Todd honored for immunization work

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the CDC Foundation honored James Todd, professor of pediatrics and microbiology in the CU School of Medicine and a physician at Children's Hospital Colorado, with a CDC Childhood Immunization Champion award. The award acknowledges individuals who have made immunization successes possible in their communities.

“For more than 13 years, Dr. Todd has worked to increase the number of children getting immunized for vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Rachel Herlihy, interim deputy director of the Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “His annual vaccine-preventable disease reports have been a reliable and important reminder that we still have a lot of work to do to fully protect Colorado's children.

“Dr. Todd also has worked to increase the number of children who have adequate health insurance and access to care. He was lead author of two pieces of health legislation that became Colorado law.”

One of the two laws requires all children covered by public funds through programs such as Medicaid to have a “medical home” – a doctor or nurse practitioner who is coordinating their care. The other law focuses on better tracking of care given to children, including immunizations.

Since 1991, Todd has served as director of epidemiology for Children's Hospital Colorado and section head of epidemiology for the hospital’s Department of Pediatrics.

CDC Childhood Immunization Champions are nominated by state immunization programs and selected from a pool of health care professionals, coalition members, parents and other immunization leaders as having made a significant contribution.