Associate Professor of Pediatrics Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, has been elected to a four-year leadership term with the prestigious national Society for Pediatric Research (SPR), one of the premier pediatric academic societies in the United States.
"I am delighted and honored," said Fuentes-Afflick. "As the national organization representing junior and midlevel pediatric researchers, the SPR has a strong voice in the pediatric research community. Through the SPR, I hope to improve the health and well-being of children by promoting research and academic careers for pediatric researchers."
The Society for Pediatric Research is one of the four major American pediatric academic societies. The SPR and its sister organizations, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Pediatric Society and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, will hold their annual joint meeting at the Moscone Center, April 29 through May 2. Fuentes-Afflick is scheduled to present a paper on her research area, perinatal epidemiology with a focus on Latino health.
Starting in October 2006, Fuentes-Afflick will become vice president of the SPR, which provides a scientific forum for young and midlevel pediatric investigators. She advances to the role of president-elect in 2007 and becomes president in 2008. She will be past president in 2009.
Fuentes-Afflick is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Her clinical appointment is at San Francisco General Hospital.
Fuentes-Afflick's professional honors include Visiting Professor of Minority Health to Johns Hopkins University and Howard University and the UCSF/Coro Foundational Leadership Fellowship in 2006.
Sam Hawgood, MBBS, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, congratulated Fuentes-Afflick on her election to the prestigious role.
"I am extremely proud of Dr. Fuentes-Afflick's election as vice president of the Society for Pediatric Research," Hawgood said. "The society members represent the best and brightest physicians and scientists working to better children's health. Election to the leadership of the society represents one of the highest honors that can be given to a pediatric physician-scientist.
"This honor reflects Dr. Fuentes-Afflick's internationally recognized contributions to our understanding of the scope and causes of health disparities, particularly in the Latino population, as well as her national leadership in setting the agenda for research in children's diseases," he said.
Fuentes-Afflick's academic research includes studies that found that the interval between pregnancies can affect the health of the subsequent baby (1998); a study of the risk factors for infant mortality in Latina women (2000) and a recent study of the impact of welfare reform on use of prenatal care among Latina women (2006).
Source: Phyllis Brown, News Services
