WALTHAM – Dr. Ellen C. Perrin, a longtime pediatrician at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Tufts Floating Hospital for Children and professor of pediatrics at UMass Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, has been honored by the Massachusetts
Medical Society as the 2024 recipient of the Society’s LGBTQ Health Award, an honor recognizing an individual who has made outstanding contributions to LGBTQ health.
“During the time Dr. Perrin was at UMass, I worked with her on committees and referred patients to her. She was very involved in advocacy issues then, as she continues to be now,” said Dr. Lynda Young, past president if the Massachusetts Medical Society.
“I remember many discussions about supporting legislation concerning LGBTQ issues and her passion for being a champion for the disadvantaged children and families in our state. She was a wonderful role model of how we can make a difference in setting
new or changing old policies on a local, state, or national level.”
Perrin was honored by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on LGBT Health and Wellness with the inaugural Ellen Perrin Award for Excellence in LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness.
“Dr. Ellen Perrin has contributed significantly to understanding that children reared by same-sex parents thrive and are not significantly different from children with opposite-sex parents. As a child development specialist, she undertook this research
on her own, initially mostly looking at lesbian couple parents then expanding to including gay dads, as well,” said Dr. Carole Allen, past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. “Her research formed the basis for the 2013 AAP policy paper
titled 'Promoting the well-being of children whose parents are gay or lesbian' on which she was a lead author. This paper demonstrated that children thrive best when they are protected by secure, legal parental unions; it was in turn referenced in
an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court and may have influenced their ruling in US vs Windsor that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -a law that defined marriage as between a man and woman - and set the stage for legalization of same-sex
marriage."
Perrin is a graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University and received her M.D. from Case Western Reserve University and a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Rochester.
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students, supporting 25,000 members. We are dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians of Massachusetts and patients locally and nationally. A leadership voice in health care, the MMS contributes physician and patient perspectives to influence health-related legislation at the state and federal levels, works in support of public health, provides expert advice on physician practice management, and addresses issues of physician well-being. Under the auspices of the NEJM Group, the MMS extends our mission globally by advancing medical knowledge from research to patient care through the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Catalyst, and the NEJM Journal Watch family of specialty publications, and through our education products for health care professionals: NEJM Knowledge+, NEJM Resident 360, and our accredited and comprehensive continuing medical education programs.
