Dr. Haller: Pioneer in pediatric trauma care, surgery
J. Alexander Haller Jr., M.D., FAAP, of Glencoe, Md., died June 13 of respiratory arrest at age 91.
A pediatric surgeon, Dr. Haller helped bring the needs of the pediatric surgery specialty to the forefront within the Academy. In 2000, he received the William Ladd Medal, the highest AAP recognition of a pediatric surgeon. Among his contributions was the Haller index, also known as the pectus severity index, commonly used for determining the severity of chest wall deformities. He was a founder and past president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association and past member of the AAP Sections on Surgery and Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Haller also is credited as a founding father of pediatric trauma as a subspecialty. In 1973, he established the nation’s first pediatric trauma unit in Maryland and worked with R. Adams Cowley, M.D., to establish the first shock trauma system at the Maryland Emergency Medical Services System. He also pushed for an Advanced Pediatric Life Support course based on the Advanced Life Support course of the American Heart Association and worked to ensure that the pediatric course was supported as part of the AAP.
Professor emeritus of pediatrics, surgery and emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School, he was pediatrician-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. He earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and did his surgery internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Surgery. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and was a U.S. Public Health Service surgeon.
He is survived by his wife, Emily Haller, M.D., four children and 16 grandchildren. Read Dr. Haller’s AAP Oral History at http://bit.ly/2IZwxAP.
Dr. Jaudes, child welfare leader
Paula Kienberger Jaudes, M.D., FAAP, of Chicago, died of complications from ovarian cancer June 16. She was 71.
Dr. Jaudes worked with the Academy to advocate for states to extend foster care services to age 21 and allow re-entry to children under 21 who left voluntarily but wished to return to foster care. She also made strides in child abuse prevention efforts.
As the first physician in the nation to be named medical director of a state child welfare agency in 1993, Dr. Jaudes referred to the thousands of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services children she helped as “her kids.” She also developed a protocol for wellness exams for children in foster care and an electronic medical record that follows children over time and across the system.
At a Chicago nonprofit hospital, she established and was section head of the nation’s first pediatric chronic disease program for medically complex and medically fragile children.
In 2017, she received the Thomas F. Tonniges, M.D., FAAP, Lifetime Achievement Award for Advocacy on Behalf of Vulnerable Children from the Council on Foster Care, Adoption and Kinship Care (COFCAKC). She was an executive committee member of COFCAKC, the Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care, and the Task Force on Foster Care.
Additional deaths
Brandey L. Ackermann, M.D., FAAP, of Midland, Texas, died in bicycle accident June 7 at age 39.
Warren R. Betty, M.D., FAAP, of Medford, N.J., died April 30 at age 87.
James S. Cromer, M.D., FAAP, of Indianapolis, died June 13 at age 71.
Kathryn Sexton Foell, M.D., FAAP, of Greenbrae, Calif., died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis June 3 at age 69.
Daniel E. Hanby, M.D., FAAP, of Houston, died May 29 at age 81.
Stephen D. Palmer, M.D., FAAP, of Magnolia Springs, Ala., died in June at age 94.
Diane Kittredge, M.D., FAAP, of Norwich, Vt., died June 4 at age 72. She was past president of the Academic Pediatric Association and past chair of AAP Council on Pediatric Education. She also was a key contributor on the AAP Future of Pediatric Education II Project.
William S. Parker, M.D., FAAP, died Nov. 5 at age 93.
Paul M. Russell, M.D., FAAP, of Canoga Park, Calif., died of a heart attack on June 14 at age 65.
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