatric neurology, we have expanded the care options available to families across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Ramos-Platt plans to begin introducing neuromuscular gene transfer programs at St. Luke\u2019s, which have been bringing \u201cgreat outcomes\u201d in advanced, specialty centers both nationally and worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are hundreds of gene therapy trials active or planned for neurological conditions,\u201d Dr. Ramos-Platt adds. \u201cI\u2019m excited to help bring this treatment to St. Luke\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, at The Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, she treated a baby with spinal muscular atrophy who was the first such baby to be referred to the hospital through California\u2019s then newly expanded newborn screening program. (See article: Gene Therapy Saves Greigh From a Paralyzing Muscle Disease | Children’s Hospital Los Angeles<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Dr. Ramos-Platt and her husband, Lorne Platt, who has a PhD in geography and teaches geography and urban planning at West Chester University, recently became empty nesters. Their son is a graduate student at Wake Forest University, and their daughter a freshman at Grinnell College in Iowa, where she\u2019s on their tennis team.<\/p>\n Dr. Ramos-Platt plans to take a medical-mission trip to Cambodia this fall as a volunteer and president of \u201cNeuroscience for All,\u201d a not-for-profit whose mission is to contribute neurologic clinical education and equipment to support patient care in the country whose doctors were killed during the 1970s, she said. She speaks English, some Spanish, a little Mandarin and some Khmer, the national language of Cambodia. She is also on the board of Hunter\u2019s Heart Foundation, a non-profit formed to increase awareness and connection for families who have been given the diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.<\/p>\n When Dr. Ramos-Platt wants to relax, she bakes, jogs, makes jewelry, and takes care the family\u2019s animals, all rescues: a Schnoodle (Buttons), two bunnies (River and Lilly) and two Guinea pigs (Selyse and Gimbap).<\/p>\n About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 1872, St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of $5 billion. With 24,000 employees at 16 hospital campuses and 400 outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley\u2019s biggest employer.<\/p>\n The Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation\u2019s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 550+ residents and fellows. Additionally, the St. Luke\u2019s College of Health Sciences opened in 2026.<\/p>\n In a 2025 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, St. Luke\u2019s received the highest quality score of the nation\u2019s recognized three highest performing health systems. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirms St. Luke\u2019s preeminent position as THE BEST OF THE BEST among the most respected health care systems in the United States.<\/p>\n St. Luke\u2019s has been named a Leapfrog Group Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. In 2026, all of the Network\u2019s eligible hospital campuses were awarded Medicare\u2019s highest ratings for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. The Network also earned straight A\u2019s for safety from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 12 years in a row, including in 2026 when the Network was identified as THE #1 MEDIUM-SIZE HEALTH SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: Leigh Ramos-Platt, MD, a pediatric neurologist with special qualifications in child neurology and clinical neurophysiology, recently joined St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital. She will also serve as vice chair of Pediatrics. Dr. Ramos-Platt came East from The Children\u2019s Hospital of Los Angeles, bringing her expertise in genetic therapy and other treatments for Duchenne and Spinal Muscular … Continue reading St. Luke\u2019s Welcomes Pediatric Neurologist Who Will Be Vice Chair of Pediatrics<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"