Dimitri Christakis

As Chief Health Officer, Dimitri is responsible for the health programming of Special Olympics including prevention, assessment, training, and health system strengthening. He has a holistic view of health that encompasses the physical, mental, emotional, and social state of all of our athletes and their families.

Dimitri is also the George Adkins Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, and Editor and Chief of JAMA Pediatrics. He graduated from Yale University with a BA in English Literature, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he received his MD, and completed a pediatric residency followed by a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholarship at the University of Washington from which he received his MPH. He is the author of over 250 original research articles (H index 95), multiple book chapters, a textbook of Pediatrics and The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television work for your kids. (September 2006; Rodale). In 2010 he was awarded the Academic Pediatric Association Research Award for outstanding contributions to pediatric research.

Joining Special Olympics is the highlight of his career.