Pediatric residents Parmi Suchdev and Ellie Click win AAP Child Advocacy Award

For their work providing public health interventions and medical assistance in El Salvador, UW researchers Parmi Suchdev and Ellie Click have received the Anne E. Dyson Child Advocacy Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics Resident Section.

Suchdev and Click, both pediatrics residents at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, started the Children's Health International Medicine Project of Seattle (CHIMPS). The project involved giving medical care to hundreds of children and families in the rural area of Abelines, El Salvador. Participants treated patients with parasitic diseases, malnutrition, upper respiratory infections, skin diseases, and other illnesses.

They also worked with local health committee workers to implement long-term public health interventions in the community. The project aimed at reducing the impact of intestinal parasites through the use of antihelminthic medication and education on parasite transmission and prevention. Another focus was decreasing dental caries in children through the use of fluoride varnish for teeth and education on dental hygiene.

Suchdev and Click received the award at the academy's annual meeting in San Francisco last month.