WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Kathi Kemper, M.D., M.P.H., a pediatrician at Brenner Children’s Hospital, has been named the founder and first chair of the section for complementary and integrative medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The section’s mission is to educate clinicians about complementary and integrative medicine, promote policies that support safe and effective therapies for children, advocate for research to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of these therapies, educate clinicians about natural therapies, and collaborate to improve the health of children.
“Complementary and integrative medicine is an important part of pediatric care,” Kemper said. “It supports children and families, comprehensive care, collaboration and mutual respect, and promotes evidence-based, safe and effective therapies for children.”
Currently, Kemper serves as the Caryl J. Guth Chair for Holistic and Integrative Medicine and is a professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Kemper will serve as chair for the AAP committee for two years.
As a leader in pediatric health care, Brenner Children’s Hospital has a number of highly respected physicians that serve on AAP committees setting a national standard for children’s health,” said Jon S. Abramson M.D., chair of pediatrics at Brenner Children’s Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. “I am proud of the impact Kathi has made in the world of complementary and integrative medicine.”
Kemper is the author of The Holistic Pediatrician which serves as an important guide for families, pediatric educators, and clinicians. She is currently working on another book, Mental Health, Naturally, due to be published in 2009.
Prior to joining Wake Forest Baptist in 2001, Kemper was an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the University of Washington in Seattle. She received her doctorate at UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina and received her postdoctoral training at University of Wisconsin and Yale University.
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