President Elect
Leonard A. Rappaport, MD
I am extremely honored to be elected to the SDBP presidency, and look forward to the opportunity to serve at this extremely exciting time for developmental-behavioral pediatrics and SDBP. I was a charter member of the SDBP in 1982, served on the Executive Council for one term and was a member of the Nominating Committee.
In
terms of my history outside of SDBP, I attended the University
of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics as an undergraduate
and then received a MS in Education also at the University of
Pennsylvania. I then taught in the Philadelphia Public Schools
and became Head Teacher at a pilot school which was a joint effort
of the public schools and the University of Pennsylvania. Eventually
I attended Yale Medical School where I got my first taste of
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics working with Sally Provence
MD at the Yale Child Study Center on my senior thesis - "The
Toddler's Kiss as a Developmental Milestone". After internship
and residency
in Pediatrics, followed by a fellowship in Developmental-Behavioral
Pediatrics with Drs. Levine, Crocker, and Brazelton at Children's
Hospital Boston, I joined the medical staff at Children's Hospital
Boston. I also had a small primary care practice at Longwood
Pediatrics, across the street from the Hospital, until January,
2008. At Children's Hospital Boston I merged the three major
developmental programs into the Developmental Medicine Center
and in 2007 became the first Chief of the Division of Developmental
Medicine, the first new Division at Children's Hospital Boston
in 20 years. I am also the first incumbent of the Mary Deming
Scott Chair in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Over the
years, an important part of my work has been to train many fellows
in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, many of whom are now
leaders in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics worldwide, and
I have been the PI on the MCHB funded fellowship in D-B Pediatrics
for 17 years. My research has focused on improving the developmental
outcomes of children with medical and surgical issues focused
primarily on a series of multidisciplinary collaborative randomized
clinical trials in newborn cardiac surgery. Recently I have led
an effort to draw together some of the most prolific researchers
in genomics, cognitive neuroscience medical informatics and neuroscience
to help improve our understanding of autism spectrum disorders
and eventually develop novel molecular based diagnostic methods
and therapies to complement current behavioral
interventions. I am excited about the opportunity to bring my
experience with practice, teaching, research, and administration
to continue to serve SDBP as your president.
Statement of Goals for the Society
I believe that the SDBP and our members are at a key inflection
point in our development. We struggled for years to establish
ourselves as an academic and clinical pediatric subspecialty;
thanks to visionary early leadership and recognition by the AAP
and ABP, we are now positioned as the subspecialty best able
to respond to the needs of a changing society and the new morbidities
faced by general pediatricians throughout the world. While still
challenged by fiscal issues, we have established CPT procedure
codes that recognize the specialty skills developed in our training
program---something that other "intellectual specialties" have
not been able to accomplish. We are now also face to face with
incredible potential breakthroughs in research which can translate
to immense advances in our daily clinical care if we are willing
to make the jump and take the risks.
In particular, I believe that developments in the science of
brain place us now at the point that Pediatric Oncology was
in the early 1980's. Genomics, neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience
and new imaging approaches now allow us to ask and eventually
answer questions about the etiology and treatment of developmental
disorders that were only a dream a decade ago. As developmental
experts, not only are we the medical home for children and
families with developmental issues, but we are specialists
trained by our discipline to be the best of collaborators
with basic scientists in a new breed of translational research.
The SDBP should be at the forefront of this movement from
description to translation. As President of the SDBP, I would
do everything in my power to ensure that the Society is a
leader in this incredibly complex and exciting effort.
Member-At-Large
Desmond P. Kelly, MD
Dr. Kelly is Medical Director of the Division of Developmental-Behavioral
Pediatrics and the Gardner Family Center for Developing Minds
at the Children's Hospital of the Greenville Hospital System
University Medical Center in Greenville South Carolina. He is
GHS Professor
of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of South Carolina School
of Medicine.
After graduating from the University of Cape Town Medical School
in South Africa, he worked in training positions in Pediatrics
and Psychiatry in London. His U.S. residency in Pediatrics was
at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield
followed by Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics fellowship training
at the University of Maryland for a year, and 2 years at the University
of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. He then returned
to the faculty at Southern Illinois University for 7 years before
joining The Children's Hospital in Greenville in 1995. After
a two-year stint developing the clinical programs at the All Kinds
of Minds Institute in Chapel Hill in 2000 he returned to Greenville
in his current position. He has served on the executive committee
of the Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics of the
AAP and was a member of the national committee on Continuing Medical
Education of the AAP as well as chairing the planning group for
DB:PREP, the
intensive review course in DB Pediatrics. He has served on the
Nominating Committee for SDBP and is currently a member of the
Sub-Board of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics of the American
Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Kelly's research and publication has
been primarily in the areas of hearing impairment and learning
and attention problems. More recently he has focused on earlier
identification of children with developmental problems and improved
access to services, with funding support from the Duke Endowment
and the Commonwealth Fund. He has also secured endowment funding
to establish a fellowship program in DB Pediatrics in Greenville
that is now in its third year.
Statement of Goals for the Society
As a member of SDBP for over 20 years I have benefited from the Society both personally and professionally. I witnessed the extraordinary efforts that went into securing subspecialty board certification and was privileged to have a leadership role in DB:PREP as we helped our members prepare for the first two certification examinations. As our field continues its developmental journey we are faced with new opportunities and challenges.
As a member of the Board of Directors my goals would be to further the Society's
support for our members in their various professional roles. As clinicians we
continue to face overwhelming demand for our services and underwhelming financial
support. We must continue to explore solutions for efficient provision of services
and advocate for appropriate reimbursement. We need to study models with effective
interdisciplinary collaboration and develop methods to demonstrate outcomes.
As teachers we bear responsibility for educating our clinical colleagues in the promotion of healthy child development and in preparing future practitioners in this field at residency and fellowship levels. The Society should continue its support of the efforts of training directors in meeting the evolving training program accreditation requirements. The number of unfilled training positions speaks to an ongoing need to communicate and market our field to prospective practitioners.
As researchers we must address the challenges of expanding the evidence base related to the assessment and management of developmental-behavioral disorders.
SDBP provides a great forum for sharing our progress as well as alerting us to potential pitfalls and must continue its role in advocacy and practical assistance for our members.
Member-At-Large
Robyn S. Mehlenbeck, PhD
Within SDBP, Dr. Mehlenbeck has participated on the Program Committee for the past three years and has recently joined the Membership Committee. An active member of both SDBP and Division 54 (Pediatric Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Mehlenbeck forwards all SDBP information to the Pediatric Psychology listserve to promote multidisciplinary participation in our society. She also enjoys mentoring and training developmental-behavioral pediatric fellows and has taught at the DB: PREP Course.
Outside the society, Dr. Mehlenbeck is the Director of Training for the Hasbro Partial Hospital Program in Providence, RI teaching medical students, interns, fellows and residents in psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics. In this role, she has the opportunity to share the value of multidisciplinary teamwork in helping children and families. As a clinical assistant professor at Brown Medical School, she provides direct clinical services to children with eating disorders and other medical illnesses, trains students in how to address needs of children with co-morbid psychiatric and medical issues and conducts research in the areas of pediatric obesity and eating disorders. Dr. Mehlenbeck completed graduate training at the University of Memphis, internship at the University of California San Diego Psychology Consortium, and fellowship training at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Statement of Goals for the Society
One of the prime attractions of SDBP is its multidisciplinary
focus. I would like to enhance this focus further by increasing
the number of members from different specialties and by working
with SDBP leaders to facilitate communication between members.
This could include disseminating research findings to practitioners,
assisting practitioners in developing collaborations with researchers
for "real world" studies and helping connect trainees with
mentors outside their main areas. For example, matching developmental
behavioral fellows with psychologist mentors or pairing psychology
fellows with developmental behavioral pediatricians. I would
also like to identify cross-training opportunities throughout
the society, which may be creative and innovative in promoting
multidisciplinary training. Finally, I feel it is critical to
promote relationships with societies with similar goals and interests.
I plan to actively facilitate further communication and collaboration
with the Society for Pediatric Psychology,
Division 54 of APA.
