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Pediatric Faculty

Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Our faculty comes from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to provide an educational environment that nurtures while it educates. Faculty has appointments from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Program Leadership

NBI Pediatric Residency Faculty standing together outside

Jon Sicat, DO
Program Director, Pediatric Residency

Dr. Sicat has a long standing history of being a residency program director for ~20 years. Along with the directorship for the Pediatric residency program, he is also the Associate Program Director for the combined Internal Medicine-Pediatric residency. He has been on the medical staff at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center since 2000 after completing his Med-Peds training at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He graduated from New York Institute of Technology-College of Osteopathic Medicine after his undergraduate training in Biochemistry at New York University.

Dr. Sicat has professional interests in transition medicine caring for both children and adults with special health care needs. He often utilizes techniques learned from the faculty development fellowship he completed at Michigan State University in his medical education career. In his spare time he plays the piano and edits video in-between driving his medium sized children around and roaming the aisles at Costco.

Rowan F. Walsh, MD

Rowan F. Walsh, MD
Interim Chair, Department of Pediatrics – Children’s Hospital of NJ at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center

Dr. Walsh is a board certified pediatric cardiologist. He attended medical school at University College Cork (Ireland), completed a pediatrics residency at Westchester Medical Center (NY), followed by fellowships in pediatric cardiology at Schneider Children’s Hospital (NY) and cardiac MRI at Children’s Hospital Boston. His clinical interests include left ventricular function and left ventricular strain analysis.

Sarah F. Berman, DO
Associate Program Director

Dr. Berman is an attending neonatologist at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and clinical assistant professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. She is board certified in neonatal-perinatal medicine and general pediatrics and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She completed her pediatric internship and residency at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine and her fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal medicine at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Her clinical interests include neonatal nutrition, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and neonatal resuscitation.

Marla Guzman, MD
Associate Program Director

Dr. Guzman is a board certified pediatric rheumatologist. She completed her pediatrics residency at Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, NJ and her pediatric rheumatology fellowship at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Long Island, NY. Her clinical interests include lupus, quality of life in children with rheumatic disease, and medical education.

Khalil W. Savary, MD
Associate Program Director

Dr. Khalil Savary has been interested in pediatric pulmonology, specifically pediatric asthma, since college. He is particularly interested in helping bridge medical teaching and practical treatment options with patients, families, and the medical system. His research focus has been on predictors of asthma, often where it disproportionately affects communities. He has added to his focus involvement as a community advocate, now engaging with local leaders and organizations to help address environmental risk factors from climate change to pollution and air quality. He believes the key to patient care is a partnership between the patient and physician, which he strives to deliver. Dr. Savary is an associate professor at NJMS , currently operating 2 practice locations- One at University Hospital and one at Newark Beth Israel. He has been part of the Rutgers- NJMS family since 2017. He is an assistant program director for the pediatric residency, a faculty advisor for the medical students for environmental health group, and a core member of the undergraduate medical school education at NJMS.

Ebonni S. Shaw

Ebonni S. Shaw
Program Coordinator
973-926-2676

Since beginning of her employment at Newark Beth Israel in October 2004, Ms. Shaw joined the Graduate Medical Education in February 2017. Ms. Shaw has built a reputation for excellence, organization, and an unwavering commitment to supporting trainees and faculty alike. She first coordinated several high-acuity subspecialty fellowship programs—Pulmonary and Critical Care, Infectious Disease, Hematology and Oncology, and Nephrology—where she refined her expertise in accreditation, program management, and academic operations.

In 2023, Ms. Shaw transitioned into her current role as Pediatric Residency Coordinator, where she continues to bring structure, strategy, and heart to every aspect of program administration. Known for her professionalism, wit, and poise, she is deeply valued for her ability to balance institutional demands with the human side of medical education.

Ms. Shaw holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Management from Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Her business foundation complements her administrative expertise, enabling her to approach challenges with both analytical precision and empathetic leadership.

Dennis Brenner, MD

Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center

Dr. Brenner is the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and currently the Chair who is a strong supporter of resident education.

Onajovwe Fofah, MD

Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers Health New Jersey Medical School

Dr. Fofah is a board certified neonatologist at Rutgers Health NJMS. He completed medical school at the University of Ilorin (Nigeria), a residency at UMDNJ- NJMS, and fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. His clinical interests include Quality improvement work in neonatology and simulation training in newborn resuscitation.

The following is the listing of faculty instructors in the Pediatric Residency Program: