David Nichols, M.D.

In December of 2012, Dr. David Nichols became President and CEO of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) with responsibility for the initial and continuing certification of approximately 80,000 pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists in the United States. Since then, the ABP has introduced several new initiatives, including a highly regarded assessment platform (MOCA-Peds), where pediatricians identify knowledge gaps that help them improve the quality of their care, and a growing number of quality improvement collaboratives and portfolios that are improving health outcomes for children.

Led by Dr. Nichols, the ABP has also launched an initiative to increase the diversity of the over 400 ABP volunteers, conducted state-of-the-art research on the pediatric workforce, and created the Roadmap project, which connects parents and caregivers of children with complex chronic illnesses with their subspecialists to address family mental health concerns.

Dr. Nichols graduated with honors from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (now the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) in 1977. He completed his pediatrics residency and chief residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Interest in pediatric critical care medicine prompted him to pursue an anesthesiology residency at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to CHOP for a fellowship in pediatric critical care.

Dr. Nichols then moved to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he became director of the PICU, division director, and professor of pediatric anesthesiology and critical care medicine. In 2005, he was named the Mary Wallace Stanton Professor and Vice Dean for Education of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, overseeing the creation of their new Genes to Society medical education curriculum, the design of the Armstrong Medical Education Building, the creation of the Institute for Excellence in Education, and the development of a state-of-the-art simulation center, among many other initiatives.

Dr. Nichols’ career has focused on training, medical education, and mentorship. He is the editor-in-chief of several textbooks in his field including Critical Heart Disease in Infants and Children, Golden Hour: The Handbook of Advanced Pediatric Life Support, and Roger’s Textbook of Pediatric Intensive Care, now in its 5th edition. In addition to training and mentoring nearly 60 pediatric critical care fellows, he has lectured and taught all over the world. Dr. Nichols is the recipient of two of the highest honors in his field: the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Critical Care Distinguished Career Award and the Society for Critical Care Medicine Shubin-Weil Master Clinician/Teacher: Excellence in Bedside Teaching Award.