C Andrew Aligne, M.D., M.P.H.

As the director of the CARE track, he has taught more than 100 residents the skills they need to become community advocates, by empowering them to collaborate with community-based organizations, motivating them to follow their passion in improving community health, and providing constructive critique throughout their projects' development and implementation. The CARE track is a national model for teaching pediatric residents how to engage in community-level advocacy and is a common reason that medical students come to our pediatric residency. Dr. Aligne has been a driving force in creating the "Bridges" group which brings together faculty from undergraduate through graduate level education to focus on maximizing student connections with community partners. Most recently, his efforts led to the creation of the Hoekelman Center that merges PLC, CARE, a small grants program, and creates an "incubator" to sustain advanced resident projects.

Though the main purpose of the CARE Track is for residents to acquire the necessary skills for community advocacy, Dr. Aligne's mentorship has led to highly successful projects and individuals. Residents have received the American Academy of Pediatrics Dyson Child Advocacy Award as well as the AAMC community service award. One resident's project has been implemented in 17 schools of the Rochester City School District after data proved its effectiveness. CARE is being replicated at other sites as previous graduates of the track have gone on to develop similar programs at different institutions.
Dr. Aligne is recognized as an expert in community pediatrics training, consulting with residencies and lecturing across the U.S. and Canada. He is the Section Editor for "Pediatrics in the community" Pediatrics in Review, the official educational journal of the Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and wrote the chapter on "community-wide approaches to child health" in the AAP Textbook of Primary Care.

Peer-reviewed Publications (selected from over 40):
1. Aligne CA, Moss M, Auinger P, Weitzman M. Association of pediatric dental caries with passive smoking. JAMA. 2003;289:1258-1264.
2. Halterman JS, Montes G, Aligne CA, Kaczorowski JM, Hightower AD, Szilagyi PG. School readiness among urban children with asthma. Ambulatory Pediatrics 2001;201-205.
3. Aligne CA, Auinger P, Byrd RS, Weitzman M. Risk factors for pediatric asthma: contributions of poverty, race and urban residence. Am J Resp and Critical Care Med, 2000;162:873-877.
4. Kaczorowski J, Aligne CA, Halterman JS, Allan MJ, Aten MJ, Shipley LJ. A Block Rotation in Community Health and Child Advocacy: Improved Competency of Pediatric Residency Graduates. Ambulatory Pediatrics. 2004;4: 238-288
5. Chin NP, Aligne CA, Stronzcek A, Shipley LJ, Kaczorowski J. Evaluation of a Community-Based Pediatrics Residency Rotation Using Narrative Analysis. Academic Medicine. 2003;78(12):1266-70

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