Dr. October is a pediatric critical care and palliative medicine physician. She holds degrees from the University of Washington School of Medicine and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. October currently splits her time between the NIH and Children’s National. At the NIH, she serves as a medical officer in the Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD. In this role, Dr. October manages and sets the priorities for pediatric critical care and palliative care research. She continues to provide clinical services as a critical care physician at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. Prior to her transition to the NIH, she led an active career as an NIH-funded clinical scientist with a focus on training clinicians in communication skills when discussing serious illness with patients and their families.