By Marc Shapiro/Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medicine
Dr. John Campo, a giant in the field of pediatric psychiatry, recently stepped down from his posts as vice president of Psychiatric Services at Kennedy Krieger Institute and director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Campo resigned from these positions because of medical reasons.
Dr. Campo is internationally known for integrating mental health services into medical settings, and for his care of and research into children and adolescents with comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions, especially those with “medically unexplained” somatic symptoms. He is also a leader in suicide prevention and refractory mood and anxiety disorders in youth and young adults.
Dr. Brad Schlaggar, president and CEO of Kennedy Krieger Institute, celebrates Dr. Campo’s leadership, and friendship.
“John is the consummate leader,” Dr. Schlaggar shares. “His grasp of, and expertise in, all aspects of the academic tripartite mission (i.e., clinical care, research, education), as well as his capacity to problem solve in complex systems, makes him an exceptionally valuable leader. But his most striking qualities, and so appreciated by colleagues, staff, patients, learners of all levels, and friends, are his deeply held values, sense of humor, and love of people. I’m immensely grateful he said ‘yes’ to joining us six years ago, and, especially, for his friendship.”
A beloved mentor, Dr. Campo has contributed his expertise as a clinical teacher, supervisor and international lecturer. He’s also a highly published researcher, having authored more than 120 papers and book chapters, and edited the Handbook of Pediatric Psychology and Psychiatry. He has been honored with the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Simon Wile Leadership in Consultation Award, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Exemplary Psychiatrist Award.
Inspired at a Young Age
Dr. Campo traces his interest in medicine to a childhood tragedy — the sudden loss of his 4-month-old baby brother due to bronchiolitis. He was 8, the oldest of four siblings, and remembers the doctor assuring his mother that her baby would be OK as he wrote her a prescription for valium. She insisted that something was seriously wrong, and unfortunately, she was right.
The incident inspired him to want to protect people. He gravitated toward science in school and graduated from medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1982. He completed a residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1985, followed by an adolescent psychiatry residency and fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, completed in 1988. He joined the Pittsburgh faculty the following year and served in various attending psychiatrist and director positions for pediatric psychiatry programs.
In Pittsburgh, Dr. Campo was troubled by what he considered a false dichotomy built into the healthcare system, between physical and mental health. He worked to integrate mental health services into general medical settings, and developed a practice-based research network in primary care for kids with anxiety and depression.
Alarmed by the fact that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-olds, killing more than twice as many young people in that age group as cancer, he began focusing his attention on the connection between suicide and lack of access to mental health services.
In 2006, Dr. Campo left Pittsburgh to join The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital as chief of the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. At Ohio State, he revamped the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship, which was at risk for probation, expanded the psychiatry residency, and added four subspecialty fellowships, a psychology internship and a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship.
He also led efforts to incorporate mental health care and suicide prevention into pediatric primary care. Clinicians began asking children directly if they were thinking of harming themselves or had thoughts of wishing to be dead, and systems were designed to respond to their answers. He created numerous mental health and crisis programs and protocols, including a crisis intervention model for the emergency department, and developed a pediatric medical psychiatry inpatient unit.
Dr. Campo left Ohio State in 2018 and spent two years at West Virginia University and the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute as dean for behavioral health, chief behavioral wellness officer and professor of behavioral medicine and psychiatry.
In 2020, he joined Kennedy Krieger as the vice president of psychiatric services. At the same time, he joined Johns Hopkins as the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor and Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. In addition, he served as director of mental health at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
‘He Really Cares’
To his colleagues, mentees and patients, Dr. Campo is rare gem of a clinician, educator and administrator — one whose work is built on investing in personal relationships, fostering collaborations across specialties and institutions, and seeing the potential of individuals and the importance of their respective disciplines.
Dr. Aaron Hauptman, associate director of neuropsychiatry at Kennedy Krieger Institute, says it’s all about the relationships for Dr. Campo.
“John is so deeply interested in people,” Dr. Hauptman says. “He’s someone for whom the relationship comes first. … John balances support and the push to improve and work toward a shared mission. He can somehow be both a leader and a friend, a colleague and a supporter.”
Dr. Elizabeth Reynolds, director of Pediatric Medical Psychology in Johns Hopkins’ Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, says Campo treated psychology as an essential part of the team, helping expand its role into different medical subspecialties. He also helped grow the Center for Developmental Behavioral Health at Kennedy Krieger, a multidisciplinary outpatient mental health program that can treat complex patients and helped facilitate closer care coordination between the Children’s Center and Kennedy Krieger.
“He pushed us to be able to do more and do better by our patients,” she says. “He was very much of the mindset that if we can’t do it at Hopkins, who can do it? He felt that we should be able to care for the most complex and challenging patients.”
A Personal Touch
Dr. Campo didn’t just leave an imprint on his colleagues and mentees — he changed the lives of his patients. Pete, a patient now in his early 20s, was so inspired by Dr. Campo that he became a nurse. (Pete is a pseudonym to protect the patient’s identity.)
After Pete had bouts of depression and several suicide attempts in his teenage years, Dr. Campo became his psychiatrist. Dr. Campo helped Pete work through his depression and suicidal ideation, treated him with electroconvulsive therapy and helped him wean off medication when he was feeling more stable.
Working with a translator, Dr. Campo patiently explained to Pete’s parents what was going on, and made sure they understood that it was not the patient’s fault.
“My parents to this day talk about how great he is,” Pete says. “They attribute a lot of why I’m here today to how much he cared. I’m doing great. I never could imagine that I would be doing this well.”
When Pete was searching for meaning at a low point, Dr. Campo discussed his spiritual beliefs and recommended the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, which the patient says had a major impact on his personal philosophy.
Pete was so inspired by Dr. Campo’s treatment that he now works as a registered nurse, and has his sights set on earning an advanced degree in the future.
“Working in healthcare is a profound part of my identity, and I owe it to him for picking me up when I was at my lowest, and for inspiring me to channel my experiences into empathy,” he says. “I don't know where I’m going, but I can confidently say that I will treat my patients with the same dedication and compassion that he’s shown me. … I hope that I can carry on his legacy as a healer.”
Tributes Pour In
On a recent, nearly two-hour Zoom tribute, Dr. Campo heard colleague after colleague express sentiments that echoed Pete’s experience — that Dr. Campo spent a career helping people and institutions be their best.
Dozens of colleagues from Kennedy Krieger and Johns Hopkins and beyond told stories of his selflessness, his sense of humor, his ability to uplift those around him personally and professionally, and how he had the ability to bring everyone together in the spirit of collaboration. Nearly all closed by saying “I love you,” which he enthusiastically said back.
“It’s your openness and connectedness, John, that has allowed all of us to show up more fully — being our full selves and our true selves,” said Dr. Roma Vasa, interim vice president of psychiatric services at Kennedy Krieger. “And it’s created a trust and a connectedness. I think that’s the gift that you have brought to our division and across our two institutions.”
Smiling ear to ear, Dr. Campo addressed the group just before the event wrapped up, summing up what guided him throughout his career.
“What brought us together, it was two things. The first was love and the second was purpose,” he said. “How do we partner with God, with what’s good in the universe, to bring healing to a world that we know there’s something the matter with, that we know is broken in a meaningful way. And how do we come together to do our part?”
The original version of this story appeared here.
