American Academy of Pediatrics CEO Karen Remley earns School of Medicine Alumni Achievement Award

In 2015, Karen Remley (M.D. ’80) was named executive director and CEO of the American Academy of Pediatrics – the first woman to serve in that role.

The mission of the academy is to obtain optimal physical, mental and social health and well-being for all children, adolescents and young adults in the U.S. It’s a huge, important mission: there are 75 million people younger than 18 in the country, and the academy has about 64,000 members.

“We have to be wise about how we go about achieving our mission,” Remley said.

Remley’s knowledge in serving the health of people nationwide, exemplified by her new role with AAP, has led to her being awarded the 2016 Alumni Achievement Award from the School of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Each year, the UMKC Alumni Association recognizes 16 alumni and one family with top honors. UMKC will honor Remley and other outstanding alumni at the 2016 Alumni Awards Luncheon April 21 at Swinney Recreation Center. The luncheon is one of the university’s largest events, and proceeds support student scholarships. Last year’s luncheon attracted nearly 600 attendees and garnered more than $141,000 in student scholarships.

Remley attributes lifelong education to her success and says she believes in going back to school every 10 years. In addition to her M.D. from UMKC, she has received an MBA from Duke and most recently a master’s degree in public health from the University of Massachusetts.

Remley also has learned from experience. She was Commissioner of Health for Virginia when H1N1, also known as the swine flu, reached worldwide pandemic levels in 2009. That meant coordinating a statewide response at all levels of the government, hospitals, health care networks, medical examiners, schools and drug stores. In order to do that well, she had to provide thoughtful, timely two-way communication that respected everyone’s role.

“Having an excellent communication and feedback network allowed us to address problems as they arose and better implement our counter-strategies, resulting in an immunization rate 50 percent better than the national average within the first eight weeks of the immunization campaign,” Remley said. “Ultimately, building relationships and communication before a crisis makes the biggest difference during a crisis like H1N1 and pays the largest ongoing dividends when a crisis is past.”

Thinking globally is also a passion for Remley. Since she was a girl, one of her goals has been to visit every country, and she considers international medicine a valuable opportunity to learn from other cultures.

“Healing, healers and caregivers are important everywhere in the world,” Remley said. “It’s always been important for me to go with teams that include members of the community. In Eritrea, while I was teaching intervention in the first 10 minutes of an acute pediatric medical crisis, I was also learning valuable nuggets about malaria treatment protocols from my students, who had much more experience with that care than I did. Some of my long-lasting friendships are because of these types of exchanges.”

Remley, who grew up in a family of five girls, knew she wanted to be a doctor by the time she reached high school. UMKC, with its innovative six-year accelerated medical degree program, provided a goal-focused, affordable opportunity for her to fulfill her dream.

Remley received a small scholarship geared toward supporting women becoming physicians.

“It meant a lot to me emotionally, as well as financially, to have that support — and the idea that the institution believed in me and wanted me there,” Remley said.

One of Remley’s best teachers in medical school was Jenny Ashby, who became an important mentor for her as she was starting her career, she said. Now Ashby is a treasured, life-long friend.

“She has always shown me how a strong and smart woman who cared deeply about her family and community can succeed,” Remley said. “She is a model of how to overcome personal adversity with a sense of humor.”

Remley received support and encouragement from many other sources. She says her father gave her great advice, telling her she was lucky to be born intelligent and in a loving family, and she should never forget that. She should always work twice as hard to serve others who weren’t as lucky as she was.

“Everybody’s path is different; I never plotted out mine to turn out the way it has,” Remley said. “The best thing you can do is keep your head up, work hard and always take care of the team around you. Life is a team sport.”

Click here for tickets or sponsorship information for the April 21, 2016, Alumni Awards Luncheon.

Click here for more information on the 2016 Alumni Awards recipients.