(SALT LAKE CITY)—Edward B. Clark, M.D., chair of the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics and chief medical officer at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, has received the 2015 Marty Palmer Service to Children Award, presented by the Utah Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The award recognizes Clark for his leadership and dedication to improving the lives of all children. The Utah Chapter established the Service to Children Award in 1989. The award was later renamed for William Martin (Marty) Palmer, M.D., one of Utah's most beloved and respected pediatricians. The Marty Palmer Service to Children Award recognizes individuals who have rendered outstanding service to improve the health and welfare of children. It is the highest honor bestowed by the Utah Chapter.
Clark, also Wilma T. Gibson Presidential Professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, is a board-certified pediatric cardiologist who has been pediatrics chair at the U and chief medical officer at Primary Children's since 1996.
His research has produced outstanding achievements in understanding biomechanics of the developing cardiovascular system, mechanistic classifications of congenital cardiovascular malformations and the care of children with chronic illness. He is a member of the Society of Scholars of the Johns Hopkins University. In 2011, Clark was nationally recognized with the Frank H. Morris Jr. Award for leadership in academic pediatrics. He also received the 2011 Life-Time Achievement Healthcare Heroes award from Utah Business.
Clark realized medicine was his calling after seeing family members with chronic disease, as well as his own experience with a congenital heart defect. After studying developing chick hearts in his undergraduate studies, he chose to enter medical school to combine clinical care and research. Clark continues to change lives through research and as chief medical officer at Primary Children's Hospital.