American Pediatric Society honors Dr. Bonnie Ramsey

The American Pediatric Society announced today that Dr. Bonnie W. Ramsey will receive the 2025 APS John Howland Award, the highest honor bestowed by the APS. The prestigious award recognizes Ramsey for her significant contributions to advancing child health and the profession of pediatrics. The award will be presented during the APS Presidential Plenary at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2025 Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 24 – April 28. 

The APS John Howland Award was created in honor of clinician-scientist John Howland. Since 1952, the annual award has recognized individuals for their distinguished service to pediatrics. 

Ramsey is a professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a senior advisor of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) Therapeutics Development Network. She is also co-principal investigator emerita of the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences.  

Ramsey played a key role in the growth of Seattle Children’s Research Institute as director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research from 2007-2021. She continues to conduct research at the institute’s Center for Respiratory Biology and Therapeutics.

Ramsey has dedicated her clinical and research career to treating patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) by establishing outcome measures and developing study designs that are now the standards used in the field. Her work has largely focused on the development of new therapeutics that have transformed the care of patients with CF, with much of her research being continually funded by the National Institutes of Health and CFF. 

Ramsey’s important work contributed to dramatically improving the predicted life expectancy of children with CF to over 60 years of age for those born between 2019 and 2023. Just 30 years ago, life expectancy for CF patients was 32 years. Not only are children with CF living longer, but they have improved quality of life that allows them to participate in activities that would not have been possible a few years ago. 

 “Dr. Ramsey’s impact on the field of pediatric pulmonology in general, and on the care of patients with CF in particular, is extraordinary,” said Dr. Clifford W. Bogue, president of the APS.  “Dr. Ramsey is a leader, researcher, clinician, advocate and mentor whose life has made an indelible mark on the field of pediatrics.” 

 “The APS is thrilled to name Dr. Ramsey as the 2025 John Howland Award recipient,” he added. 

 Beyond her work on CF, Ramsey has dedicated herself to mentoring junior faculty. During her long career, she has mentored many fellows and junior faculty who have become leaders in their fields. Most recently, Ramsey was a mentor in the APS and Society for Pediatric Research Journeys Program for junior faculty and medical faculty from underrepresented populations. 

She has been a role model, advocate, and hero for women in academic medicine and pediatrics. Her extraordinary national leadership further reflects Ramsey’s impact on the field. She has chaired the National Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium Child Health Oversight Committee and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Working Group on Future Research Directions in CF Lung Disease, to name a few. Ramsey also has served on several Clinical and Translational Science Awards External Advisory Boards, including those at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. 

The APS is a nonprofit organization founded in 1888 as the first pediatric society in North America. The mission of the APS is to shape the future of academic pediatrics through engagement of distinguished child-health leaders to represent the full diversity within the field. The 1,800 plus members of APS are recognized leaders of extraordinary achievement who work together to shape the future of academic pediatrics. 

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