Pippa Abston, MD, PhD (Dr. Pippa to her patients) has practiced general pediatrics for over 24 years. She was raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Roll Tide!) and attended the University of Alabama, followed by the University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s combined MD, PhD program.

After residency at Greenville Children’s Hospital in South Carolina, she was in private practice for several years before accepting an invitation to join the UAB Huntsville medical school faculty, where she taught and cared for patients for 13 years. In 2018, she left UAB to explore options for filling serious gaps in mental health care in Alabama, while working part time for a school-based nonprofit clinic.

She established and directed an autism diagnostic clinic at UAB Huntsville, taught parenting skills to residents and medical students, helped facilitate an outpatient commitment program at the Madison County Mental Health Center, and helped lead a statewide developmental screening initiative. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Alabama Department of Mental Health Board of Trustees.

Over the years, she has developed a special interest in child development and mental health. She loves spending time getting to the root of a problem and solving it together with patients and their families. Her favorite compliment ever was when a mom told a surgeon she wanted to ask Dr. Pippa about his plan, because “my child’s doctor is particular about his care.”

Dr. Pippa is mother to a son and a daughter, both now adults, who visit often for home-cooked food and hugs. In her free time, she sings in a women’s chorus, writes poetry, cooks, hikes, does crafts, and studies Epicurean Philosophy.”