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.
