Assessment of Sexual Maturity Stages in Girls and Boys: Pediatric Research in Office Settings, Department of Research

About Carlos J. BourdonyEdward O. ReiterMarcia E. Herman-GiddensSteven A. Dowshen

Marcia E. Herman-Giddens is a consultant in the areas of normal puberty and child maltreatment. After 3 years as the medical director of the North Carolina State Child Fatality Prevention Team and 5 years as a Senior Fellow at the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute (now known as Action for Children North Carolina) she has been engaged primarily in child advocacy teaching and research. She is an adjunct professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Department of Maternal and Child Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in the field of child health and maltreatment for more than 25 years as a medical provider advocate teacher and researcher. Her research published in numerous journals books and monographs has revolved around the growth and development of children puberty child sexual abuse and child fatalities especially those from abuse. Dr Herman-Giddens received her Physician Associate degree from Duke University Medical Center in 1978 and practiced pediatrics there for many years as well as directing its Child Protection Team. She received her doctorate in public health in 1994. She was the principal investigator of the seminal study of puberty in US girls conducted by Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and coauthor of Assessment of Sexual Maturity Stages in Girls (1995) and Assessment of Sexual Maturity Stages in Boys (2005). Dr Bourdony received his medical degree from Mexicos National University School of Medicine and did his general pediatrics specialty and pediatric endocrinology and diabetes subspecialty at St. Christophes Hospital for Children at Temple University in Philadelphia PA. Currently he is a principal investigator at the Latin Clinical Trial Center and board certified in pediatrics and pediatric endocrinology and diabetes with a private practice in San Juan PR. Dr Bourdony is the former director of the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology San Juan City Hospital San Juan Puerto Rico. He was the founder director and medical advisor of the Puerto Rico Department of Health Premature Thelarche and Sexual Development Registry. He is also past president and current member of the Puerto Rico Society of Endocrinology and Diabetes. Dr Bourdony has done extensive research in the area of premature thelarche in Puerto Rican girls. He was a coinvestigator of the seminal study of puberty in US girls conducted by PROS AAP and coauthor of Assessment of Sexual Maturity Stages in Girls (1995). Dr Dowshen was a board-certified pediatrician and subspecialist in pediatric endocrinology practicing at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington DE. He received his BS from Pennsylvania State University and his MD from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and completed his pediatric residency and fellowship training in pediatric endocrinology and metabolism at St. Christophers Hospital for Children in Philadelphia PA. He was chief medical editor of the Nemours Foundation Center for Childrens Health Media and KidsHealth.org the most visited site on the Web providing consumer health information for parents children and teens. Dr Dowshen was director of the Nemours Fellowship in Childrens Health Media a chapter officer and the PROS coordinator for the Delaware Chapter of the AAP a member of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society and chairman of Kids Count in Delaware. Prior to joining the staff at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children Dr Dowshen was director of the pediatric residency training program at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. A graduate of Rutgers University and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Dr Reiter had residency training at Rainbow Babies & Childrens Hospital in Cleveland OH and the University of California San Francisco. He was a Pediatric Endocrinology Fellow at the National Institutes of Health and at the University of California San Francisco. Subsequently he was on the faculty at the University of South Florida and then moved to Massachusetts in 1978 becoming chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Baystate Medical Center in 1982 and professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr Reiters research interest is in the area of the endocrine control of childhood growth and pubertal maturation. He is a board-certified (and recertified) pediatric endocrinologist. He has more than 170 publications and 70 abstracts and has delivered many invited lectureships. Dr Reiter is a member of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society American Pediatric Society/Society for Pediatric Research Endocrine Society and the AAP. He was the president of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society in 20002001.