Yigit S. Guner

Biography

Yigit S. Guner, MD, MS, is a pediatric surgeon at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and a professor of surgery at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He serves as Program Director of the UCI/CHOC Pediatric Surgery Fellowship, Director of Surgical Quality at CHOC, and Interim ACS Medical Director of Children’s Surgery. He chairs CHOC’s Performance Improvement and Patient Safety Committee and serves as its ACS NSQIP–Pediatric Surgeon Champion. He has practiced pediatric surgery at CHOC since 2013.

Dr. Guner earned his medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in 2003 and a Master of Science in Biomedical and Translational Science (MS-BATS) from UCI in 2017. He completed his general surgery residency at UC Davis Medical Center, where he served as chief resident, and his pediatric surgery fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in pediatric surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.

Dr. Guner’s research focuses on improving outcomes for critically ill newborns and children. A major area of his work is congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Using large multicenter registries, he has investigated mortality prediction, differences in outcomes among centers, ECMO treatment strategies, and the timing of CDH repair. His work includes the development and validation of ECMO-specific mortality risk models for CDH and analyses comparing venovenous and venoarterial ECMO. He has developed guidelines for management for CDH and ECMO on behalf of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization.

His research also extends to pediatric trauma and critical care, with a particular interest in traumatic brain injury. In collaboration with Dr. Yama Akbari, he is studying cardiac arrest and brain injury in murine and porcine models. This experimental work complements his clinical outcomes research by examining mechanisms of injury and potential approaches to improving neurologic recovery.

Dr. Guner has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to book chapters and national scientific presentations. His broader collaborative work includes neonatal surgery, pediatric trauma, access to fetal care, and the delivery of pediatric surgical services. He has received multiple research funding awards through CHOC’s Tithe Clinical Investigator Research Funding program.

As fellowship program director, Dr. Guner helps train future pediatric surgeons and supports their development in clinical care, research, and quality improvement. His quality leadership at CHOC focuses on measuring surgical outcomes, identifying opportunities for improvement, and strengthening systems of care for children undergoing surgery.

Dr. Guner is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Society of University Surgeons. His national service has included the American Pediatric Surgical Association Quality and Safety Committee, Surgical Critical Care Committee, the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium CDH Focus Group, and the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Surgery Delivery of Surgical Care Committee.

Education

• B.S. in Biochemistry, University of Arizona, 1999
• M.D., Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago Medical School, 2003
• M.S. in Biological and Translational Sciences, University of California Irvine, 2017

Distinctions

• First Step to Nobel Prize Polish Institute of Science, Honorable Mention, 1992
• Post-Doctoral Research Career Development Award, Saban Research Institute, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 2008-2009
• Outstanding Resident Teaching Award in Pediatric Surgery, University of California Irvine, 2015