Gordon Harper MD trained as a paediatrician and child psychiatrist in Boston.  He worked in acute hospital care for several decades and then worked in public-sector child mental health, as senor child psychiatrist for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, in addition providing frequent consultation to the child protection system in Massachusetts, the Department of Children and Families.  He has also served as Treasurer of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP).  He holds academic appointment as Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has taught widely internationally.  He has written on inpatient treatment, medical education, healthcare policy, care planning, and managing the ambiguities of child protection.