Dr. Delma Nieves, Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Delma J. Nieves, M.D., is the Division Chief and Medical Director of Infectious Diseases at CHOC and an Associate Clinical Professor at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. Since joining CHOC in 2010, she has established herself as a leader in pediatric clinical care and medical education, currently also serving as the Program Director for the UCI/CHOC Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship. Dr. Nieves earned her medical degree from the University of Washington, completed her residency at CHOC, and finished her fellowship at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Her career is marked by a commitment to the “detective work” of infectious diseases, solving complex diagnostic puzzles for critically ill children and newborns.

In her research, Dr. Nieves focuses on improving outcomes for vulnerable populations, including neonates and immuno-compromised patients. Her recent scholarly work includes investigating the safety of Remdesivir in pediatric COVID-19 cases, optimizing antibiotic dosing for neonatal sepsis, and tracking the effect of pneumococcal vaccines on invasive pneumococcal infections. She is also a pioneer in innovative treatments, such as phage therapy for multi-drug-resistant infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Beyond her research, she is a multiple-time recipient of the OCMA Physician of Excellence Award and remains a dedicated advocate for training the next generation of pediatric infectious diseases specialists.

As a California native and fluent Spanish speaker, she takes pride in serving CHOC’s diverse community, leveraging her background to bridge cultural gaps and provide more relatable, accessible care.

Locations

CHOC Clinic
1201 W. La Veta Ave. Building: CHOC Clinic
Orange, California 92868
phone: 714-509-8403
fax: 714-509-3303

CHOC at Mission Hospital
27700 Medical Center Road
Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Education

• Medical School
  University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
• Pediatrics Residency
  CHOC Hospital, Orange, CA
• Infectious Disease Fellowship
  David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA/Mattel Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, CA

Academic Appointments

• HS Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics
  University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Administrative Appointments

• Division Chief, Infectious Diseases, Pediatric Subspecialty Faculty and UCI Department of Pediatrics
• Medical Director of Infectious Diseases, CHOC

Professional Organizations

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Pediatric Infectious Disease Society
• PIDS Training Programs Committee
• Infectious Diseases Society of America
• American Society for Microbiology
• Society for Pediatric Research

Honors and Awards

• OCMA Physician of Excellence Award, multiple years

Recent Research Presentations

Community Acquired Serious Bacterial Infections in Pediatric Patients Before and After COVID: Could masks saves lives? Arrieta AC, Osborne S, Nieves DJ, Zahn M, Lee A. Poster presentation.  ID Week, Boston, MA; October 13, 2023

Safety and tolerability of Remdesivir for severe infection and prevention of progression of disease in pediatric patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection Nieves DJ, Tran T, Lusk J, Singh J, Ashouri N, Adler-Shohet F, Marano R, Osborne S, Strickland J, Arrieta A.. Oral presentation at the 2024 Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting. May 2-6, 2024, Toronto, Canada

Use of Binax NOW S Pneumoniae antigen assay in pleural fluid for etiologic diagnosis of parapneumonic empyema in children. Crawford M, Grant L, Arrieta A, Cane A, Nieves D, Osborne S, Arguedas A. Poster presentation to the 2024 Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting. May 2-6, 2024, Toronto, Canada.

Utilizing Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to Determine Etiology of Pediatric Community Acquired Pneumonia with Empyema (CAP-EMP) in a Highly Immunized Community. Arrieta A, Osborne S, Grant L, Gessner B, Blaschke A, Hulten K. Nieves D, Isturiz R, Alexander-Parish R, etc. Poster presentation to the 42nd Annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 20-24, 2024. Copenhagen, Denmark.

Kawasaki Disease versus respiratory viral activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ashouri N, Singh J, Nieves D, Gornick W, Arrieta A. Poster presentation at the 14th International Kawasaki Disease Symposium (IKDS). August 26-29, 2024. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Immunization Impact on Serotype Distribution of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease- Playing the Serotype Whack-A-Mole!  Nieves D. Osborne S, Cheung M, Zahn M, Arrieta A.  Oral  presentation ID Week, Los Angeles, CA. October 18, 2024.

Determining the appropriateness of standard Cefepime dosing in septic pediatric cancer patients; a pilot study. Arrieta A, Osborne S, Lee A, Tran T, Enriquez C, Nieves D.. Poster presentation at the European Congress of clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases-ESCMID Global 2025. April 11-15, 2025, Vienna, Austria.

Urinary antigen and nasopharyngeal PCR for serotype detection among children ages 3-<72 months with upper respiratory infection community acquired pneumonia and healthy control. Interim report Arrieta A, Osborne S, Grant L, Hulten K, Nieves D, Miller A, Bender C, Sommer L, Cane A, Arguedas A, Tort M, Gessner B. Poster presentation at the 43rd Annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 26-30, 2025. Bucharest, Romania

Population pharmacokinetics and safety of continuous oxacillin in preterm and term neonates and infants. Lee A. Tran T, Liu C, Capparelli E, Phal S, Enriquez C, Osborne S, Strickland J, Cohen-Wolkowiez M, Hornik C.D., Ashouri N. Nieves D, Shaw A, Singh J, Arrieta A.  Oral presentation at the 43rd  Annual meeting of European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). May 26-30, 2025. Bucharest, Romania

Phage therapy of CF patients with Achromobacter xylosoxidans: three case studies. Anca M. Segall, Hamza Hajama, Lance Boling, Branden LaMadrid, Dayna Stout, Stephanie Osborne, Cole Souza, Nicole Jacobson, Kathryn A. Akong, Delma Nieves, Nanda Ramchandar, Douglas J. Conrad, Andrew Gainey, John S. Bradley. Oral Presentation at Conference on Bacteriophages: Biology, Dynamics, and Therapeutics. October 12-14, 2025. Washington, DC, USA

Recent Publications 

Peer Reviewed

Cherry J, Wendorf K, Bregman B, Lehman D, Nieves D, Bradley J, Mason W, et al. An Observational Study of Sever Pertussis in 100 Infants <= 120 Days of Age. The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal 2018. Mar;37(3):202-205

Kushner L, Osborne S, Vora H, Nieves D, Singh J, Arrieta A. Oral Antibiotics for Treating Children with Community-Acquired Pneumonia Complicated by Empyema. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2019 May 23:9922819850494. doi: 10.1177/0009922819850494. [Epub ahead of print]

Adler-Shohet F, Singh J, Nieves D, Ashouri N, Tuan T, Flores C, Arrieta A. Safety and Tolerability of Clofazimine in a Cohort of Children with Odontogenic Mycobacterium abscessus Infections  J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2020 Sep 17;9(4):483-485. Doi:10.1093/jpids/piz049.

Singh J, O’Donnell K, Nieves D, Adler-Shohet F, Arrieta A, Ashouri N, Ahuja G, Cheung M, Holmes N, Huoh K,  Tran Lisa, et al. Invasive Mycobacterium abscessus Outbreak at a Pediatric Dental Clinic. Open Forum Infectious Disease,2021 Apr 15;8(6) ofab165,

Arrieta A, Galvis A, Morphew T, Ehwerhemuepha L, Osborne S, Enriquez C, Imfeld K, Hoang J, Nieves DJ, Ashouri N, Singh J, Nugent D. Safety and Antibody Kinetics of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Cases of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pediatric Patients. Pediatr Infect Dis J. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2021 Jul 1:40(7):606-611

Daniels K, Arrieta A, Nieves DJ, Bhakta K, Tran MT, Osborne S, Morphew T. Ampicillin and Gentamicin Treatment for Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis: When One Size Does Not Fit All. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2023 Oct;62(9):1027-1031. doi: 10.1177/00099228221150612. Epub 2023 Jan 24. PMID: 36691803.

Arrieta A, Galvis AE, Osborne S, Morphew T, Imfeld K, Enriquez C, Hoang J, Swearingen M, Nieves DJ, Ashouri N, Singh J, Nugent D. Use of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma for Treatment of Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection at a Children’s Hospital: A Contribution to a Still Inadequate Body of Evidence. Children (Basel). 2023 Feb 10;10(2):350. doi: 10.3390/children10020350. PMID: 36832478; PMCID: PMC9955755.

Nieves, Delma J., M. Tuan Tran, Jasjit Singh, Negar Ashouri, Tricia Morphew, Jennifer G. Lusk, Felice C. Adler-Shohet, Rachel Marano, Stephanie Osborne, Jennifer Strickland, and Antonio C. Arrieta. 2025. “Remdesivir Use in Pediatric Patients with Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Safe and Well Tolerated” Children 2025, 12(3): 331; doi.org/10.3390/children1203331. 6 March 2025 PMID: 40150613

John R, Galvis A, Bucayu R, Schomberg J, Guner Y, Arrieta AC, Nieves DJ. Exploring oral antibiotics stewardship in nonoperative management of complicated appendicitis in pediatric patients.  Antimicrob Steward Health Epidemiol. 2025 April;5(1):3101 PMD 40290181.

Arrieta A, Osborne S, Grant L, Gessner B, Blaschke A, Hulten K, Nieves DJ, Miller A, Bender C, Isturiz R, et al. Parapneumonic empyema complicating community acquired pneumonia; impact of pneumococcal vaccination and diagnostic role of molecular diagnosis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2025 April 21;44(7):622-629. Doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000004833. PMID 40257269

Book Chapters

Ulloa ER, He K, Chung E, Nieves D, Michalik DE, Afghani B. (2023) Covid-19 in Pediatrics. In A Gholamrezanezhad, MP Dube (Eds.), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Clinical Guide. Pp. 255-289. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nieves DJ, Heininger U, Cherry JD. Bordetella pertussis and other Bordetella sp Infections. In Remington and Klein’s Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant, 9e. Elsevier Saunders Co, Philadelphia, PA. 2025.

Nieves DJ. Leptospirosis. In Cherry JD, Kaplan SL, Harrison GJ, Steinbach WJ, Hotez PJ, Williams JV, eds., Feigin and Cherry’s Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 9th ed. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA; 2025: 1320-1331.