Goodbye to our Founding Director
Dr. Laura Offutt
Hosted by the IAAH since 2022, the International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW) is an annual health campaign consisting of dynamic participatory events to inspire adolescents and their communities to advocate for a successful transition into adulthood. Our Founding Director, Dr. Laura Offutt who imagined, created and directed IAHW since its inception will be stepping down from her role at the end of October 2023.
The seeds for International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW) were planted in the US when Dr. Offutt asked a group of Pennsylvania high school student advisors with whom she was working if there would be interest in starting a Teen Health Week. This Teen Health Week was imagined as a fun, educational celebration of young people and their health. This was a decided shift from the more traditional fear mongering and incomplete traditional health education experienced by many youth. At that time, there were no national nor state observances focused on all aspects of teen health, and these youth advisors enthusiastically agreed. One of the politically engaged student advisors suggested securing a Governor’s Proclamation, and in collaboration with other Pennsylvania organizations, this small youth advisor group successfully launched the first ever Pennsylvania Teen Health Week in 2016. Dr. Offutt worked with numerous colleagues within the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine and the International Association of Adolescent Health to bring Teen Health Week to the global stage by 2018, where nearly 200 participants and organizations across more than 30 countries organized health awareness activities for teens aged 13-19. Since this time, this week has expanded into the annual International Adolescent Health Week to include all adolescents from ages 10-24.
Dr. Offutt has often been quoted as saying “This passion project has taken over my life, in the most glorious way!” Her work in developing, implementing, and promoting IAHW had become a full-time volunteer activity. In addition to having the vision for this adolescent health observance, Dr. Offutt also worked on all aspects of implementation, such as authoring IAHW toolkits, being a webmaster, creating and managing IAHW social media content, tirelessly networking, communicating, promoting, and encouraging widespread participation in IAHW, mentoring community and youth leaders, and more. Each effort, successful or not, yielded new ideas that she incorporated to improve IAHW. In order to ensure the sustainability and highest quality of IAHW, Dr. Offutt identified the International Association of Adolescent Health as the perfect home for IAHW. After working within the IAAH for 2 years to expand and improve the IAHW, Dr. Offutt concluded, “I know that IAAH is the right home for IAHW”.
Dr. Offutt is the first person to note that IAHW would never have been possible with the input and enthusiasm of incredible adolescent health professionals all over the world. She is pleased to hand over leadership of the IAHW program to Dr. Ngozi Oketah, an adolescent pediatrician at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she chaired the adolescent working group and has been an enthusiastic member of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine IAHW Special Interest Group.
The seeds for International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW) were planted in the US when Dr. Offutt asked a group of Pennsylvania high school student advisors with whom she was working if there would be interest in starting a Teen Health Week. This Teen Health Week was imagined as a fun, educational celebration of young people and their health. This was a decided shift from the more traditional fear mongering and incomplete traditional health education experienced by many youth. At that time, there were no national nor state observances focused on all aspects of teen health, and these youth advisors enthusiastically agreed. One of the politically engaged student advisors suggested securing a Governor’s Proclamation, and in collaboration with other Pennsylvania organizations, this small youth advisor group successfully launched the first ever Pennsylvania Teen Health Week in 2016. Dr. Offutt worked with numerous colleagues within the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine and the International Association of Adolescent Health to bring Teen Health Week to the global stage by 2018, where nearly 200 participants and organizations across more than 30 countries organized health awareness activities for teens aged 13-19. Since this time, this week has expanded into the annual International Adolescent Health Week to include all adolescents from ages 10-24.
Dr. Offutt has often been quoted as saying “This passion project has taken over my life, in the most glorious way!” Her work in developing, implementing, and promoting IAHW had become a full-time volunteer activity. In addition to having the vision for this adolescent health observance, Dr. Offutt also worked on all aspects of implementation, such as authoring IAHW toolkits, being a webmaster, creating and managing IAHW social media content, tirelessly networking, communicating, promoting, and encouraging widespread participation in IAHW, mentoring community and youth leaders, and more. Each effort, successful or not, yielded new ideas that she incorporated to improve IAHW. In order to ensure the sustainability and highest quality of IAHW, Dr. Offutt identified the International Association of Adolescent Health as the perfect home for IAHW. After working within the IAAH for 2 years to expand and improve the IAHW, Dr. Offutt concluded, “I know that IAAH is the right home for IAHW”.
Dr. Offutt is the first person to note that IAHW would never have been possible with the input and enthusiasm of incredible adolescent health professionals all over the world. She is pleased to hand over leadership of the IAHW program to Dr. Ngozi Oketah, an adolescent pediatrician at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she chaired the adolescent working group and has been an enthusiastic member of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine IAHW Special Interest Group.