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Fellows in the News: Advocate receives AAP President’s Award, and more

August 1, 2021

Advocate Lisa Kaeser, J.D., accepts AAP President’s Award

KaeserLisa Kaeser, J.D., of Bethesda, Md., received the AAP President’s Award for Outstanding Service for dedicated public service on behalf of children, including decades of advocacy for pediatric research.

Kaeser is the former director of the Office of Legislation and Public Policy at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). She served as the liaison between NICHD’s leadership and its constituencies, including Congress. She worked closely for many years with AAP leaders and volunteers to advance legislation and research in the best interest of children.

In conjunction with the AAP Committee on Pediatric Research, Kaeser played a key role in advocating for the inclusion of children in federally funded research. She also addressed research barriers for vulnerable populations and was involved in efforts that led to a Down syndrome consortium and registry. She was executive secretary of the federal Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women.

Kaeser retired from NICHD at the end of 2020 after a 22-year career at the agency.

Additional Fellows in the news

N. Scott Adzick, M.D., M.M.M., FAAP, of Philadelphia, received the2021 Strittmatter Award from the Philadelphia County Medical Society (PCMS). The award, the group’s highest honor, recognizes a PCMS physician who has demonstrated the most valuable contributions to the practice of healing.

Dr. Adzick is surgeon-in-chief of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the founder and director of the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment.

 

 

Karen Amstutz, M.D., M.B.A., FAAP, of Indianapolis, is the new chief medical officer of AmeriHealth Caritas. The Philadelphia-based company, in 13 states and Washington, D.C., offersMedicaid managed care and other health care programs.

Dr. Amstutz will oversee care and utilization management, and medical, dental, pharmacy and behavioral health clinical policy.

She was vice president of community and behavioral health at Indiana University Health.

 

Anisa Ibrahim, M.D., FAAP, of Seattle, was one of 34 naturalized citizens from more than 30 countries of origin named as a 2021 Great Immigrant by theCarnegie Corp. of New York. Carnegie annually honors naturalized citizens who have strengthened the nation through their lives and examples.

Born in Somalia, Dr. Ibrahim is medical director of the pediatric clinic at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she first began receiving care as a 6-year-old. Dr. Ibrahim arrived in the U.S. with her four siblings after they spent a year in refugee camps in Kenya when the family fled war-torn Somalia.

She credits staff at Harborview, including her pediatrician and then-director at the clinic, Elinor A. Graham, M.D., FAAP, with encouraging her to become a physician.

Dr. Ibrahim is a member of the AAP Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health Executive Committee. She is a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine and on staff at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Rachel Pardes Berger, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, of Pittsburgh, received the annual Ray E. Helfer Award from the Helfer Society for significant contributions to the field of child abuse prevention.

Dr. Berger is chief of the Division of Child Advocacy at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She is professor of pediatrics and clinical and translational science at University of Pittsburgh and director of child abuse research at its Safar Center for Resuscitation.

Steven M. Donn, M.D., FAAP, of Ann Arbor, Mich., was named a fellow of the American Association for Respiratory Care in recognition of his leadership, influence and achievement in clinical practice, education and science in respiratory care.

Dr. Donn is professor emeritus of pediatrics in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Michigan Medicine. He also serves as editor-in-chief of Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine.

 

 

Mark W. Kline, M.D., FAAP, of New Orleans, is the new physician-in-chief and chief academic officer for the Louisiana Children’s Medical Center Health pediatric market. He will help expand academic programs at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health New Orleans and Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Kline holds faculty positions at both LSU and Tulane.

A leader in pediatric HIV/AIDS and global child health, Dr. Kline was the J.S. Abercrombie Professor and Chair of the pediatrics department at Baylor College of Medicine and the Ralph D. Feigin Chair and physician-in-chief of Texas Children’s Hospital. He founded the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative.

Amr M. Moursi, D.D.S., Ph.D., associate member, of New York, is president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD).

Dr. Moursi has served as liaison from AAPD to the AAP Section on Oral Health.

He is professor and chair of the pediatric dentistry department at the New York University College of Dentistry.

Cynthia K. Rigsby, M.D., FAAP, of Chicago, is the new president of the Society for Pediatric Radiology.

Dr. Rigsby is chair of medical imaging-radiology and holds the Earl J. Frederick Distinguished Professorship in Radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she also is professor of pediatrics. She is associate director of radiology research at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute.

Fellows in the News acknowledges AAP members’ national and prominent awards, honors and appointments. Submit brief background information with academic titles and a high-resolution photo to Alyson Sulaski Wyckoff at [email protected]; phone 630-626-6770. Publication is at the discretion of AAP News.

 

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