Name: Dr. Lilijana Kornhauser Cerar
Affiliation: Head of NICU, Department for Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: infants born at the limit of viability; surfactant replacement therapy; use of rHuEPO in the prevention of anemia of prematurity; probiotics in VLGAN's; NICU quality assessment (VON)
 I am honored to be a part of the Children's Reviewer Team. Particularly since I myself learn many new things during the review of the contributions, as well as gaining experience in objectively and constructively giving comments and suggested corrections. I am very grateful to the editors for recognizing my work and commitment and including me on the Exceptional Reviewers List.

Name: Prof. Dr. Jaan Toelen 
Affiliation: Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Belgium
Interests: general pediatrics; adolescent medicine; eating disorders
 As a physician–scientist, I always appreciate the time and effort that reviewers put into my submissions to journals; as such, I try to give back to the scientific community by reviewing manuscripts as often as I can. I approach reviewing as I would like other reviewers to approach my papers; I try to be as constructive in my criticism as I can and offer suggestions to improve the paper as much as possible.

Name: Prof. Dr. Michalina Błażkiewicz
Affiliation: Jozef Pilsudski University Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Interests: cerebral palsy; dorsiflexion angle; exercise equipment; gait; hinged ankle–foot orthosis; hips; inertial sensors; postural development model; propulsion; walking speed

 Name: Prof. Roxana Stegaroiu
Affiliation: Department of Oral Health and Welfare, Division of Oral Science for Health Promotion, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
Interests: oral health; prosthodontics; dental implants

Name: Dr. Vladimir E. Martínez-Bello
Affiliation: Department of Musical, Visual, and Corporal Expression Teaching, Faculty of Teaching, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Interests: early childhood; physical activity; physical education; preschool education

Name: Dr. Katheleen J. Gardiner
Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research Center, Human Medical Genetics and Neuroscience Programs, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado, USA
Interests: down syndrome; drug treatments to rescue cognitive deficits

Name: Dr. Jonathan Santoro
Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Interests: Down syndrome; neuroimmunology; multiple sclerosis; Down syndrome regression disorder; moyamoya; vasculopathy

 Name: Prof. Inge E. Van Der Valk
Affiliation: Youth & Family Department, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Interests: divorce and separation; parental conflicts; stepchildren

Name: Dr. Darejan (Daji) Dvalishvili
Affiliation: College of Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Interests: adolescents; adverse childhood experiences; child maltreatment; childhood; evidence-based interventions; multidimensional poverty; program evaluation

Name: Dr. Goutam Singh
Affiliation: Spalding University, Kosair for Kids School of Physical Therapy, USA
Interests: neurophysiology, neuromuscular recovery, and neuromodulation

 Name: Dr. Sayyed Ali Samadi
Affiliation: Institute of Nursing and Health Research. Ulster University, Northern Ireland
Interests: autism spectrum disorder, developmental disabilities, early intervention, behavioral analysis, inclusive education
I believe that thorough reviews ensure that research effectively supports children with autism and other developmental differences in thriving.

Name: Dr. Marcel Alexandru Gaina
Affiliation: Psychiatry, Department of Medicine III, Faculty of Medicine, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Interests: addictions, anxiety, artificial intelligence, comorbid psychiatric disorders, depression, ethical frameworks in technology, pain, virtual reality

 Name: Dr. Zrinjka Matek Mišak
Affiliation: Referral Centre for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children's Hospital Zagreb, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: children, Crohn’s disease, enteral nutrition, helicobacter pylori, inflammatory bowel disease, pediatric patients

Name: Dr. Vladimir E. Martínez-Bello
Affiliation: Department of Teaching of Musical, Visual and Corporal Expression, University of Valencia, Avda. dels Tarongers, 4, Valencia, 46022, Spain
Interests: early childhood, physical activity, physical education, preschool education

Name: Dr. Marc Sturgill
Affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States
Interests: children, febrile neutropenia, monitoring, obesity, the effects of age, disease and xenobiotics on drug pharmacokinetics, in particular, the effect of these variables on the activity of human drug metabolizing enzymes

Name: Dr. Raptis Dimitrios
Affiliation: NYC Health and Hospitals Jacobi/North Central Bronx, NY, USA
Interests: diabetes, Endocrinology, glp-1, insulin, liver steatosis, MASH, MASLD, NAFLD, NASH, obesity, steatohepatitis

Name: Dr. Guido Stichtenoth
Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
Interests: lungs, neonatal resuscitation, respiratory physiology, sepsis, surface tension, surfactants, ventilation

Name: Dr. Esther Tantsis
Affiliation: TJ Nelson Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
Interests: all aspects of general paediatric neurology with a special interest in demyelinating conditions

Name: Dr. Michèle Preyde
Affiliation: College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Interests: psychosocial impacts of medical and mental illnesses

Name: Dr. Oliver Ramos-Álvarez
Affiliation: Department of Education, Area of Physical and Sports Education, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
Interests: promotion of healthy habits; sedentary lifestyles and associated diseases in pediatric age; education; regular physical activity
It is a real privilege to belong to such a high-level team and to be able to contribute to the review process through contributions and observations that help the authors to refine their work and give greater visibility to their research. I would like to express my sincere thanks for being selected to be part of the Children 2025 Exceptional Reviewers List, a recognition that I deeply value.

Name: Dr. Mohammed Rohaim
Affiliation: Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Interests: innate immunity and host–pathogen interactions; viral evasion mechanisms and immune modulation; evolutionary dynamics of viruses; infectious diseases and global health; vaccine development and diagnostic innovations
Providing thorough and constructive peer reviews is a rewarding way to support scientific progress. It ensures the publication of high-quality research and strengthens the academic community.

Name: Dr. Fabrizio Parente
Affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology Vittorio Erspamer, La Sapienza—Università di Roma, Italy
Interests: neuroscience; neuropharmacology; neurodevelopment; neuroimaging; network theory

Name: Dr. Olga Valentim
Affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Lisboa, 1600-096 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: mental health; quality of life; well-being; addictive behaviors; substance dependencies; mental health literacy; positive mental health

Name: Dr. Marilyn Fisher
Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Albany Medical College, Albany, New York, NY, USA
Interests: neonatology; retinopathy of prematurity

Name: Dr. Angharad Vernon-Roberts
Affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Otago Christchurch, Christchurch, New Zealand
Interests: pediatrics; inflammatory bowel disease; functional gastrointestinal disorders; celiac disease; outcome measures; non-clinical outcomes

Name: Dr. Tavey Dorofaeff
Affiliation: UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia
Interests: pediatric; intensive care; antibiotic therapy

Name: Prof. Dr. Justus Lieber
Affiliation: Abteilung für Kinderchirurgie und Kinderurologie, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin, Tübingen, Germany
Interests: esophagus; pediatrics