Meet Dr. Abdenur

José Abdenur, MD, is medical director of Metabolic Services at CHOC Children’s and chief of the Metabolic Disorders Division for the CHOC Physician Subspecialty Faculty. He is board certified in Clinical Biochemical Genetics, and is one of only a handful of doctors in Southern California who are experts in metabolic disorders.

According to Dr. Abdenur, there are only about 216 board certified physicians in metabolic disorders in the entire country, and only around nine certificates are given each year in the U.S; making his specialty very uncommon.

“When I came to CHOC four years ago, there was no metabolic division here, which was not unusual, as there were only a few of us who are board certified in Southern California. I had the opportunity to build a team from the ground up, and now we’re 11 people strong,” says Dr. Abdenur.

Although each metabolic disorder is rare, taken altogether they are more common; one in 500 newborns in the U.S. is afflicted with a metabolic disorder. In general, the conditions are severe, and often go undiagnosed. There is no cure for many metabolic disorders, but there is treatment, providing the disorder is diagnosed early enough.

“The research we are doing at CHOC to help detect and treat metabolic disorders is making a difference,” Dr. Abdenur says. “We are treating children who may otherwise have gone undiagnosed, and are saving more children’s lives.”

Fellowships: North Shore University Hospital, Cornell University Medical College; Denver Children’s Hospital; Biochemical Genetics Laboratory, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York

Residency: Hospital General de Ninos Dr. Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires

Medical School, Internship: Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina