Alex R. Kemper, MD, MPH, MS, has been appointed division chief of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University.
A distinguished physician scientist with expertise in newborn screening and other preventive health strategies, he is also deputy editor of Pediatrics, the premier journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Dr. Kemper previously served as a professor of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center. He also held appointments at Duke Clinical Research Institute; the Division of Quantitative Sciences, Department of Pediatrics; and the Division of Clinical Informatics, Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University.
He received an undergraduate degree from The Johns Hopkins University and his medical degree from Duke. He also received master’s degrees in public health and in medical informatics, both from the University of North Carolina.
A prolific scientific writer, Dr. Kemper has authored more than 125 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and commentaries, and has received more than $12 million in external grant funding during his career thus far.
He currently is chair of the Evidence Review Group for the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children; a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force; and co-director of the Academic Pediatric Association Research Scholars Program. Among numerous honors and awards, Dr. Kemper received a Special Achievement Award from the AAP in 2014 and the R. Rodney Howell Award for Excellence in Newborn Health from the Newborn Foundation in 2015.
“Dr. Kemper is a remarkable physician-scientist with wide-ranging expertise in pediatric medicine. His research and clinical interests include newborn screening, visual impairment, retinopathy of prematurity and other preventive health strategies vital to optimal child health,” notes John Barnard, MD, president, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s and chair, Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “His academic accomplishments, leadership and commitment to the care of some of our most vulnerable children will further advance our tradition of excellence in primary care and advance our ability to improve the population health initiatives at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.”
Dr. Kemper will officially begin duties on August 1, 2017.