SARA SMOLLEY, cofounder of Voiceitt, which makes automatic speech recognition technology, pitched her digital device at the TMC EXPERT FORUM in the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute. LESTER SMITH, a Houston oilman, philanthropist and ballroom dancer, died March 14. A two-time cancer survivor and a double-lung transplant recipient, Smith and his wife, Sue, have supported several Texas Medical Center institutions, including Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and Harris Health System. (Credit: John R Lewis Photography) PATRICIA DARNAUER is the new executive vice president and administrator of Harris Health System’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, a Level III trauma center. Deborah Martinez reacts to her results on Match Day. On March 15, students from UTHEALTH’S McGOVERN MEDICAL SCHOOL, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE and THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH AT GALVESTON found out where they would train for their residencies. Author Diane Gonzales Bertrand poses with her books at the launch of a new partnership between RONALD McDONALD HOUSE HOUSTON and Arte Público Press. The partnership will bring bilingual English and Spanish language children’s books to Ronald McDonald House Houston’s houses and family rooms. CESAR A. ARIAS, M.D., PH.D., professor of infectious diseases and director of the Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Genomics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, has been elected to The American Academy of Microbiology. (Credit: Dwight C. Andrews, UTHealth) HSIAO-TUAN CHAO, M.D., PH.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and molecular and human genetics, faculty at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, and associate program director of the basic neuroscience pathway in pediatric neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, has been named the newest McNair Scholar at Baylor. HELEN HESLOP, M.D., director of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, was recognized with the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Lifetime Achievement Award. MAURO FERRARI, PH.D., has joined the administration at the University of St. Thomas part time as Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Community Partnerships. Ferrari was previously Chief Commercialization Officer and Executive Vice President of Houston Methodist Research Institute. DICK KUO, M.D., professor of emergency medicine, has been named chair of the Henry J.N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Women in the Texas Medical Center community attended the launch of Healthy Women Houston, formed to address maternal mortality and morbidity specifically in high risk communities in Harris County. The initiative brings together key health care and social support providers, including the MEMORIAL HERMANN HEALTH SYSTEM, to create a new system of care for women. Mayor Turner declared March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in Houston at a news conference at the JOHN P. McGOVERN TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER COMMONS, where attendees were encouraged to walk through a 20-foot long inflatable colon. The American Cancer Society recommends screening for colon and rectal cancer begin at age 45. CHUCK STOKES, the president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System, announced in March that he will retire at the end of 2019. He began his career more than 40 years ago as an orderly in a Mississippi hospital. Soon after, he became a registered nurse. The Memorial Hermann Health System Board will conduct a national search for Stokes’ replacement. EMILY SEDGWICK, M.D., who recently became the chief medical officer at HCA Houston Healthcare West, was honored with the Press Ganey Physician of the Year Award in her former role as an associate professor of radiology at Baylor College of Medicine. FELICIA SKELTON-DUDLEY, M.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, is one of Baylor’s 2019 Women of Excellence Award recipients.
