Colleen A. Kraft (born Colleen Anne McGrath, March 4, 1960) is an American pediatrician specialized in community pediatrics, child advocacy, and healthcare financing.

Early life and education

In 1965, Kraft graduated in the first class of the Head Start program. She completed a bachelor's degree at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. Kraft earned a M.D. at the

VCU School of Medicine The Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine is the medical school of Virginia Commonwealth University, a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. It is the largest and oldest continuously operatin ...

. She completed a pediatric

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

at VCU. She completed a M.B.A. at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

Career

Kraft worked in community pediatrics in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. In 2009, became the founding pediatric program director at the

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is a public, medical school at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) located in Roanoke, Virginia. The medical school is associated with a university-level research insti ...

. From 2014 to 2017, she was head of the pediatric accountable care program at

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) is an academic pediatric acute care children's hospital located in the Pill Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The hospital has 652 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the University of ...

. From 2016 to 2017, Kraft served as the medical director of a health network and pediatric health initiative at the Children's Hospital Medical Center. Kraft was president of the Virginia chapter of the

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...

(AAP) from 2006 to 2008. She was president of the AAP for a one-year term starting January 1, 2018. As president, she advocated for humane treatment of children at the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...

and elaborated on the harm of the

zero tolerance A zero tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, Indi ...

of the

Trump administration family separation policy The United States family separation policy under the Trump administration was presented to the public as a "zero tolerance" approach intended to deter illegal immigration and to encourage tougher legislation. In some cases, families followi ...

Research

Kraft was

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

for the

Children's Hospital Association The Children's Hospital Association (CHA), is an organization of children's hospitals with more than 200 members in the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Mexico and Puerto Rico. CHA has offices located in Lenexa, Kansas Lenexa is a c ...

's Health Care Innovation Award. Her clinical focuses includes community pediatrics, child advocacy, health care financing, and pediatric education. Her research interests include early brain and

childhood development Child development involves the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages of life which include early childhood, middle childhood, ...

and children with special healthcare needs.

Awards and honors

Kraft is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Personal life

In April 1981 in

Montgomery County, Virginia Montgomery County is a county located in the Valley and Ridge area of the U.S. state of Virginia. As population in the area increased, Montgomery County was formed in 1777 from Fincastle County, which in turn had been taken from Botetourt Count ...

, she married Kenneth Allen Kraft (born 1956). They became the parents of three children.

Selected works

*
quick reference guide pdf's at aap.orgdescription of 2018 pbk 2nd edition at aap.org

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Colleen A. 1960 births Living people American pediatricians American women pediatricians 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians American medical researchers American women medical researchers Virginia Tech alumni Medical College of Virginia alumni University of Cincinnati alumni University of Cincinnati faculty Children's rights activists American human rights activists American women human rights activists Physicians from Virginia American women academics Presidents of the American Academy of Pediatrics