Meet our Child Life Specialists

Gaby marden Stern, ms, ccls

Gaby Marden Stern, MS, CCLS is a certified child life specialist with a variety of experiences in hospitals in the US and abroad. Gaby worked as a child life specialist at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore for 3 years in their ambulatory surgery unit and hematology/oncology unit before starting and serving as the Director of the Child Life Program at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. In this capacity, Gaby built a sustainable child life program and balanced her clinical responsibilities in the pediatric emergency department with young patients and families while also serving as a leader of efforts aimed at improving the patient experience. Currently, Gaby is serving private patients and families, offering child life services and interventions in their homes and communities. Gaby is also consulting for several non-profit and for-profit businesses, using her child life experience to consult for programs serving kids in different healthcare and community settings. 

Gaby holds a M.S. in Child Life from Bank Street College of Education in New York City and a B.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. 
 

Lori lerma, ms, ccls

Lori Lerma, MS, CCLS is a graduate from Bank Street College of Education with a Masters in Child Life. Prior to her work in child life she worked in the non-profit industry doing fundraising and event planning. Lori has spent the past ten years working in New York City as a Child Life Specialist. She has had the privilege to work in many institutions throughout the city such as Bellevue Hospital, Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and The Brooklyn Hospital Center. Her experience has allowed her to experience and serve many different cultures and populations, providing her with a sound base in culture sensitivity and diversity. Currently she is training at the Harlem Family Institute to receive a license in psychoanalysis.  

alexa kreisberg, ms, ccls

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Peyton katz, ms, ccls

Peyton Katz, MS, CCLS graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and received her master’s degree in Child Life from Bank Street College.  She serves as the child life specialist at Hospital for Special Surgery, where she works with children and families facing a variety of new diagnoses, acute injuries, orthopedic and rheumatic treatments and surgeries.   Prior to her current position, Peyton had a focus on supporting children of adult patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and preparing children for dental procedures.