PCOM Georgia's Gary Freed, DO, Honored for Contributions to Medicine

SUWANEE, Ga., Nov. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gary Freed, DO, FAAP, FACOP, a member of the PCOM Georgia Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine clinical education department, received the Leila D. Denmark Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics on Friday, November 18. This recognition is the highest award the chapter bestows and honors his lifetime of work and contributions to the pediatric profession. For the complete story, click here.

The award is named after Leila Daughtry Denmark, MD, one of the first women pediatricians in Georgia who was among the oldest known practicing physicians until her retirement at the age of 103, after 73 years in practice. 

Dr. Freed, who retired from Emory University School of Medicine in 2017 and began teaching at PCOM Georgia two days later, is the first Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine to receive this honor in the state.

At Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Freed served as a professor of pediatrics for 26 years and as the pediatric clerkship director for 15 years.

Before his retirement from clinical medicine, Dr. Freed was considered one of the leading "experts" on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Safe Sleep in Georgia by the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics due to his 30 years of work in this area. During his neonatology fellowship training at Robert Wood Johnson in Camden, New Jersey, he conducted research and worked with the program head at one of the only SIDS clinics in southern New Jersey.  After graduating, he accepted a position as the clinical director of the American SIDS Institute in Atlanta in 1987.

Dr. Freed then worked through Emory University School of Medicine as the director of the term and intermediate care nurseries at Grady Memorial Hospital. He soon established an outpatient clinic to follow the babies who had advanced from the neonatal intensive care unit at the Emory system of nurseries. Soon, other neonatologists began sending their babies to the clinic for follow-up, and a statewide program for children experiencing infant apnea began.

PCOM Georgia is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institute of higher education dedicated to the healthcare professions. The Suwanee, Georgia, campus is affiliated with Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and physical therapy and graduate degrees in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science, and physician assistant studies. pcom.edu

SOURCE PCOM Georgia