Occupation: Clinical Professor of Medicine; President, California Institute of Preventive Medicine
Born: New York City
Education:
Senior Resident in Medicine, University of Maryland Hospital (1967-1968)
Fellow in Medicine, Johns Hopkins University (1965-1967)
Intern in Medicine, Johns Hopkins Division, Baltimore City Hospitals (1962-1963)
MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University (1962)
Student, Bacteriology, Graduate Division, University of Minnesota (1957-1958)
AB, Dartmouth College (1956)
Certifications:
Licensed to Practice Medicine in California; Fellow, American College of Physicians
Career:
President, California Institute of Preventive Medicine (CIPM);
Co-Principal Investigator, The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study (1990-Present)
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Faculty Department of Medicine, University of California (1982-Present)
Physician (Internist), Kaiser Permanente (1968-2018)
Member, Advisory Committee on Women’s Services, U.S. Department of HHS, SAMHSA (2011-2014)
Member, Committee of the Secretary of Health and Human Services for “Healthy People 2020” (2007-2011)
Founder, Chairman, Dept. of Preventive Medicine, Kaiser Permanente (1975-2001)
Elected Director, Southern California Permanente Medical Group (Kaiser Permanente) (1980-1985, 1974-1977)
Career Related:
International Academic Board, Trauma und Gewalt, Zurich, Switzerland (2006-Present); Senior Editor, The Permanente Journal (1998-Present); Expert Reviewer, Medical Board of California (1995-2009); Member, Gulf War Committee, National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (2005-2007); Task Force on Early Childhood Violence, American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006); Co-principal Investigator, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study
Military:
Post Surgeon, U.S. Army Pine Bluff Arsenal (1965); Captain, U.S. Army Medical Corps (1963-1965)
Creative Works:
Senior Editor, The Permanente Journal (1998-Present); Senior Reviewer, California Surgeon General’s Report (2020); Author, Co-Author of more than 125 Articles and Professional Publications; Speaker in the Medical Field
Achievements:
Working with obesity patients, Dr. Felitti uncovered a disturbingly high number of childhood sexual abuse survivors suggesting an association between overeating and previous trauma. He further gleaned that for many the weight gain was functioning as their protective solution to childhood sexual abuse and its resultant anxiety and depression. Yet no literature validated a potential causal link between abuse and unhealthy behavior, and many experts dismissed Felitti’s hypothesis out of hand. Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Anda, trained as physician, was working as an epidemiologist at the CDC studying how depression and hopelessness affect coronary heart disease and was beginning to understand they were not randomly linked. A chance meeting allowed Drs. Felitti and Anda to join forces, each bringing to the table unique insights that facilitated the development of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, whose goal was to measure the prevalence of various forms of abusive childhood life experiences in a general population, and their long-term effects in adult life. It has been described as “…the largest, most important public health study of its kind, with national and international impacts.”
The ACE Study’s original publication in May 1998 is the most cited publication in the history of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, having been cited in over 10,000 different scientific publications. The 80 publications from the ACE Study have been cited in over 38,000 different scientific articles in 151 journals around the world. The World Health Organization has been collecting ACE data annually for a number of years from 22 European countries and 8 Asian countries including China.
The ACE Study initially was picked up by school settings in 1998, all over US and Canada; next by police and judicial settings all over as well as legislative settings including Congress. Currently, 23 State Legislatures have passed legislation designed to support integrating the ACE findings into medical practice. And the medical circle is beginning to catch on. Moreover, this is going on all over the world, including in remote countries; people are using it for their PhD theses, etc. In 2019, the State Legislature in CA voted $135,000,000 over the next 2 years to disseminate information to the public throughout the state about the ACE findings, and to pay any physicians seeing a MediCal patients, which is the local term for Medicaid, an additional $29 dollars if they collect ACE information and record it.
Awards:
Recipient, Paul Fink Interpersonal Violence Prevention Award, National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (NPEIV) (2019); Honoree, Continental Pinnacle Professional Member (2019); Recipient, Impact Award, HealthSpottr (2017); Recipient, Vincent Felitti Distinguished Scholar Award, AVA (2016); Recipient, Lifetime Achievement Award, Family Justice Center (2015); Recipient, McAllister Award for Advancing Trauma Informed Care (2012); Recipient, Lifetime Achievement Award, Optifast (2005); Recipient, Distinguished Service Award, Southern California Permanente Medical Group (1998); Recipient, Partner of the Year Award, Southern California Permanente Medical Group (1979); Recipient, Botany Award, Dartmouth College (1955); Recipient, Sandoz Annual Nutrition Research Award.
Memberships:
Fellow, American College of Physicians
Family:
Married: Louise E. Felitti
Children: Eve Lynch; Louise Cabrera; John Felitti
Grandchildren: Mia Felitti; Antoine Felitti; Robin Felitti; Suzanne Felitti; Madeline Cabrera; Una Lynch; Michael Lynch
Biography Sources:
Who’s Who in America – 2019, 72nd Edition (pub. 2019)
Who’s Who in America – 2014, 68th Edition (pub. 2013)
Who’s Who in America – 2013, 67th Edition (pub. 2012)
Who’s Who in Science and Engineering – 2016-2017, 12th Edition (pub. 2016)
Who’s Who in Science and Engineering – 2011-2012, 11th Edition (pub. 2010)
