Dr. Ben Meisel

Ben Meisel, M.D., proudly joins the PEBCC Board, after working as a member of the PEBCC COVID-19 Advisory Committee and the Development Committee.  “Dr. Ben” as he is fondly called by patients, campers, parents, and children’s music lovers, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics whose career spans medicine, music, entertainment, and technology.  He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at UCSF and serves as Medical Director for the city and county of San Francisco’s California Children’s Services program.  He is an Advisory Board Member for UCSF’s Chronic Illness Center and sits on the steering committee for CavityFree San Francisco.  Dr. Ben is founding chair of the San Francisco Special Needs Anesthesia Dentistry Workgroup, San Francisco Special Needs Interagency Data Workgroup, and the San Francisco Child to Adult (C2A) Transition Workgroup.  Dr. Ben is the CCS Medical Advisory Council liaison to the California Council of Local Health Officers and serves on the San Francisco-Marin Medical Society’s delegation to the California Medical Association.  In addition to his medical career, Dr. Ben serves as CEO & Medical Director of Dr. Ben & Company, developing children’s entertainment & MEDertainment products “Building Play Into Health” and supporting the field of Child Life.  Dr. Ben is an award winning children’s music composer and recording artist, first as KiD’n Together (with his brother Alex Meisel) and most recently as Dr. Ben & Company.  He is an advocate for organizations like the SeriousFun Children’s Network, served as Medical Director for The Painted Turtle (actor Paul Newman’s California camp serving children with serious medical conditions), and works as an ambassador for families, bringing together organizations and individuals for the purpose of serving families with children who have special health needs.  Dr. Ben completed his Pediatric Residency at UCSF and is recipient of the prestigious Dr. Morris Ginsburg Prize from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine awarded to the graduating student who “in the opinion of the faculty, best demonstrates the qualities of the ideal physician.”  He graduated from Stanford University with an undergraduate degree in Music, Science, and Technology and has worked in sound and technology at such varied institutions as Lucas Entertainment’s Skywalker Sound and Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics.  Dr. Ben is married to Laura (also a physician) and they have two spirited PEBCC daughters who sing constantly – Sophia who proudly sings Alto in Ensemble and Lea who misses singing with ECCO and now attends Humboldt State University.