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Stanford Report, March 18, 2009

Packard Children's neonatologist Yael Kaniel dies at age 31

Yael Kaniel

BY ERIN DIGITALE

Yael Kaniel, MD, an attending hospitalist in the special care nursery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and an instructor in neonatal and developmental medicine, died March 3 of cancer. She was 31.

Kaniel arrived at Packard Children's in 2007 after completing her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She was a graduate of the Sackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, and earned her undergraduate degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology at UCLA. She lived in San Francisco.

"She had the perfect personality for a pediatrician," said William Benitz, MD, Packard's chief of neonatology."She inspired families with confidence and comfort that their babies were in good hands."

A significant part of Kaniel's job at Packard was resuscitating newborns who struggled to breathe. Responding to an obstetrician's urgent page, she would quickly arrive in the delivery room to give supplemental oxygen or help a baby who was breathing too fast. "It's pretty panic-inducing for parents, but after just a few minutes of your time as a doctor, there's a happy pink baby in mom's arms," said Ronald Cohen, MD, director of Packard's intermediate care nursery. "Yael was great at that, and she got a real kick out of it."

"She loved to cheer babies into this strange world they found themselves in," agreed Aki Kaniel, Yael Kaniel's father. He remembered her as a warm, engaging person who always had a book in her hand and a close-knit group of friends nearby. She hummed happily to herself if she ate a new food she liked, and enjoyed world travel to locations such as Turkey, Switzerland, Belize and Paris—where, at the Eiffel Tower, she and her husband became engaged to be married.

Kaniel is survived by husband Josh Zaretsky, parents Batya and Aki Kaniel, sister Natalie Kaniel, stepmother Sharon Safdie, and stepsister and stepbrother Laura and Daniel Safdie. Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Yael Kaniel-Zaretsky Memorial Fund at Packard Children's, c/o Haya Barzilay, 1554 Arbor St., Los Altos, CA 94024.