Dr. Nihal Godiwala completed his undergraduate education at Columbia University in New York City and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Tulane University School of Medicine. Following medical school, Dr. Godiwala did his residency in Pediatrics at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. Dr. Godiwala pursued a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He is board certified in both General Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Godiwala holds the position of Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Critical Care at the Department of Pediatrics, LSU Health Sciences Center. In recognition of his dedication to teaching and mentorship, he received the Nicholas Gagliano, MD Outstanding Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching by the residents of LSU Department of Pediatrics in 2018.

Dr. Godiwala has been actively involved in research and clinical trials at Manning Family Children's, serving as the Site Principal Investigator for the COVID-19 Anticoagulation in Children Thromboprophylaxis Trial (COVAC TP). He is currently a Site Co-Investigator for a project with Sanofi-Pasteur and Clinetic Health aimed at assessing vaccine-preventable and therapeutic treatable infectious diseases, specifically with the RSV vaccine.

In addition to his clinical practice and research, Dr. Godiwala has made significant contributions to a number of hospital committees and quality/safety initiatives at Manning Family Children's. He is involved with the Resuscitation Performance Improvement Team and helps lead the PICU Critical Events Review / Morbidity & Mortality Conference. He also helped develop the PICU/Emergency Department Faculty Patient Safety Conference and is involved in the Hospital Credentialing Committee and Medication Safety Committee. He has served as an elected member of the Manning Family Children's Medical Executive Committee since 2022.