David Willis, MD
Senior Fellow
At CSSP
I help to advance the growing intersection of child health with other community supports for young children and their families by engaging with many of our other partners to launch new work focused on Early Relational Health, helping to further define this growing body of knowledge and its use and application in pediatric care and broader early childhood systems.
I do this work because
I believe in helping to advance the policies, supports, and partnerships that young families need to ensure the well-being of their pregnancies, their infants, and their young children are realized.
I am most proud of
The many opportunities that I have had to work with families, providers, and thought leaders across our nation’s communities, stakeholders, and networks as we have journeyed together to improve child development and early relational health outcomes for all children.
Work History
- Executive Director, Perigee Fund, Seattle, WA
- Division Director, Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems, HRSA
- Founder and Medical Director, Artz Center for Developmental Health
Education and Awards
- M.D., Thomas Jefferson University
- Boarded in Pediatrics and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, ABP
- Community Pediatrics Award, Oregon Pediatric Society
- Career Teaching Award, Department of Pediatrics, OHSU
- MCHB Director’s Award, 2016
When the day is done
My personal time is spent with my wife, Margy, and either of our two son’s families, who share with us the joy and blessings of our grandchildren: LucyMae and Sam in Vancouver, WA and Clara Sophia, in San Antonio, TX.
- Community Resilience is Foundational for Early Relational Health
- Human Connection and Human Thriving
- Forging Ahead: AAP calls for Pediatricians to Partner with Families and Communities to Promote Relational Health
- Early Relational Health: What the Pandemic Has Revealed
- Changing the Mindset: Foundational Relationships Counter Adversity with HOPE
- Connecting the Medical Home and the Community: Needed by Families Now More Than Ever
- Supporting Foundational Relationships During the Coronavirus Pandemic: An Opportunity for HOPE
- Reflections: Early Relational Health and Reach Out and Read™ Next Chapter
- Reflection: HRSA’s Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Impact CoIIN
- Advancing Early Relational Health in Child Health and Communities: Opportunities for Medicaid Support
- Willis & Friends: Mask Wearing During COVID & Mother-Infant Relationships
- Willis & Friends: Early Relational Health and HOPE in Early Childhood
- Willis & Friends: At the Feet of Storytellers—The Development of Early Relational Health Conversations
- Willis & Friends: Toy Pollution—What Do We Know About Toys and Early Relational Development?
- Willis & Friends: Transcending Barriers of Whiteness for Next Generation Well-Being
- Willis & Friends: Transforming Health Systems to Ensure Maternal Well-Being
- Matrix for Guide to Leveraging Opportunities Between Title V and Medicaid for Promoting Social-Emotional Development
- Guide to Leveraging Opportunities Between Title V and Medicaid for Promoting Social-Emotional Development
- Family Voices in Early Relational Health
- My Baby, My Doctor & Me: Family Voice in Early Relational Health Pilot Study
- My Baby, My Doctor & Me: Hearing from Parents about Foundational Relationships and the Role of the Health Care System in Promoting Early Relational Health
- My Baby, My Doctor & Me: Key Findings from a Focus Group with Mothers Living in a Small, Rural Community
- Guide to Leveraging Opportunities Between Title V and Medicaid for Social-Emotional Development
- Advancing a Family-Centered Community Health System: A Community Agenda Focused on Child Health Care, Foundational Relationships, and Equity
- Early Relational Health National Survey: What We’re Learning From the Field