Dr. Chheda is a board-certified pediatrician and neonatologist with over 25 years of clinical and leadership experience. She earned her medical degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and completed additional training in the UK and the U.S., including a diploma from the London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene and a neonatology fellowship at UTMB-Galveston.
Her scholarly activities include work on neonatal nutrition and immunology and the relation to the maternal neonatal dyad, global health, transport medicine, disaster readiness, and quality improvement and patient safety. She has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications including a chapter in Fetal and Neonatal Physiology (2nd -6th ed), chapters in the AAP’s Guidelines for Transport of Neonatal and Pediatric Patients (5th ed.), and policy-related research on mass casualty events and neonatal ICU evacuation simulations.
In El Paso, she led the development of the region’s first neonatal/pediatric transport system, as well as the foundation of a regional pediatric and perinatal conference (“Spectrum of Healthcare from Mother to Child”). She is currently pioneering a Theatre of Healthcare initiative addressing bias and disparities using Theatre of the Oppressed methodology with somatic movements. Dr. Chheda is a founding board member of the El Paso Children’s Hospital, where she chairs the Medical Staff & Hospital Quality Committee and directs Neonatal Transport. She held leadership roles in the Texas HHS Perinatal Advisory Committee and currently serves as a member of the Governor's EMS and Trauma Advisory Council workgroup for Texas DSHS, where she is involved in the development of a system wide performance improvement program that will include trauma, cardiac, stroke, maternal, pediatric and neonatal care. Dr Chheda also serves as a neonatal surveyor for the Texas Neonatal Levels of Care Designation Program