PHILADELPHIA — Chris Feudtner, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of Pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Steven D. Handler Endowed Chair of Medical Ethics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was recently presented with the 2014 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award in the mid-career category. Presented annually, the Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards recognize five physicians who have distinguished themselves in advancing the practice of palliative care and model exemplary skill and compassion at the bedside.
In nominating Dr. Feudtner for the award, Ezekiel Emanuel, MSc, MD, PhD, Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor, and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote that Dr. Feudtner’s “plural excellences – extraordinary success as a nationally recognized researcher and ethicist combined with exceptional face-to-face skills – make him, in my mind, the epitome of the kind of doctor all worried parents would want for their sick children and the embodiment of the clinical leader needed by complex health care organizations serving sick children and their families.”
In addition to his roles as associate professor of Pediatrics and the Steven D. Handler Endowed Chair, Dr. Feudtner is also the director of the department of Medical Ethics and director of research for the Pediatric Advanced Care Team at CHOP. He is recognized for his leadership in promoting better, more patient-driven care for children at the end of their lives, as well as for their families and has received numerous awards for his teaching, mentoring, and research.
Dr. Feudtner has published more than 180 articles and book chapters on pediatric health care; palliative, end-of-life, and bereavement care; health service use and quality; child outcomes; and medical ethics. He has also published a book, Bittersweet: Diabetes, Insulin, and the Transformation of Illness. Among his many research efforts, Dr. Feudtner helped establish the Pediatric Palliative Care Research Network, a group of leading researchers in the U.S. and Canada who work collectively on improving pediatric palliative care services.
The five 2014 Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards were presented in three categories: one senior physician, one mid-career, and three early-career awards. The honorees are considered exemplary in one or more of four areas: medical practice, teaching, research, and community. The Cunniff-Dixon Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the doctor-patient relationship near the end of life, funds the awards. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute that has done groundbreaking work on end-of-life decision-making, cosponsors the awards. The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life oversees the selection process.
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