Physicians
Medical Staff
Leslie Borsett-Kanter, MD, FAAP
Gregory Cherpes, MD
Scott Faber, MD
Howard N. Ferimer, MD
Maryanne J. Henderson, DO
Rachna Kapoor, MD, MS
Russell, Mary Louise, MD
Cynthia Lee Smith, MD
Physicians in the following specialties are also available for consultation:
- allergy/immunology
- ophthalmology
- psychiatry
- cardiology
- orthopedic surgery
- pulmonology
- internal/family medicine
- pediatrics
- radiology
- neurology
- physiatry
- rheumatology
- neurosurgery
- podiatry
- urology
Leslie Borsett-Kanter, MD, FAAP joined the medical staff at The Children's Institute in 2010 as physician leader of the outpatient functional feeding team. Born in New York, she earned her bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1979 and her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine in 1983. After a three-year residency in pediatrics at the University of Florida, Dr. Borsett-Kanter completed an additional year of subspecialty training in learning disabilities, behavior management and attention deficit disorder. For three years she practiced at Scott & White Clinic and Hospital - Killeen Satellite in Killeen, Texas where she did general pediatrics, and also worked with children with developmental, school and behavior problems.
After relocating to Pittsburgh in 1990, Dr. Borsett-Kanter worked with HealthAmerica and Allegheny General Hospital. She joined the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at the Children's Hospial of Pittsburgh in 1996 where she served as an attending pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Borsett-Kanter is board certified in pediatrics and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Gregory Cherpes, MD joined the medical staff of The Hospital at The Children’s Institute as a psychiatrist in 2006. He is board certified in child and adolescent psychiatry and general psychiatry and works with children in the pediatric rehabilitation inpatient unit as well as with children and adults in the Prader-Willi and Behavioral Disorders program at The Hospital at The Children’s Institute.
For the past six years, Dr. Cherpes was the medical director for Child, Adolescent and Developmental Disability Services, Allegheny East Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center. Prior to his work at Allegheny East, he was the director of outpatient services for adults with developmental disabilities at Allegheny General Hospital.
Dr. Cherpes earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed an internship in pediatric medicine and child psychiatry. He completed a residency in general psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh.
Scott Faber, MD, is a developmental pediatrician at The Hospital at The Children’s Institute, working with children with severe developmental and behavioral disorders, including autism. Before joining The Children’s Institute, Dr. Faber served for six years as director of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.
He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed his internship in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and his residency at Boston Floating Hospital/New England Medical Center/North Shore Children’s Hospital in Boston. He practiced as a general pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center prior to completing a fellowship in developmental-behavioral pediatrics and neurodevelopmental disabilities at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland.
Dr. Faber is a frequent lecturer and has made presentations at national American Academy of Pediatrics exhibitions and at Pediatric Academic Society meetings. In addition, he has published works on the clinical effects of deprivation on the developing brain as well as other topics.
Howard N. Ferimer, MD is an attending physician at The Hospital at The Children’s Institute and in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Ferimer earned his medical degree at West Virginia University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh and his fellowship training in Pediatric Critical Care at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto Canada and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.
He is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care. Dr. Ferimer has presented lectures on cerebral autoregulation, pediatric shock, sedation for children undergoing diagnostic therapeutic procedures and parental support for DNR decisions.
Maryanne J. Henderson, DO, Chief Medical Officer, joined the medical staff in 2007 and has led the medical staff since 2008. Prior to joining The Children’s Institute in 2007, Dr. Henderson was on staff at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh as a clinical staff physiatrist, residency mentor and research mentor. She was also a consulting physician for Select Specialty Hospital and UPMC Passavant.
Dr. Henderson graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her residency at St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh. She is a member of numerous organizations, including the Allegheny County Medical Society, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Osteopathic Medical Association and has presented at several medical conferences.
Dr. Henderson is board certified in osteopathic medicine and is a diplomat of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Rachna Kapoor, MD, MS, is a pediatric hospitalist, a physician whose specialty is caring for children who are inpatients.
Dr. Kapoor comes to The Hospital at The Children’s Institute from UPMC Mercy Hospital. She graduated from Albany Medical College in Albany, New York and did postgraduate residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. While in medical school, she worked as a research technician, assisting in lab projects in Cancer Biology in the department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics. A member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, Dr. Kapoor was a contributing author to the infectious disease section of the second edition of In A Page Pediatrics.
Mary Louise Russell, MD is a highly experienced pediatric physical medicine specialist who for many years consulted at The Children’s Institute before joining the staff in 2012. She earned her medical degree at the Medical 
College of Pennsylvania, and did post-graduate training in Columbus and Minneapolis.
Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, she has authored and contributed to chapters in “Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation: Children and Adolescents,” and has lectured on subjects including cerebral palsy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, tone treatment for children and adolescents, spina bifida and more.
In 1989 Dr. Russell began joint employment with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and The Children’s Institute. From 2000-2012, she was with Children’s Hospital, in the Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy and Spina Bifida clinics. While at Children’s Dr. Russell started the Pediatric Rehabilitation Fellowship Training Program. She is also the former Medical Director of Children’s Rehabilitation Services for Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Cynthia Lee Smith, MD has been on the medical staff at The Hospital at The Children's Institute since 1988. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. A native of northern New York, Dr. Smith earned her bachelor of science at LeMoyne College in Syracuse and her medical degree at Cornell University Medical College.
Both her pediatric internship and residency were completed at Children’s Hospital National 
Medical Center. Dr. Smith completed her physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at New York University Medical Center. Upon graduation, she served as assistant attending physician and instructor of rehabilitation medicine at New York University Medical Center.
She is on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as an assistant professor in the department of orthopedic surgery. In addition to The Children’s Institute, Dr. Smith also serves as a staff physiatrist for Children’s Rehabilitation Services at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is an attending physiatrist at the facility’s Cerebral Palsy clinic.
Dr. Smith has written several book chapters dealing with head injuries in children, adolescents and adults and on the topic of pediatric rehabilitation. She has lectured locally on rehabilitation methods following selective posterior rhizotomy or intrathecal baclofen, two forms of treatment for spasticity. She also serves on the board of directors for the Easter Seal Society of Allegheny County.
