The country is facing “difficult and terrifying” times for child health, and pediatricians need to speak out, AAP Past President James M. Perrin, M.D., FAAP, said as he accepted the prestigious 2025 Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr. Leadership Award.
He called for advocacy around diversity, health research, child health financing and a national commitment to children.
“Child advocacy has a long and honorable and effective history,” Dr. Perrin told the crowd at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Honolulu. “Rarely have we had so many opportunities for strong child advocacy as today when we must mobilize for change.”
The Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr. Leadership Award is given annually by the Federation of Pediatric Organizations (FOPO), which is composed of seven pediatric organizations including the AAP. The federation said Dr. Perrin is “widely respected for his visionary leadership and commitment to advancing care for children and youth with special health care needs.”
Dr. Perrin has had “an incredible career of leadership committed to ensuring all children and families have what they need to thrive,” Tina L. Cheng, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, said as she introduced Dr. Perrin (pictured below courtesy of the Pediatric Academic Societies). “His leadership has been exemplary and impactful.”
Dr. Perrin is an emeritus professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He founded and led the Mass General for Children Hospital’s Division of General Pediatrics and Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy.
In addition to leading the AAP as president in 2014, Dr. Perrin has served as chair of the AAP Committee on Children with Disabilities, co-chair of the first attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) practice guidelines committee, co-chair of the Task Force on Pediatric Practice Change and a member of the Committee on Genetics. He currently chairs the Committee on Child Health Financing, focusing on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Dr. Perrin also is a former president of what now is the Academic Pediatric Association and was the founding editor of its journal Academic Pediatrics. He has led the national Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network clinical coordinating center and the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health.
“This award means a great deal to me because leadership on behalf of children has guided my career and never has that leadership been more important than now,” Dr. Perrin said. “These times are more difficult and terrifying than any in most of our memories with worrisome prospects for many of the issues that we care deeply about. …Our policies and programs should help stabilize the lives of children, not worsen their hunger, homelessness, health and education.”
The difficulties he cited include the National Institutes of Health under President Donald J. Trump slashing grant funding for hundreds of research projects.
Dr. Perrin has done major research on chronic health conditions like asthma, hemophilia, ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, publishing over 300 research papers, chapters and commentaries. In announcing his award, FOPO noted his “influential research that has shaped improved policies and programs in child health.”
Dr. Perrin said canceling NIH grant funding will slow progress in advancing child health and will deter young researchers.
“This community must defend and advocate for robust funding of pediatric research and support for early career scientists,” he said.
Medicaid and CHIP cover almost half of children in the U.S. but also are facing the threat of major funding cuts.
“Politicians may claim that they do not want to curtail Medicaid for deserving populations, but any major funding decrease will have huge consequences for children,” Dr. Perrin said.
He also lamented that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are being eradicated. Diversity, he said, “greatly enhances our communities, our understanding, our research and our development.”
“Persistent disparities limit the value of many scientific advances,” he said. “Progress in addressing health disparities must continue, expand and inform our work. This is not a time to shunt diversity aside.”
He also called out the country’s high rates of infant mortality, obesity and incarceration of young people. Too often, children are thought of after adults, such as in recent natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic and health policy. What we need, he said, is a national campaign for children that includes an expanded child tax credits and paid family leave.
Fighting for the well-being of children, he said, will strengthen the country’s workforce, military and economy of the future.
“We will get through this,” Dr. Perrin said. “We are much stronger when we work together and make clear what we’re doing and why.”
Dr. Perrin is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, sits on numerous national advisory boards and has won several major awards for his work, including Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research, the Vince Hutchins Award from Family Voices, a Title V Lifetime Achievement Award from the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the Arnold Capute Award from the AAP.
Matthew Mariani-Seltz, AAP director of federal advocacy, contributed to this report.
