Leslie R. Walker, MD

Leslie R. Walker, MD

Leslie R. Walker, MD, is associate professor and chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

She has conducted research on adolescent health-risk behaviors, including delaying early sexual debut in young adolescents, ADHD and smoking initiation and parental involvement in treatment and prevention of substance abuse, as well as research on healthcare transition for children with chronic illness moving from pediatric to adult healthcare systems. She is currently interested in parental involvement in the prevention of early acquisition of adolescent risk behaviors, specifically around substance abuse.

Dr. Walker trained in pediatrics at the University of Chicago's Wyler Children's Hospital and completed her adolescent medicine fellowship training at the University of California, San Francisco. From 1996 to 2007, she was the chief of the Adolescent Medicine Section and on faculty at Georgetown University School of Medicine. In addition, she served as medical director for the Woodson High School Teen Clinic supported by the Washington, DC Department of Health.

Dr. Walker currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Adolescent Medicine and has represented the society on a number of national issues, ranging from vaccination of adolescents to medical education on substance abuse. She also serves on the Youth Suicide Prevention Program in Washington state. She is currently a consultant for the Federal Drug Administration Non-prescription Drugs Advisory Committee. She served on the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Adolescent Health Care Services and Models of Care for Treatment, Prevention and Healthy Development, which recently released the report "Adolescent Health Services: Missing Opportunities."

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