Renée R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP* 2007-2008 President American Academy of Pediatrics

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Renee R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP, of Washington, DC, is the 2007-2008 President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The AAP is the nation’s largest pediatric organization, with a membership of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists.

Dr. Jenkins took office as president at the October 2007 AAP National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco, Calif. This is the first time the AAP has elected an African American woman, and she is the fifth woman president since it was founded in 1930.

Dr. Jenkins is professor and chair, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Howard University and adjunct professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University, both in Washington, DC. She graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine and completed her residency at Jacobi Hospital in New York City. After completing a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Montefiore Hospital in New York, Dr. Jenkins started a program at Howard. In 1994, Dr. Jenkins was appointed Department Chair, and during her tenure directed the departmental training program and practice plan.

Dr. Jenkins has served on many AAP task forces and committees, including the Committee on Adolescence, the Task Forces on Pediatric AIDS and Reimbursement, and the Committee on Federal Government Affairs. She chaired the Committee on Community Health Services. Dr. Jenkins is a past-president of the AAP Washington, DC, Chapter.

Adolescent health and underserved children have been the focus of Dr. Jenkins’ career, both nationally and in her community. Says Dr. Jenkins, “The Academy must turn up the volume and be a loud and effective voice for children’s issues and concerns.” Dr. Jenkins was president of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and chair of the Pediatric Section of the National Medical Association. In D.C., Dr. Jenkins and colleagues started the Center for Youth Services, was a member of the Institute of Medicine, and chaired the Mayor’s Committee on Teen Pregnancy Prevention.

Dr. Jenkins is married with one daughter, a graduate of the Medical College of Wisconsin.

*FAAP - Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics