Professorship recipient Richard Bachur (center right) stands with the late Michael Shannon's son, Evan (left), wife, Elaine (center left), and daughter, Lila (right). Image: Channing Johnson
Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital pediatric emergency medicine physician Richard Bachur was honored as the first incumbent of the Michael W. Shannon, MD Professorship in Pediatrics in the Field of Emergency Medicine in a ceremony in the Gordon Hall of Medicine on Oct. 4.
“Dr. Bachur is a nationally renowned expert in pediatric medicine and an innovative clinician and has received numerous awards recognizing his exemplary performance as an educator and a mentor,” said Nancy Tarbell, dean for academic and clinical affairs, at the celebration.
Now chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Boston Children’s, Bachur started his career in 1988 as an intern and resident. In addition to teaching, training, clinical research and administrative duties, he oversees the care of the 100,000 children who visit the emergency department on average each year.
Bachur’s research focuses on common clinical problems in pediatric emergency medicine, including approaches to young children with fever, outcomes of occult bacteremia (bacteria in the blood), and predictors of pneumonia and bacteremia. He is currently working to develop a clinical score and biomarkers to guide the care of children with possible appendicitis.
Bachur’s new title is the Michael W. Shannon, MD Professor of Pediatrics in the Field of Emergency Medicine.
The professorship’s namesake, Michael Shannon, who died in 2009 at age 55, was the first African-American full professor of pediatrics at HMS. Like Bachur, he served as chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Boston Children’s.
Tarbell called Shannon “a remarkable pediatrician, toxicologist and friend to many in the Harvard medical community. He was admired and respected by patients and colleagues alike for his dedication, warmth and evident love for his profession.”
The professorship was made possible by Boston Children’s and by Children’s Hospital Pediatric Associates (CHPA).
“Boston Children’s and the CHPA have chosen to establish a number of endowed professorships at the Medical School—demonstrating not only their generosity but also their commitment to continuing the strong bond between our two institutions and honoring our exceptional faculty of past and present,” said Tarbell.
Also speaking at the event were Frederick Lovejoy, the William Berenberg Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at HMS and associate physician-in-chief and deputy chair of the Department of Medicine at Boston Children’s; Gary Fleisher, the Egan Family Foundation Professor of Pediatrics at HMS and physician-in-chief, pediatrician-in-chief and chair of the Department of Medicine at Boston Children’s; and Sandra Fenwick, president and chief executive officer of Boston Children’s.
