Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine’s (KPSOM) Founding Dean and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, has been honored with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in Child Health Services Research (CHSR). The award was announced during the CHSR Interest Group session at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Seattle, WA, on June 26, 2023.
The recognition was awarded by the AcademyHealth CHSR Interest Group Advisory Committee and acknowledges those who have made significant contributions to the field of child health services research and health policy. Award recipients’ work must align with and support AcademyHealth’s vision of a future, where individuals and communities are made healthier using evidence in decision-making.
“I feel very honored to be recognized by the Child Health Services Research Interest Group of AcademyHealth with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in Child Health Services Research,” said Schuster. “I am grateful for the support I have received over the years from AcademyHealth members, going back to the start of my career. I have appreciated the opportunities throughout my career to conduct research, champion policy advancements, and further education with the goal of advancing child and family health, particularly now at KPSOM.”
KPSOM professor and Chair of the Department of Health Systems Science, Dr. Paul Chung, nominated Schuster, highlighting his numerous contributions to child health services research and health care quality throughout his career. When Schuster started his career, there were few jobs in the emerging field of child health policy and health services research. Today, Schuster is recognized as an international leader in research on child, adolescent, and family health, concentrating on topics such as quality of care, health disparities, family leave, adolescent sexual health, and obesity prevention.
He has had continuous federal research funding, including funding from AHRQ, CDC, and NIH, starting in 1998. He has shown a steadfast commitment to children’s health as a pediatrician of over 30 years and by serving as Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics in the Department of Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, Director of the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion and more. Dr. Schuster has written two books and more than 250 journal articles, as well as numerous research briefs and reports, with many of them focused on children’s and family health.
Schuster is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, former President of the Academic Pediatric Association, and former commissioner on the Los Angeles City Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families.
AcademyHealth is the professional home and leading national organization for health services researchers, policymakers, and health care practitioners and stakeholders for health services research. AcademyHealth – together with its members – increases the understanding of methods and data used in the field, enhances the professional skills of researchers and research users, and expands awareness.
