Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State social scientist said Friday the national pediatrics consortium she now leads is focusing its immediate research and outreach efforts on the needs of Mississippi children in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"The expertise of the pediatricians and early child care professionals on this national consortium brings a wealth of resources for children's health in this time of need," said Linda H. Southward, newly appointed chair of the Health, Early Education and Child Care Consortium of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Center for Child Health Research.
A research fellow in the university's Social Science Research Center since 1995 and a widely recognized authority on child and family issues, Southward said the AAP center already is "specifically focused on the health and well-being of Mississippi children--whether in shelters or temporary housing of child care settings--while their families and/or caregivers are in all phases of relocating and/or rebuilding.
"Having the opportunity to chair this group was important prior to Katrina, but it has become even more significant, given the willingness of the AAP center and consortium members to focus their research and outreach efforts on Mississippi in the wake of this disaster," she added.
Southward said the organization "is in the preliminary phases of planning work with both the center and the Mississippi chapter of the AAP to serve as a resource to inform pediatricians and the public about the needs of children who currently are experiencing considerable turbulence in this state."
Dr. Michael Weitzman, the AAP center's executive director and associate chair of pediatrics at the University of Rochester (N.Y.), praised Southward's longtime involvement with the consortium, which was created in 1999 as a national research institute.
"Linda has been involved in the work of the consortium from the onset and we are enthusiastic about her leadership," said Weitzman.
He said the University of Rochester-based program was created to improve the physical, mental and social health and function of children by enhancing the quantity, quality and utilization of research.
"Designed to be a multidisciplinary and cross-institutional virtual center, the CCHR brings together interested investigators around common themes for formal and informal collaboration," he said.
Art Cosby, director of Mississippi State's SSRC and Southward's supervisor, said, "This has been a very active consortium, with Linda playing a major part in its numerous successes. It's quite an honor for her to be appointed chair."
As Mississippi State's liaison to the AAP consortium, Southward also was instrumental in creating the Collaborating Centers for Child and Family Health Research between the SSRC and the consortium.
Among numerous research efforts to emerge from that partnership was a five-year study, "About Children: An Authoritative Resource on the Status of Childhood Today." Co-edited by Southward, it was featured as one of three books for the AAP's 75th anniversary in 2004-05.
In addition, Southward earlier has been selected by the AAP consortium as one of 50 new leaders in child health. Recently, she was selected as one of 15 Fulbright-Hayes Scholars for a one-month seminar in South Africa entitled, "Women, Family and Social Change in South Africa."
Prior to her full-time appointment at the SSRC, she chaired MSU's social work program. She is a past president of the Mississippi chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Southward holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and a doctorate from the University of Alabama.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Southward at (662) 325-0851 or linda.southward@ssrc.msstate.edu; or Dr. Cosby at 325-7127 or arthur.cosby@ssrc.msstate.edu.