Terri H. Finkel

Terri H. Finkel (born 1952) is an American pediatric rheumatologist and immunologist who is the current Chair of Pediatrics and Chief Scientific Officer at Nemours Children’s Hospital. She is known for her research into auto-immunity, AIDS, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and cancer with her work being recognized in more than 100 publications. Finkel has received honours from several organizations for her work, and has been placed in the top one percent of American pediatric rheumatologists.

Biography

Finkel earned her medical degree from Stanford University in 1982, and received an PhD in biochemistry/biophysics at the same university two years later.^[1] After she completed an pediatric internship and residency at Harvard University and the University of Colorado, she later went to the National Jewish Center to do specality training in pedatric rheumatology where she greatly enhanced the general public knowledge of auto-immunity, AIDS, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and cancer. She directed two research laboratories and oversaw the care of 400 unwell children. Finkel was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996 for her research into t-cells.^[2] She also received awards from the American College of Rheumatology, Arthritis Foundation, Henry Kunkel Society, the Lupus Foundation of America and the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.^[1]

In 1999, Finkel was recurited by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to be their Division Chief of Rheumatology, and was an endowed professor of Pediatric Rheumatology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She was attracted to the job as her grandmother had died from rheumatic fever, and Finkel wanted to ensure other people would not suffer similar effects.^[3] In 2011, she was recruited by the Nemours Foundation to lead the construction of Nemours Children's Hospital,^[1] where she focuses on personalized medicine which allows doctors to choose an another treatment suited to their patients.^[3] Finkel established strategic partnerships with several area hospitals, academic establishments, a research enterprise, and has had over 60 clinical research studies in progress and external research that have generate more than $6 million worth of funding. Her name was entered into the Congressional Records in 2014 when her biography was read in the House of Representatives to honor her leadership and contribution in the field of healthcare.^[1] U.S. News & World Report placed her among the top one percent of pediatric rheumatologists in the United States for the past four years.^[4]

References