Congratulations to Brittany Bruggeman, MD, FAAP for being selected as the 2026 Audrey Lincourt Schiebler, RN, FAAP, and Gerold Schiebler, MD, FAAP, Advocacy Award recipient! The award is given annually to a physician who has worked beyond the profession, educated local and state legislators, and diligently advocated to improve the health and welfare of Florida’s children.
Dr. Brittany Bruggeman is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Florida whose advocacy work exemplifies sustained, high-impact engagement to improve the health and welfare of children across Florida. Her advocacy spans legislative engagement, policy development, physician training, and public health communication, with a consistent focus on translating pediatric expertise into meaningful, state-level impact. Dr. Bruggeman is a recognized leader in pediatric advocacy at both the state and national levels. She currently serves as Legislative Advocacy Committee Co-Chair and Region 2 Board of Directors Representative for the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FCAAP), as well as a member of the American Diabetes Association National Advocacy Committee and Legal Advocacy Subcommittee. Through these roles, she contributes to shaping policy priorities affecting children with chronic disease, access to care, and health equity. Her longstanding involvement in organized medicine, including leadership within the American Academy of Pediatrics and representation to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, has positioned her as a trusted voice in child health policy.
At the state level, Dr. Bruggeman works directly with Florida legislators to provide evidence-based guidance on issues critical to children’s health. She meets regularly with lawmakers and their staff to advocate for policies related to immunization, chronic disease management, and pediatric access to care. During the most recent legislative session, she played a key role in advocacy efforts opposing legislation that would have weakened school immunization requirements and exposed Florida’s children, particularly infants and medically vulnerable populations, to vaccine-preventable diseases. She also led a multidisciplinary collaboration at the University of Florida to develop a comprehensive white paper and evidence-based, parent-facing educational materials on childhood immunization formally endorsed by the University of Florida College of Medicine Faculty Council. These resources have been used to inform policymakers and empower families, strengthening public understanding of vaccine safety and the population-level risks of declining immunization rates.
In addition to her work in immunization policy, Dr. Bruggeman has played an instrumental role in drafting and supporting the passage of legislation allowing schools to stock undesignated glucagon for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia in children with diabetes, addressing a critical gap in school-based emergency preparedness, and she has contributed to statewide advocacy aimed at mitigating the impact of restrictions on gender-affirming care for youth, ensuring that legislative discussions reflect medical evidence and prioritize the well-being of children and adolescents. She is a core leader of the FCAAP Pediatric Resident Legislative Advocacy Training Program and serves as Co-Director of the Pediatric Residency Advocacy Rotation at the University of Florida, ensuring that advocacy training is embedded within graduate medical education and creating a sustainable pipeline of physician-advocates equipped to influence child health policy across the state.
At the national level, she was first author of an American Academy of Pediatrics resolution on affordable insulin access that was selected as a Top Ten policy priority and has contributed to widely cited policy statements such as the 2024 American Diabetes Association “Diabetes and Driving” statement.
Thank you, Dr. Bruggeman, for your significant contributions and advocacy for Florida’s children, and congratulations! Join us at the FCAAP Awards Presentation during The Future of Pediatric Practice 2026 on September 4-6 in Orlando to celebrate this accomplishment with her!
