Dr. Julie A. Boom named Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Childhood Immunization Champion for Texas

May 20, 2014

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The Texas Department of State Health Services announced that Dr. Julie Boom, director of the Immunization Project at Texas Children’s and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, has been named Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Childhood Immunization Champion for Texas. This annual award, given by the CDC Foundation and the CDC, honors exemplary childhood immunization advocates across the 50 U.S. states, eight U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States, and the District of Columbia.

Recipients of the Childhood Immunization Champions award are individuals who work tirelessly to improve the health and lives of young children by ensuring that immunization is a priority. Boom was nominated by her peers, and selected as a Champion among health care professionals, community advocates, and other immunization leaders for making a significant contribution to public health in Texas through her work in children’s immunization.

When Boom was a medical resident, she treated a 3-year-old girl who died of meningitis. This experience inspired her to devote her career to promoting immunization through education, research, and the development of improved immunization technology and practices. Boom led the development of an automated software tool that forecasts what vaccines each child will need and when, according to the recommended schedule. To remind parents about the importance of vaccines, she helped create Vaccine-Preventable Disease: The Forgotten Story, a book featuring 20 families affected by vaccine-preventable illnesses.