Dr. FiksAlexander G. Fiks, M.D., M.S.C.E., FAAP, has been appointed director of the AAP Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) network after a national search.
Dr. Fiks succeeds Richard C. “Mort” Wasserman, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, who led PROS for nearly 25 years. Under Dr. Wasserman’s leadership, the PROS network grew to over 700 U.S practices and conducted groundbreaking studies in varied areas, including the management of febrile infants, timing of puberty in girls and boys, and behavior and lifestyle change to improve health.
Dr. Fiks is a primary care pediatrician and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). His research aims to improve outcomes for ambulatory pediatric patients through collaborative practice-based research, with a focus on using health information technology to improve health and health care decision-making.
As associate director of PROS since September 2013, Dr. Fiks has been involved in building electronic health record (EHR)-based research through two initiatives — Collaborative Electronic Reporting for Comparative Effectiveness Research, which includes more than 1.2 million U.S. children from multiple health systems, and ePROS.
As director of PROS, Dr. Fiks will assume leadership of a network with a nearly 30-year history of research that guides practice and policy. Among Dr. Fiks’ goals are broadening the range of PROS studies to include large clinical trials, secondary analyses of EHR data from practices and longitudinal surveys of practitioners. In addition to its work in epidemiology and health services research, the network will welcome quality-oriented research.
To achieve these goals, PROS will continue partnering with practicing pediatricians, who have informed studies since the network’s inception, as well as parents and other stakeholders. PROS especially welcomes investigators interested in primary care-oriented research, as the network strives to test ideas that innovate the delivery of family-centered pediatric care.
Dr. Fiks received a medical degree from Harvard University, a master's of science in clinical epidemiology degree from the University of Pennsylvania and additional training in clinical informatics.
At CHOP, he is associate medical director for the Pediatric Research Consortium, a practice-based research network; associate director of the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness; a founding member of the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics; and a PolicyLab faculty member. He also mentors multiple faculty and academic fellows.
Dr. Fiks is a member of the AAP Council on Clinical Information Technology and the Section on Advances in Therapeutics and Technology.
