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Dr. Iris F Litt is a doctor, professor, and medical director that specializes in
pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...
and
adolescent health Adolescent health, or youth health, is the range of approaches to preventing, detecting or treating young people's health and well-being. The term adolescent and young people are often used interchangeably, as are the terms Adolescent Health and Y ...
. She has achieved multiple honors through her teaching and research in different areas of adolescent and pediatric health.


Early life

Iris F. Litt was born in 1940 in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Starting at a young age, she would go with her father, a general practitioner, to house calls. After high school, she attended
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
. Cornell University is where she graduated from in 1961 with a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree. She attended medical school at the
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate) is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for health e ...
where she graduated from in 1965. Dr. Litt stayed in New York after medical school graduation, completing her residency at the
New York Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (previously known as New York Hospital or Old New York Hospital or City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is part of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the teaching hospital for Cornell University. ...
where she eventually specialized in pediatrics. After her residency she became board certified in pediatrics.


Medical career

After completing her residency, in 1967 she taught at
Cornell Medical College The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York. Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with NewY ...
. Teaching at Cornell Medical College for only a year, she then moved to
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...
to teach pediatric medicine from 1968 to 1970. Along with her teaching at Albert Einstein, in 1968 she became the Director of Juvenile Center Service of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Montefiore Hospital. After six years of being the Director at the Juvenile Center, in 1974 she became the Director at Rikers Island Prison Health Services until 1976. After leaving the position at Rikers Island in 1976 she founded the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford University's Department of Pediatrics later becoming the Director where she held the position for 7 years until 1997. Along with being the Director, she began to teach at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in 1976 and helped direct the Institute of Research on Women and Gender. She still devotes some of her time to teach at Stanford University as a Professor in pediatrics. The research institute has since been renamed to the
Clayman Institute for Gender Research Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
. Due to her work at The Clayman Institute, a fund was created in her honor named the Iris F. Litt M.D. Fund. This fund is used for two different fellowships in the gender and medicine department. Through her schooling in adolescent health, she has done research on health care in juvenile detention facilities. This led to her co publishing an article on the topic in the ''
American Journal of Public Health The ''American Journal of Public Health'' is a monthly peer-reviewed public health journal published by the American Public Health Association that covers health policy and public health. The journal was established in 1911 and its stated missio ...
'' with Dr. Michael I. Cohen.


Achievements and awards


Achievements

Litt founded the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford University's Department of Pediatrics in 1976. From 1976 to 2007 she was the Chief of Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford University. During the same time she was the Director of the Clayman Institute where she still continues research and other work. As she held both of those positions, she was also the Editor and Chief of the ''
Journal of Adolescent Health The ''Journal of Adolescent Health'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering adolescent health and medicine, including biological, psychological, and social aspects. The journal publishes original research articles, review articles, letters to ...
'' from 1990 to 2004. Her most recent position achievement was her place as Director for the
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research lab at Stanford University that offers a residential postdoctoral fellowship program for scientists and scholars studying "the five core social a ...
from 2009 to 2014. She was the first female and first physician to become the Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.


Awards

In 1992, she was given the Outstanding Achievement Award in Adolescent Medicine from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. In 1996 she was named in ''
Best Doctors in America Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...
.'' In 2002 she was honored by Stanford University with the Marron and Mary Elizabeth Kendrick Professorship in Pediatrics award. In 2007 she was honored with becoming emerita, retiring from her position but being honored with keeping the title of the position.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Litt, Iris F. 1940 births Living people American pediatricians Women pediatricians People from Brooklyn Cornell University alumni SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni Stanford University faculty American women physicians 21st-century American women Members of the National Academy of Medicine