Robert Michael Cavanaugh, Jr. MD, author of Dying to be Perfect: How Teens Can Stay Happy, Healthy and Alive
Dr. Robert Michael Cavanaugh, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University in Syracuse and was the Director of Adolescent Medicine at this institution for 32 years. He is a board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist. His entire career as a physician, an educator, and a researcher has been dedicated to the care of children with a special emphasis on the adolescent age group.

Dr. Cavanaugh is widely published in the medical literature and has authored numerous articles in the most prestigious pediatric and adolescent journals. He has a national reputation as Program Chairman for the Section on Adolescent Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics, as a member of the Executive Committee for the Section on Adolescent Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and as a past member of the editorial board of Adolescent Health Update published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Cavanaugh's other career as a parent has been shared with Marilyn, the most capable of mothers and his devoted wife of 52 years. Together they have managed to raise four teenagers and clear the hurdles as their offspring struggled for footing with life's ups and downs. Now that he has become a seasoned veteran, Dr. Cavanaugh would like to share his experience with readers so that others will benefit from the valuable lessons that he has learned as Doctor Dad.