Karen Hein

Dr. Karen Hein is a pediatrician and health policy expert who founded the first comprehensive HIV/AIDS program (research, clinical care and advocacy) for adolescents in the world.

Early life Karen Hein was born in 1944 in New York City. Her father was a physician.

Education Dr. Hein earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1966. She first entered medical school at Dartmouth Medical School in 1966 and attended there from 1966 to 1968. She then transferred to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons where she graduated with an M.D. in 1970. Her first job out of fellowship was at the Spofford Juvenile Center, treating adolescent patients in trouble with the law. AIDS: Trading Fears for Facts, A Guide for Teens, 1989 "Aligning Science with Politics and Policy in HIV Prevention"

Activism In her own words, she became a physician to "be an agent of change in society by helping to improve the system related to health of the people in this country and around the world." Together they have fulfilled a childhood dream of Karen's to live in Vermont among the trees. There, Karen raises cashmere goats. She weaves and knits with cashmere wool from her flock each morning.