Katherine A. S. Auger, MD, MSc

I am a pediatric hospitalist caring for children who are hospitalized. My area of research is health policy that impacts children. I study pediatric hospitalization patterns and why children require hospitalization. I also examine the pediatric discharge process and why children return to the hospital. Even though I only take care of children when they are hospitalized, I think about what the child and family’s life looks like outside the hospital. I want to help families deal with the stress of taking care of a sick child, especially as they transition back home.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m focusing on the COVID-19 policies that impact children — specifically school closing. We collected and analyzed data on the closures of all schools in the spring of 2020. We examined the association of school closure and COVID-19 case rates and deaths. Our goal is to learn as much about COVID-19 and schools to help children return safely to school.

I’m honored to have received the Nemours Child Health Services Research Award in 2016, given by AcademyHealth. This national award recognizes the scientific work of emerging scholars in the field of child health services research. I also received the pediatric Hospital Medicine Outstanding Research Award in 2017, a national award for demonstrating exceptional achievement in pediatric hospital medicine research. My research is funded through a K08 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). I serve on the editorial board of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

I have more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, including first-authored works on identifying unplanned readmission. My research has been published in respected journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Pediatrics, and Journal of Hospital Medicine.