Contact Us

American Academy of Pediatrics
141 Northwest Point Blvd
Elk Grove Village, 60007
847.434.7085
fax 847.228.6432
docbi@aap.org

Division of Children With Special Needs

Thomas Gauthier, AM, Division Director ext 4989 tgauthier@aap.org
Supervises all division activities, including the National Center of Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Needs, which promotes optimal care for children with special needs.

Dipali Patel, MBA, MPH, Division Coordinator ext 4917 dpatel@aap.org
Provides administrative support to the division director.

Stephanie Mucha Skipper, MPH, Manager, Council on Children with Disabilities ext 4918 sskipper@aap.org
Directs all policy, education, and advocacy efforts of the newly-formed AAP Council on Children with Disabilities. Supervises the Medical Home Surveillance and Screening Program (cooperative agreement with the CDC).

Jennifer Marks, MPH, Manager, Training Programs ext 4924 jmarks@aap.org
Manages the implementation of grant activities through the partnership between the Academy and Shriners Hospitals for Children. Oversees a quality improvement research project focusing on communication and co-management between primary care and specialty providers.

Open, Program Assistant
Assists with training and Council on Children with Disabilities activities of the Division of Children with Special Needs.

Holly Noteboom Griffin, Manager, Medical Home Surveillance and Screening ext 4738 HNoteboom@aap.org
Manages the Medical Home Surveillance and Screening Program (MHSSP), a cooperative agreement with the CDC. The MHSSP promotes developmental surveillance and screening in the medical home. Additional MHSSP activities include autism initiatives, transition to adulthood, early hearing detection and intervention, and others.

Ginny Chanda, Screening Assistant ext 7081 gchanda@aap.org
Assists with screening activities of the Division of Children with Special Needs.

Angela Hahn, Manager, AM, LSW, Technical Assistance ext 7621 ahahn@aap.org
Provides assistance to pediatricians and other health care professionals who are involved in state and community-based efforts to ensure CYSHCN have access to a medical home. Manages the National Medical Home Mentorship Network which provides information on model medical home programs and strategies. Manages the medical home Web site www.medicalhomeinfo.org.

Amy Kephart, MPH, Program Coordinator ext 4902 akephart@aap.org
Assists with technical assistance activities of the Division of Children with Special Needs including participation in technical assistance site visits; dissemination of the Medical Home biweekly eNewsletter; and maintaining a clearinghouse of educational materials, tools, and resources.

Division of Community-based Initiatives

Jean Davis, MPP, Division Director ext 4080 jdavis@aap.org
Supervises all division activities including the Community Access to Child Health (CATCH Program), Healthy Tomorrows Partnership on Children Program (HTPCP), the Community Pediatrics Training Initiative, the Equity Project, and the Council on Community Pediatrics and all division technical assistance, outcomes, and growth activities.

Nancy Levin, Division Coordinator ext 7085 nlevin@aap.org
Provides direct assistance to the division director, Council on Community Pediatrics, CATCH and provides other DOCBI support as needed.

Carla Amato, JD, LCSW, Manager, Community-based Initiatives CATCH ext 4903 camato@aap.org
Synthesizes and disseminates lessons learned from community-based initiatives. Provides primary oversight for the CATCH Program. Works closely with District and Chapter CATCH Facilitators to support community-based health initiatives.

Kathy Kocvara, Program Coordinator, CATCH ext 7632 kkocvara@aap.org
Administers the CATCH Planning Funds and CATCH Resident Funds programs, assists in the coordination of CATCH meetings, provides technical assistance to pediatricians and others developing community-based programs and supports Chapter CATCH Facilitators.

Katie Milewski, Program Coordinator, CATCH ext 4916 kmilewski@aap.org
Administers the CATCH Implementation Funds and CATCH Resident Funds programs, assists in the coordination of CATCH meetings, provides technical assistance to pediatricians and others developing community-based programs, supports Chapter CATCH Facilitators and coordinates publication of the CQ newsletter.

Nita Patel, OD, MPH, Manager of Outcomes and Evaluation ext 7082 npatel@aap.org
Oversees and manages the development of resource materials and outcomes, evaluation activities, and Web site components of the DOCBI. Provides primary oversight for the Academy-based activities of the Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program (HTPCP).

Karla Palmer, Program Coordinator, Outcomes and Evaluation ext 4279 kpalmer@aap.org
Administers the technical assistance (TA) component of the HTPCP, including TA visits. Assists Manager of Outcomes and Evaluation in the development and maintenance of the DOCBI and HTPCP Web pages, grants database and TA resources.

Regina Shaefer, MPH, Manager, Council on Community Pediatrics ext 4787 rshaefer@aap.org
Develops and implements policies and programs related to pediatrician involvement in national, state, and local community activities. Manages the Council on Community Pediatrics (COCP) including the Special Interest Groups (SIGS) on the topics of public health, rural health, community pediatrics education training and Indian health. Manages health disparities activities for the AAP.

Alanna Bailey Whybrew, MPH, Senior Manager, Community Pediatrics Training Initiative ext 7397 awhybrew@aap.org
Manages the Community Pediatrics Training Initiative and administers the Leonard P. Rome CATCH Visiting Professorships Program. Oversees residency training initiatives in community health and child advocacy including technical assistance, funding opportunities, and resource development and dissemination. Collaborates with other Academy departments and external partners on community-based resident initiatives.

Open, Coordinator, Community Pediatrics Training Initiative
Coordinates all activities of the Community Pediatrics Training Initiative including meetings, conference calls, and site visits. Monitors budget and provides financial reports related to the initiative. Updates CPTI Web site and database.

Division of Pediatric Practice

Sunnah Kim, RN, MS, CPNP, Division Director ext 4729 skim@aap.org
Provides administrative oversight to Division programs. Serves as staff for the Committee on Native American Child Health and the Indian Health Special Interest Group (Council on Community Pediatrics).

Lauren Kotch Barone, Manager, Breastfeeding Initiatives ext 4779 lbarone@aap.org
Manages the AAP Breastfeeding Promotion in Physicians' Office Practices program, serves as staff to the Section on Breastfeeding, and facilitates the activities of the AAP Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinators.

Elizabeth Sobczyk, Manager, Immunization Initiatives ext 4271 esobczyk@aap.org
Manages the Childhood Immunization Support Program and other AAP immunization initiatives to improve immunization delivery practices in pediatric office settings. Provides primary staff support to the AAP Task Force on Immunization.

Linda Lipinsky, Program Coordinator, Immunization Initiatives ext 7170 llipinsky@aap.org
Coordinates AAP immunization initiatives and assists in the implementation of Childhood Immunization Support Program activities.

Rebecca Marshall, Manager, Health Information Technology Initiatives ext 4089 bmarshall@aap.org
Manages the Council on Clinical Information Technology. Monitor developments in the national health information infrastructure and manages AAP activity to promote the development and implementation of pediatric electronic health records and other clinical information technology. Monitors development of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 Administrative Simplification regulations.

Jennifer Mansour, Manager, Health Information Technology Initiatives ext 4229 jmansour@aap.org
Manages the Partnership for Policy Implementation (PPI) project, which is working to integrate health information technology functionalities into Academy policy and to ensure that AAP documents are written in a practical, action-oriented fashion and do not contain ambiguous recommendations. Also provides secondary staff support to the Council on Clinical Information Technology and provides direction to activities pertaining to health information technology-related infrastructure development.

Heather Fitzpatrick, Manager, Practice Management ext 4784 hfitzpatrick@aap.org
Manages the Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine and the Section on Administration and Practice Management. Provides support in the development and implementation of practice management, preventive care, and physician wellness information, services, and resources such as Practice Management Online and more. Provides technical assistance to members and pediatric office managers on practice management-related topics.

Trisha Calabrese, Program Manager, Practice Management Education ext 7124 tcalabrese@aap.org
Provides support for the Practice Management Online (PMO) Web site, including collaborating with appropriate AAP staff to identify and develop content and liaison with the Web site administrator. Provides support to AAP Chapters in need of practice management and coding workshops.

Maureen Finneran, MSW, Program Manager ext 7106 mfinneran@aap.org
Provides support and leadership for the outreach, technical assistance, provider training, fundraising, budgeting, advocacy and community-relations activities of the Reach Out and Read American Indian/Alaska Native Coalition.

Sandra St. Mary, Division Coordinator ext 7918 sstmary@aap.org
Provides administrative support to Division of Pediatric Practice staff.

Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Preventive Services

Darcy Steinberg-Hastings, MPH, Division Director ext 7935 dsteinberg@aap.org
Director of the Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Preventive Services and the Bright Futures Education Center, and co-staffs the Child and Adolescent Health Action Group.

Ngozi Onyema, CHES, Division Coordinator Committees and Sections ext 4912 nonyema@aap.org
Coordinates special projects for the Division Director and division/grant managers for the following groups: COA, SOAH, COSA, COPACFH, COECADC, SOAFC, SODBP.

Karen Smith, Manager, Committees and Sections ext 7941 ksmith@aap.org
Manages the Committee on Adolescence (COA), Section on Adolescent Health (SOAH) (including oversight of Adolescent Health Update), Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health (COPACFH), and the Committee on Substance Abuse (COSA).

Mary Crane, PhD, LSW, Manager, Committees and Sections ext 4273 mcrane@aap.org
Manages all activities for the Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care (COECADC), Section on Adoption and Foster Care (SOAFC), the Task Force on Foster Care (TFOFC) and the Healthy Foster Care America (HFCA) program. Supervises the Health and Child Care Partnership program.

Charlotte Zia, MPH, CHES, Program Manager ext 7870 czia@aap.org
Manages the Adolescent Health Partnership Project (an MCHB PIPPAH grantee) which aims to elevate adolescent health within the AAP and in collaboration with other national organizations with an emphasis on strategies that reduce health disparities and increase the use of a youth development framework.

Jane Bassewitz, MA, Manager ext 7781 jbassewitz@aap.org
Oversee all activities of the Bright Futures Education Center including information dissemination, material development, and education and training.

Amy Pirretti, Manager, Bright Futures Materials Development and Promotion, ext 4890 apirretti@aap.org Manages the development and revision of Bright Futures materials and activities related to implementation of Bright Futures materials

Effie Tonkovic, Program Assistant, Bright Futures ext 4223 etonkovic@aap.org
Assists with the activities of the Bright Futures Education Center.               

Sandy Szott, Program Assistant, Bright Futures: PIP ext 4343 sszott@aap.org
Assists with the activities of the Bright Futures Education Center.

Linda Paul, MPH, Manager, Mental Health Project ext 4739 lpaul@aap.org
Manages mental health initiative and projects and the Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (SODBP). Provides primary staff to the AAP's Task Force on Mental Health.

Aldina Hovde, MSW, Manager, Mental Health Initiatives ext 7119 ahovde@aap.org
Manages mental health activities for the mental health project.

Jeanne Anderson, M Ed, Manager, Early Education and Child Care Initiatives ext 7639 janderson@aap.org
Manages activities for the Provisional Section on Early Education and Child Care, oversees and manages the Early Education and Child Care Initiatives (including the Child Care Health Partnership Project), and serves as liaison whith other national child care and health care organizations

Stephanie Nelson, MS, CHES, Program Manager, Early Education and Child Care Initiatives ext 4776 snelson@aap.org
Coordinates activities related to the Child Care Health Partnership program initiatives. Provides primary staff for the Chapter Child Care Contacts.

Renee Jarrett, Program Coordinator ext 4915 rjarrett@aap.org
Provides administrative and programmatic support for Early Education and Child Care Initiatives.

Other Community Pediatrics Programs

The AAP is dedicated to and promotes the optimal health of all children by supporting pediatrician participation in community health initiatives.