The annual Cecil J. Picard Award for Excellence in Education to Prevent Childhood Obesity was presented to two outstanding clinicians this year.  Dr. Stewart Gordon and Dr. Melinda Southern were presented the awards for their individual and collaborative contributions to impact childhood obesity.   The awards were presented by last years recipient Dr. Charles Brown, at the Childhood Obesity and Public Health Conference held at Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC) in September. 

Dr. Gordon is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics for Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine, New Orleans and is based at Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, as the Chief of Pediatrics.  He is currently the President of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Chairman of the Louisiana Council on Obesity Prevention and Management.  Dr. Gordon is an Adjunct Associate Professor at PBRC and a superb clinician and interpreter of the nuances of pediatric obesity for his colleagues.  

Dr. Sothern currently serves as a Professor with tenure and directs the Section of Health Promotion in the Division of Behavioral and Community Health at the LSU Health Sciences Center, School of Public Health and the Prevention of Childhood Obesity Laboratory at PBRC.  Her research is widely published in a multitude of peer-reviewed scientific journals and she senior-authored Trim Kids, a popular press book for parents to use in conjunction with their pediatrician or family physician. 

This award is presented each year by the Louisiana Council on Obesity Prevention and Management in memory of the late Cecil J Picard.  Mr. Picard was an effective legislator and Superintendent of Education of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.  He was widely known for many innovative improvements in education, intense interest in early childhood development and his devotion to healthy eating and physical fitness. Cecil J Picard was an outstanding individual and a leader in improving education in this state.  

Congratulations to the 2008 Cecil J Picard recipients.