Valerie L. Ward, MD, MPH, is a Senior Vice President at Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA, providing strategic leadership to improve health outcomes for all children. She directs the Boston Children’s Hospital Sandra L. Fenwick Institute providing leadership, direction and strategic oversight of a team focused on advancing pediatric health care through national and global collaborations. She co-created and directs a leadership development program for emerging and current health care leaders called the Fenwick Institute’s Leadership Development Fellows Program; and she co-directs a clinical faculty health equity research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital that is within the Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program.
Dr. Ward continues to work clinically as a pediatric radiologist at Boston Children’s. She held a prior leadership role in the Department of Radiology at Boston Children’s as the Physician Director for Quality Improvement. Currently, Dr. Ward’s clinical and research expertise focus on improving pediatric health care access and healthcare delivery. As a sought-after thought leader on pediatric healthcare access, gaps in safety and quality healthcare, and healthcare leadership development, she has been instrumental in developing strategic clinical initiatives and research innovations to improve pediatric healthcare delivery. She is also actively involved in the development of clinical and research collaborations to impact maternal and child health outcomes.
Dr. Ward received her A.B. (Chemistry) from Harvard University, M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine, and M.P.H. (Clinical Effectiveness) also from Harvard. She completed her radiology residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, pediatric radiology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, and research fellowship in the Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program. She is an Associate Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, and an alumna of Harvard Business School (HBS) having completed both the HBS Program for Leadership Development and HBS Advanced Management Program (AMP).
Disclosures: Dr. Ward is the Associate Director for Health Services Research at the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA); and Faculty Advisor for Maternal and Child Health Strategy for the Systems and Policy Research Network.
