F. Sessions Cole, M.D., has been appointed assistant vice chancellor for children’s health at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and chief medical officer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
In these newly created roles, Cole will serve as a member of the dean’s office at the School of Medicine and be on the executive team of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
As assistant vice chancellor for children’s health, Cole will collaborate with the department chairs and the University’s faculty practice to leverage the considerable investigative, educational and clinical expertise of the School of Medicine on behalf of interdepartmental programs that will benefit children.
As the chief medical officer for St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Cole will facilitate collaboration between the hospital and School of Medicine in all matters related to children’s health priorities, such as clinical activities and operations, clinical information systems and quality assurance programs.
“I’m looking forward to working within three great entities — the School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and St. Louis Children’s Hospital — to leverage their combined strengths on behalf of children in our community,” Cole says.
In addition, Cole will continue as the Park J. White, M.D., Professor and vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, professor of cell biology and physiology and director of newborn medicine.
“Sessions Cole is an advocate for children,” says Alan L. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.D., the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and head of the Department of Pediatrics. “Given his superior experiences as a clinician, educator, scholar and leader of the most complex multi-disciplinary service here, it is most fitting that he should be named to these roles at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.”
“This addition is a major step in our collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine to build strong medical leadership to attain clinical excellence,” says Lee Fetter, president of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Cole joined the faculty in 1986 as an associate professor of pediatrics and of cell biology and physiology. Within two years he was named director of newborn medicine and had restructured the Newborn Medicine service at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Barnes Hospital and Jewish Hospital. Under his direction, the department has become a leader in providing medical services to infants.
Cole has shown an extraordinary commitment to excellence in education and outreach activities. He was instrumental in the formation of community outreach programs for medical students, such as Students Teaching AIDS to Students (STATS), an outreach program in which medical students teach AIDS awareness to middle school students, and the Perinatal Program, which provides mothers and their babies with support and information and provides medical students with a clinical learning opportunity. In 1989 he was promoted to professor of pediatrics and in 1994, was named professor of cell biology and physiology.
Cole has received many awards and honors, including the Clinical Teaching Award from Washington University School of Medicine’s Classes of 1999 and 2000; Cartier First Aide Award from the St. Louis Effort for AIDS; Torch of Youth Award from the National Council on Youth Leadership; and FDR Leadership Award from the March of Dimes.
His research has appeared in numerous medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of Pediatrics.
Cole earned a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., and a medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. He completed a pediatric internship and residency at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston, and a fellowship in neonatology and cell biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He also served for one year as a general medical officer for the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Brighton, Mass.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.