Amy J Houtrow, MD, PhD, MPH earned her medical degree from the Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine in 2000. She completed dual residencies in Pediatrics and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati in 2005. While in her residencies, she also earned an MPH in health policy and management from the University of Michigan. In 2005, she joined the faculty at the University of California San Francisco where she developed their pediatric rehabilitation medicine clinical programs. Under the mentorship of Paul Newacheck, DrPH, she completed a K award studying the family impacts of childhood disability. Concurrently, she earned her PhD with distinction in medical sociology. Her dissertation won an international award for childhood disability research. In 2012, she was recruited to lead the newly created Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She also serves as the Vice Chair for Quality and Safety for the Department of PM&R, is the program director for the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Fellowship, and is a faculty member for the Leadership in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities training program. In 2019, she was promoted to professor with tenure and was awarded the endowed chair for pediatric rehabilitation medicine.
Dr. Houtrow has dedicated her career to improving the health, functioning, and well-being of children with disabilities. Her research evaluates how children with disabilities and their families interact with the health care system. Her work has identified substantial disparities and inequities for children with disabilities, has highlighted the tremendous care parents of children with disabilities provide, and has uncovered numerous opportunities for the pediatric health care system to improve health services for children with disabilities, such as improving care coordination, optimizing family-centered care, and focusing on outcomes that are important to children and their families. She has participated in two National Academy of Medicine (NAM) consensus committees and serves on the NAM Standing Committee of Medical Experts to Advise the Social Security Administration. In 2018, she was elected into the NAM and inducted in 2019. In addition to her service to NAM, Dr. Houtrow serves numerous other academic societies. For the American Academy of Pediatrics, she served two terms on the Executive Committee of the Council on Children with Disabilities (COCWD), has authored clinical reports, is on the Biased and Discrimination Taskforce, is on the planning committee for the National Conference & Exhibition, and was ECHO faculty for two Zika virus related projects. She was honored by the COCWD in 2019 with the Arnold J. Capute Award. Other recent honors highlighting her stature as a leader in child health include the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Edward Loman Award for leadership in interdisciplinary care and the Outstanding Council Service Award for Pediatric Rehabilitation and Developmental Disabilities from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPMR). She is on the Board of Governors for the AAPMR, after having served as the Chair of the Performance and Quality Metrics Committee. She is also the chair of the Pediatric Committee for the Foundation of PM&R, is on the Professional Advisory Board for the Spina Bifida Association, is on the Board of Directors of the American Association on Health and Disability, and serves on the National Quality Forum’s Pediatric Standing Committee. She has served numerous governmental agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Internationally, she serves on the International Scientific Advisory Committee and the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for the Child-Bright Network in Canada.
