Washington, DC — The Federation of Pediatric Organizations (FOPO) is delighted to name F. Bruder Stapleton MD, the 2019 recipient of the Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr. Leadership Award. Dr. Stapleton will receive the award on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting’s Opening General Session in Baltimore, MD.
The Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr. Leadership Award was created in honor of Dr. St. Geme to recognize a pediatrician who is a role model for others to emulate as a clinician, an educator, and/or an investigator. Recipients of this award have a record of broad and sustained contributions to pediatrics that will have a major impact on child health. Most importantly, the award recognizes those individuals who have “created a future” within the field.
Dr. Stapleton is Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Dr. Stapleton is an outstanding pediatric leader who has contributed meaningful changes for the future health care of children, the education of pediatricians, and the vibrancy of key pediatric organizations.
Over the course of his 40-year career, he has served in countless leadership roles in academic institutions and professional societies, which included an impressive 22-year tenure as the Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and joint leadership roles at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Stapleton first found joy, value and challenges in the field of medicine as a pediatric nephrologist committed to caring for children from underserved communities with kidney disease. He made significant contributions both as an investigator and as a clinician, becoming a respected expert in pediatric nephrology on a broad range of topics, most particularly hypercalciuria and urolithiasis.
Since being drawn to leadership as a way to have a bigger impact, Dr. Stapleton has engaged in mentoring future leaders, new chairs and innumerable residents. His dedication to advancing pediatric academics helped established him as an important national and international figure on the value of pediatric medical education. Among the many forward-thinking educational initiatives he spearheaded include efforts to create a family-friendly learning environment for pediatric trainees and the establishment of a residency track program in Alaska as one way to address a shortage of primary care pediatricians in the Pacific Northwest.
Dr. Stapleton is well recognized for his visionary and sustained work in promoting a culture of equity and diversity in pediatrics. It is his long-held belief that a diverse pediatric workforce needs to be representative of the communities it serves and inclusive of many different viewpoints in order to provide culturally-relevant care and biomedical research that will positively impact the future of children in the U.S.
He created the American Pediatric Society (APS) Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion to address diversity in pediatric medicine at the national level. With his founding vision, the committee has since made far-reaching impact, serving as a catalyst for other leading pediatric professional organizations to create diversity initiatives of their own. In his memorable APS presidential address, entitled “Mind the Diversity Gap”, Dr. Stapleton inspired many with his commitment to advancing the careers of all underrepresented individuals in pediatric medicine, many of whom are women and minority populations.
FOPO is composed of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academic Pediatric Association, American Pediatric Society, American Board of Pediatrics, Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Association of Pediatric Program Directors, and Society for Pediatric Research. The purpose of FOPO is to promote optimal health for children by building on the efforts and expertise of the member organizations, and on the relationships between the member organizations to accomplish shared goals.