Congratulations to Mark Merkens, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics, for receiving this year’s OHSU Faculty Senate Award for Outstanding Service. Dr. Merkens is director of the Spina Bifida Program at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center (CDRC) and a leading expert in lifespan-focused care and quality of life issues for persons with spina bifida. Dr. Merkens also serves patients in the pediatric dysphagia clinic, and in the CDRC neurodevelopmental and feeding disorders clinics.

Dr. Merkens supervises a third-year pediatric rotation at the CDRC and focuses his clinical teaching on children with chronic illness and disability. His many years of expertise in both in medical ethics and end-of-life care for children with chronic illness have made him a key player in establishing Bridges, a Doernbecher-wide palliative care consult team.

“ Dr. Merkens is wonderful at putting terrified parents at ease—giving realistic hope where there doesn’t seem to be any. He made sure to tell me that I really was the best expert on my own child.”

-Carolyn Salvestrin, Trail, Oregon