Peter Asante '08: A Champion for Kids

Heroes don't always wear a cape. Peter Asante, MD, a member of the Moses Brown class of 2003 is one of just five pediatricians in the U.S. to win the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Community Pediatrics Local Hero Award—a major national recognition. The award honors pediatricians who spearhead community action and advocate for children in local communities—and for this Asante is exemplary. He's built teen and school-based health clinics among other community projects.

And he loves to make people smile. 

"Working with kids—they're really cute, and the whole thing is like a performance," he says. 

Asante first started performing on stage at MB, which he credits for helping him flourish in his career. "I had a passion for the arts, musicals, and theatre," Asante says. "On stage, I learned to express myself through voice and sound and movement. That training shaped the way I talk with families and young people. It's funny because at the time I never thought it would apply to my career."

"Medicine is creative, too," Asante notes. "If someone doesn't pick up a cue— you figure out a way to get the point across, and create a therapeutic plan with patient and family and even a team."

Asante—a Yakima, Washington resident—was born in Rhode Island, though he spent three years in Ghana from ages three to six. English was his second language. And while his mother is now in Ghana full-time, when Asante's parents first moved to the U.S., they lived on Taber Avenue, right near Moses Brown.

"When she was pregnant with us, she'd walk by MB all the time," Asante says of his mother. "It was like a full-circle moment for her when she watched her twins graduate." 

Asante's twin brother Alfred, also graduated from Moses Brown is 2003. "We were very different," he says. "I had a deep passion for the arts and he was on the football team. Though we did do a musical together our senior year," he laughs.

Asante is one of those people who can make you smile from miles away—even if you are speaking on the phone for the first time. His positive energy gets under your skin; makes your day.

He's a natural light, though he credits a lot of his makeup to teachers at Moses Brown. "Margaret Stern was the costume director of the theatre department, and she's been like a godmother to me," Asante says. "She's the reason I still wear green! I used to hate the color but she said it look good on my skin tone," he chuckles.

"She took my brother and I around for college visits," he continues. "My mom couldn't and we didn't have the resources. She took time and we went around to all the colleges. She even set up a mock interview! We're still really close to this day."

Asante felt close to other teachers at MB, too. "Yamil Baez: I have no tears left; I shed them all in her classroom," he laughs. "She became my advisor the last two years of high school, and is someone I hold close to my heart. My junior year was tough for me and she was there." 

"Katherine O'Connell: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention her. She made me a better writer," he says.

While Asante was deeply involved in the arts, it wasn't until he was enrolled at Harvard that he decided he wanted to be a pediatrician. "Famous story: I went to college thinking I'd be an electrical engineer," he says. I was witting in a club at Harvard and a pediatrician was talking about exciting it was for her to be a doctor. In that moment, I decided I'd be a doctor. And I knew the only would be to work with young people."

"It's important to do things you like to do, and pick a career that matches those interests," Asante continues.

Like any hero, Peter Asante, MD remains humble and devoted to others. "It's important to listen to the needs of your community," he says, when describing the teen health clinic he helped create, among his many other contributions. "If you listen and ask questions, people tell you what they need. And then you build that, and do it in service.