Jennifer Hansen, M.D.
Dr. Jennifer Hansen is a board-certified Child Abuse Pediatrician and the Medical Director of the P-SANE (Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) Program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. She completed medical school and General Pediatrics Residency at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital, and Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellowship at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. She is a member of many multidisciplinary teams in Kansas and Missouri and is a founding member and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Douglas County in Lawrence, KS. She serves on teams, task forces, and boards addressing child abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children at the local and state levels. Dr. Hansen is a strong child advocate and has partnered with local community agencies to establish a collaborative network to address and prevent child sexual abuse through education, policy, and norms campaigns, and has advocated at the state level for legislative reform. She provides child abuse pediatrics education to medical and non-medical audiences. She has published peer-reviewed research on the medical evaluation of suspected child physical abuse and has participated in patient safety and quality improvement projects. She has partnered with Child Protective Services to improve medical education and training for workers and investigators and improve collaboration between CPS and medical experts to improve medical care for alleged victims of child maltreatment. She works for the highest quality, evidence-based care at all levels of the child welfare system to improve outcomes for children and families.
Amy Jones, APRN
Amy Jones is a pediatric nurse practitioner in the Division of Child Adversity and Resilience at Children’s Mercy. She completed her doctorate in nursing practice from Arizona State University in May 2011. She has worked as an advanced practice nurse in the field of child abuse pediatrics for the past 16 years. She has a special interest in the area of child abuse prevention, specifically abusive head trauma, and unsafe infant sleep practices. She currently serves as the Greater Kansas City Chapter of NAPNAP president.
Emily Killough, M.D.
Emily Killough is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. She blends her passion for advocacy and education in her work as a child abuse pediatrician and Associate Program Director for the pediatric residency program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Dr. Killough works to provide ongoing education to medical providers surrounding issues of child abuse, neglect, and IPV as Co-Chair of the Helfer Society Education Committee, Medical Director of Education for the Missouri SAFE CARE Network, as well as teaching, mentorship, and course director roles for medical students, residents, and fellows. She works closely with leaders in the child welfare system in both Kansas and Missouri as a member of the Kansas Citizens Review Panel, Kansas Interagency Advisory Panel, course faculty for the Missouri Juvenile Justice and Office of State Courts Administrator, and as a member of multiple county-level multidisciplinary child welfare and advocacy teams. Dr. Killough is working to further the use of technology in medical education; she currently co-leads 3 separate webinar series using the ECHO Model and is the co-creator of the Child Protector App, an internationally distributed educational smartphone app that can aid in the medical and investigative evaluation of possible child physical abuse. Dr. Killough employs her expertise to coordinate and improve the medical response to child maltreatment in a manner that protects children, supports their families, and engages the greater community.
Sandra Lessor, D.A.
Sandra Lessor is an Assistant County Attorney in the Office of the County Attorney Heather Figger. Mrs. Lessor has been employed in this office since April 2022, and is the Chief Deputy County Attorney. She is enjoying learning different areas of law and supervising/mentoring attorneys and staff. Sandra Lessor has spent almost all her legal career as a prosecutor. For the first 20+ years of her career, Mrs. Lessor was employed in the Eighteenth Judicial District, and she managed a Child In Need of Care caseload which contained a full spectrum of issues from sexual abuse to neglect. In her role as Assistant County Attorney, Mrs. Lessor assesses investigations to determine whether litigation is the appropriate course of action. She prepares initial orders, petitions, and motions as well as other legal pleadings. Sandra Lessor litigates various issues including arraignments, preliminary hearings, temporary custody, adjudication, and termination of parental rights hearings. In addition to these duties, Mrs. Lessor has been active on the state level and serves on the Board for the Kansas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children. She is one of the founders of the Kansas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children – Sedgwick County, which began in 2001.
Sandra Lessor graduated from Washburn University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in May 1997. She has a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Kansas State University and is currently licensed in that capacity. Having this background has greatly benefited her in the numerous trainings and presentations to law enforcement, court personnel, social workers, in-home service providers and counselors. Mrs. Lessor has also been trained in mediation.
Sandra Lessor is a member of the Wichita Bar Association, and Kansas County and District Attorneys Association. Mrs. Lessor has participated in various committees on the state and local levels. Sandra Lessor is a member of the Social Work Advisory Council at Wichita State University.
Katherine Melhorn, M.D.
Dr. Katherine Melhorn lives in Wichita, Kansas, and is a board-certified pediatrician in General Pediatrics and Child Abuse Pediatrics, a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics and member of the AAP Section on Child Abuse and Neglect and the AAP Section on Child Death Review and Prevention. In her role as a Child Abuse Pediatrician and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita, Dr. Melhorn provides patient care, consultation, testimony and education throughout the state in the areas of child physical and sexual abuse and child neglect evaluation, investigation and medical management, and participates in teaching residents and medical students in areas of child maltreatment. She is a member of the KS State Child Death Review Board, is on the board of DCCCA, and has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County. She also serves as a board member for McPherson College and Bethany Theological Seminary.
Kerri L. Weeks, M.D.
Dr. Weeks is a board-certified Child Abuse Pediatrician. She has been teaching and practicing in the area of child maltreatment since graduating from fellowship in 2008. Her areas of clinical interest include caring for victims of child maltreatment, high-risk youth, and children affected by parental substance use. She has published scholarly works reflecting these interests as well. In 2017, she joined the KU Pediatric Residency leadership team as an Associate Pediatric Program Director. Since that time, she has focused her efforts on improving resident well-being.
