Helen Emery, MD, Receives Top Honors
The Arthritis Foundation presents the Charles B. Harding Award for Distinguished Service, the highest national volunteer recognition.
By Anthony Williams | April 4, 2025
The Charles B. Harding Award for Distinguished Service is the highest level of national volunteer recognition from the Arthritis Foundation. The award was established in 1976 in honor of one of the Foundation’s most well-known chairs, a nationally regarded philanthropist.
Helen Emery, MD, was the deserving Harding Award honoree at this year’s Pathways Conference. A native of Australia, Dr. Emery has been a fixture at the Arthritis Foundation since 1980 — back when she was establishing herself as one of the world’s very first specially-trained pediatric rheumatologists.
For five decades, Dr. Emery has poured her heart and soul into navigating the world of juvenile arthritis (JA) and other childhood rheumatic diseases. Starting at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), then going to Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Emery touched lives everywhere she went. She has trained at least 20 newer-generation pediatric rheumatologists — multiplying her own power by 20!
Dr. Emery was key to launching the Arthritis Foundation’s popular JA Camp: KAT-FISH Camp in Washington State. She has helped shape our JA Family Summit every year since it began in 1984. Representing the Foundation, Dr. Emery’s long involvement with CARRA — the Childhood Arthritis Rheumatology and Research Alliance — has been remarkable. She has served on the Foundation’s local leadership board in Seattle and on our national board of directors.
Dr. Emery is an amazing role model, a staunch advocate for children with arthritis and someone who is a blessing to so many families. On top of everything else, she has been a major supporter of the Arthritis Foundation’s Great West Bone Bash since it first started; Dr. Emery’s “Shrimp on the Barbie” donation, a feast that’s auctioned off as a fundraiser at that gala, is legendary.
It’s no wonder Dr. Emery was our choice to receive the 2024 Harding Award for Distinguished Service. Congratulations, Dr. Emery!
See previous Harding Award winners.
The Charles B. Harding Award for Distinguished Service is the highest level of national volunteer recognition from the Arthritis Foundation. The award was established in 1976 in honor of one of the Foundation’s most well-known chairs, a nationally regarded philanthropist.
Helen Emery, MD, was the deserving Harding Award honoree at this year’s Pathways Conference. A native of Australia, Dr. Emery has been a fixture at the Arthritis Foundation since 1980 — back when she was establishing herself as one of the world’s very first specially-trained pediatric rheumatologists.For five decades, Dr. Emery has poured her heart and soul into navigating the world of juvenile arthritis (JA) and other childhood rheumatic diseases. Starting at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), then going to Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Emery touched lives everywhere she went. She has trained at least 20 newer-generation pediatric rheumatologists — multiplying her own power by 20!
Dr. Emery was key to launching the Arthritis Foundation’s popular JA Camp: KAT-FISH Camp in Washington State. She has helped shape our JA Family Summit every year since it began in 1984. Representing the Foundation, Dr. Emery’s long involvement with CARRA — the Childhood Arthritis Rheumatology and Research Alliance — has been remarkable. She has served on the Foundation’s local leadership board in Seattle and on our national board of directors.
Dr. Emery is an amazing role model, a staunch advocate for children with arthritis and someone who is a blessing to so many families. On top of everything else, she has been a major supporter of the Arthritis Foundation’s Great West Bone Bash since it first started; Dr. Emery’s “Shrimp on the Barbie” donation, a feast that’s auctioned off as a fundraiser at that gala, is legendary.
It’s no wonder Dr. Emery was our choice to receive the 2024 Harding Award for Distinguished Service. Congratulations, Dr. Emery!
See previous Harding Award winners.
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