PIDS Recognizes Accomplishments by Dr. Jill Weatherhead with Young Investigator Award

Award honors a young physician just beginning their career in pediatric research for outstanding contributions in clinical or basic research in pediatric infectious diseases

Jill Weatherhead, MD, MSc, PhD, a talented physician-scientist, educator, and researcher, is this year’s Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society’s Young Investigator Award winner. This award is presented annually to a physician who has completed pediatric infectious diseases fellowship training seven years or less from the award date and whose independent and productive research during and after fellowship represents outstanding contributions in pediatric infectious diseases.

The award was presented during the PIDS Foundation Annual Dinner, which is held during IDWeek (October 11-15), the premier scientific meeting for infectious diseases professionals. Additional society awards and recognitions were presented during the PIDS Foundation Annual Dinner and the PIDS Membership Meeting. This year’s dinner and meeting were hosted in Boston, MA.

“Dr. Jill Weatherhead is a thoroughly accomplished clinician scientist, and we are proud to pleased to recognize her accomplishments with the PIDS Young Investigator Award,” said PIDS President, Dr. C. Buddy Creech. “The future of pediatric infectious diseases and the children we care for is in exceedingly good hands thanks to exemplary physicians like Dr. Weatherhead. We cannot wait to see where she takes her research next.”

Along with the Young Investigator Award, Dr. Weatherhead received a Pichichero Family Foundation Vaccines for Children Initiative Research Award in Pediatric Infectious Diseases during the PIDS Annual Membership Meeting at IDWeek. The award program, established in 2016 through the generosity of the Pichichero Family Foundation, seeks to encourage increased innovative research to improve or develop new vaccines and immunotherapeutics for children. Dr. Weatherhead’s Pichichero award will enable her to continue her work that focuses on Ascaris-induced gastric epithelial damage and host immune activation.

Dr. Weatherhead is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Sections of Pediatric Tropical Medicine, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Adult Infectious Diseases at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the Pediatric Tropical Medicine Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital. She is board certified in pediatrics, internal medicine, pediatric infectious diseases, and adult infectious diseases. Currently, she serves on a working group of the National Institutes of Health Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC) on Neglected Tropical Diseases and Malaria, as the pediatric parasite expert for the U.S. Health and Human Services Panel on the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children, and previously served on the PIDS Publications Committee.

Dr. Weatherhead earned her MD at Michigan State University School of Medicine. She conducted a combined pediatric and adult infectious diseases fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine where she also completed a combined pediatrics and internal medicine residency. Additionally, her Master of Science degree and Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene were awarded by Baylor College of Medicine.

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About PIDS

PIDS membership encompasses leaders across the global scientific and public health spectrum, including clinical care, advocacy, academics, government, and the pharmaceutical industry. From fellowship training to continuing medical education, research, regulatory issues and guideline development, PIDS members are the core professionals advocating for the improved health of children with infectious diseases both nationally and around the world, participating in critical public health and medical professional advisory committees that determine the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases, immunization practices in children, and the education of pediatricians. For more information, visit http://www.pids.org.