Patrick Mason, MD, PhD

Dr. Mason is the director and founder of the International Adoption Center. He received both his MD and PhD from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA. He went on to complete his pediatric residency and fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He has been working with internationally adopted children for over 13 years and serves on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Provisional Section on Adoption. Previously, he served on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Section on Adoption and Foster Care for over six years. Dr. Mason has faculty appointments at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and is an Voluntary Faculty Member at the National Institute of Health.

As an endocrinologist, Dr. Mason is very interested in issues related to early life events and how they relate to growth, puberty and the body's stress response in internationally adopted children. Dr. Mason is conducting several research projects to better understand these effects. His ongoing research project is examining the effects of early life experiences in international orphanages on a child's stress response and its impact on growth and puberty. Dr. Mason has spoken throughout the country on this topic.

Dr. Mason is also committed to caring for children who aren't adopted. He leads medical mission trips throughout the world, in such places as Honduras, Romania and Russia to care for orphaned children. Dr. Mason is the Board President of HOMBRE, an organization committed to providing care in Honduras and training medical students and residents in the care of children around the world. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Golden Phoenix, a foundation developed to help with international relief efforts.