Seven AAP members began three- or four-year terms as members of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) in February. NVAC members provide peer review, consultation, advice and recommendations to the assistant secretary for health who serves as director of the National Vaccine Program.
Jay C. Butler, M.D., C.P.E., FAAP, of Anchorage, Alaska, is chief medical officer for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and director of the Division of Public Health. He is an affiliate professor of medicine at the University of Alaska Anchorage and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
John Dunn, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, of Kirkland, Wash., is medical director of preventive care, clinical lead for immunization population management and in practice at Kaiser Permanente Washington. He is a clinical instructor in the family medicine residency program at University of Washington School of Medicine and serves on government and professional committees within the state.
NVAC representative member Leonard R. Friedland, M.D., FAAP, of Lafayette Hill, Pa., is vice president and director of scientific affairs and public health for Vaccines North America at GSK. He is a medical volunteer pediatrician with Rotaplast, which provides free reconstructive cleft palate/cleft lip operations and treatment for children worldwide. He is GSK’s primary medical and public health representative and its spokesperson for U.S. vaccine topics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, congresses, media outlets and other venues.
Robert H. Hopkins Jr., M.D., FACP, FAAP, of Little Rock, Ark., is professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and director of the internal medicine-pediatrics combined residency at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock. He also is director of the general internal medicine division at the UAMS College of Medicine.
Mary Anne Jackson, M.D., FAAP, of Fairway, Kan., is associate chair for Community and Regional Pediatric Collaborations, chief of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Section at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Mo., and professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. Her research focuses on reducing hospital-acquired infections, treating antibiotic-resistant infections, and vaccine implementation and education. She is a member of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases and associate editor of the Red Book.
H. Cody Meissner, M.D., FAAP, of Boston, is professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine and chief of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Service at Floating Hospital for Children. He is an ex officio member of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases and associate editor of the Visual Red Book.
Larry K. Pickering, M.D., FAAP, of Atlanta, is adjunct professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. He served as senior adviser to the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is past executive secretary for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Dr. Pickering was editor of the 2000-’12 editions of the Red Book. He is past president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
Additional pediatricians in the news
Patrick H. Conway, M.D., M.Sc., FAAP, of Ellicott City, Md., was one of 10 individuals honored by the American Medical Association with the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service. Dr. Conway received the award in the category of Member of the Executive Branch in Career Public Service.
He was recognized for his work to improve health outcomes as the chief medical officer and deputy administrator for Innovation and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In these roles, he helped to implement the Affordable Care Act and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. A pediatric hospitalist, Dr. Conway is CMS acting administrator.
Gilbert A. Handal, M.D., FAAP, of El Paso, Texas, was elected president of the El Paso County Medical Society.
Dr. Handal is professor of pediatrics at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso and a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.
Solomon L. Moshe, M.D., FAAP, of Bronx, N.Y., received the Bernard Sachs Award from the Child Neurology Society for his research in neuroscience with relevance to the care of children with neurological disorders.
Dr. Moshe is vice chair of neurology and director of pediatric neurology and clinical neurophysiology at Montefiore Health System and Yeshiva University Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
He has focused on translational approaches to understanding how epilepsy develops and consequences of the disease on children and infants. Dr. Moshe also researches outcomes of prolonged febrile seizures in the absence of epilepsy.
Richard J. Pan, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, of Sacramento, Calif., received the Life Sciences Champion Award from the California Life Sciences Association for leadership and efforts toward advancing biotechnology, biomedical science, and pharmaceutical and medical device innovation in the state.
Democratic state senator in California, Dr. Pan introduced a bill to remove all vaccine exemptions except medical exemptions. The bill became state law in July 2015. Dr. Pan continues to practice in Oak Park, Calif. He co-founded and served as chair of the Healthy Kids Healthy Future program to help the 65,000 children in the Sacramento area access health, dental and vision care. He served as AAP District IX vice chair from 2005-’10.
Nina F. Schor, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP, of Rochester, N.Y., received the Hower Award from the Child Neurology Society for being an outstanding teacher, scholar and for contributions to the field and the society.
Dr. Schor is the William H. Eilinger Chair of Pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief at University of Rochester Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital. Her research is focused on the preclinical pharmacology of targeted therapies for neuroblastoma.
John R. Schreiber, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, of Springfield, Mass., was appointed chief executive officer of the Medical College Physicians (MCP) and senior associate dean for clinical affairs – adult practice. MCP is the Medical College of Wisconsin’s adult patient care practice based in Milwaukee.
He most recently was president of Baystate Medical Practices in Springfield, Mass., and chief physician executive at Baystate Health.
