Vinci Appointed Joel and Barbara Alpert Professor and Chair BUSM Department of Pediatrics, BMC Chief of Pediatrics

Robert J. Vinci, MD, has been appointed Chief of Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and the Joel and Barbara Alpert Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at BU School of Medicine (BUSM).

For the past 20 years, Dr. Vinci has served as Vice Chair and Clinical Chief of the Department, providing leadership for the significant expansion of pediatric clinical services. His commitment to the community and to patients is highlighted by his central role in a number of initiatives. He co-founded the Kids Fund at BMC, which provides assistance for children’s most basic needs to give them a foundation for a healthy and bright future; led the campaign to establish a window fall prevention program for children in Boston, called Kids Can’t Fly, which has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of window fall-related injuries; and in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Dr. Vinci provided leadership to establish the Massachusetts Emergency Medical Services Program for Children, which created training protocols and guidelines for children in the statewide EMS system.

Dr. Vinci received his medical degree from the College of Medicine and Dentistry-Rutgers Medical School, now known as the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He completed his pediatric residency at the former Boston City Hospital (now BMC), serving as chief resident, in 1983. He joined the Department of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine in 1984 and two years later he established the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Boston City Hospital.

An innovative leader in medical residency education throughout his career, he founded the fellowship program in Pediatric Emergency Medicine here in 1988 and has directed Pediatric residency training at BMC since 1989. In 1996, Dr. Vinci, along with Frederick H. Lovejoy, MD, established the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics, one of the nation’s leading Pediatric residency programs. He has also championed research activities, global health training and flexible training opportunities for pediatric residents. Dr. Vinci has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on the topics of pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric education.

Dr. Vinci has received numerous awards for teaching and mentoring, among them BUSM’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award in 2010. He is a member of the National Board of Directors for the Association of Pediatric Program Directors, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academic Pediatric Association and the Academic Pediatric Society.