IU Pediatrics Professor's Work Gains National Recognition

INDIANAPOLIS - Patricia A. Keener, M.D., has built a solid reputation at the Indiana University School of Medicine developing programs for underserved youngsters, guiding students to meaningful careers and working side-by-side with colleagues and community representatives to establish health initiatives in her community and across the country.

That tireless dedication has earned her the prestigious 2002 Ernest A. Lynton Award for Faculty Professional Service & Academic Outreach. The award will be presented to Dr. Keener at the American Association for Higher Education's annual forum in Phoenix in late January 2002.

Dr. Keener, associate chair of the IU Department of Pediatrics and professor of clinical pediatrics, is director of the school's Social and Community Contexts of Health Care and assistant dean for the Office of Medical Service-Learning. She has been responsible for originating or spearheading numerous programs including the Indianapolis Campaign for Healthy Babies, the Wishard Memorial Hospital Community Health Centers, the Hispanic/Latino Health Access Initiative and the Hispanic Pediatric Clinic and Immunization Outreach.

One program created by Dr. Keener has had lasting international impact. In 1980, she started Safe Sitter, Inc. in Indianapolis as a resource for child-care/parenting education, and the program now operates at more than 800 sites in the United States, Israel and England with 4,000 trained instructors. An estimated 300,000 adolescents have learned first aid and airway rescue skills, in addition to child-care techniques and safety precautions through Safe Sitter, Inc.

An IU School of Medicine graduate whose career has spanned three decades, Dr. Keener's most recent accomplishment was the publication of Caring for Kids, a book available free to parents and caregivers throughout Indiana.

"The thousands of students, peers, community organizations and individuals whose lives have been touched by Dr. Keener certainly is remarkable," said Cathy Burack, associate director of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

"She exemplifies the connection between teaching and sharing knowledge to improve society and to motivate her students to follow her lead," added Burack, whose office oversees the Ernest A. Lynton Award for Faculty Professional Service & Academic Outreach Award program.

Dr. Keener was nominated for the award by Gerald Bepko, chancellor of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where the IU School of Medicine - the second largest medical school in the nation - is located.

Dr. Keener is a member of the Indianapolis Medical Society, American Academy of Pediatrics-Indiana Chapter, American Medical Association, and the honorary medical society, Alpha Omega Alpha. She also has been honored by the AAP for the Safe Sitter program and is a two-time recipient of the IU School of Medicine Outstanding Professor of Pediatrics Award.

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Related Web Links
Indiana University School of Medicine News
www.medicine.indiana.edu/

Ernest A. Lynton Award Information and Awards
www.nerche.org/Lynton/Winners/winners.html

Safe Sitter, Inc.
www.safesitter.org

Caring for Kids-Riley Memorial Association
www.rileykids.org/caringforkids/

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
www.iupui.edu/

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