Sandra McKay joins Baker Institute’s new firearm safety program
Sandra McKay, MD, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, has joined Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy as a nonresident fellow.
McKay, whose career as a pediatrician has focused on child health advocacy, will work with the Center for Health and Biosciences (CHB) program at the Baker Institute. Her experience includes advocacy curricula development for medical school and pediatric residencies, as well as leadership roles in state and national pediatric advocacy and injury prevention organizations. She’ll focus on the CHB’s new Firearm Injury Prevention and Safety program spearheaded by Rola El-Serag, MD, director of the CHB and the L.E. and Virginia Simmons Senior Fellow in Health Policy.
Firearm injury has long been one of the leading causes of preventable injuries in the United States, and it has dramatically increased during the global pandemic, El-Serag said. The CHB developed the new firearm section to positively impact local and regional health policies that ensure safety and protection for all.
“We are honored to welcome Sandra to the Baker Institute’s Center for Health and Biosciences,” El-Serag said. “Her expertise in firearm injury prevention and safety is both critical and timely in addressing one of the most imminent public health crises we face today.”
Combining researchers from Rice and the Texas Medical Center, the CHB offers a unique setting for medical and policy professionals to address four major research themes: U.S. health care, global health, public health and the future of medicine. The CHB employs comprehensive research analysis to develop health policy recommendations that promote health and well-being in the U.S. and globally.
McKay is affiliated with UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School, and UTHealth Houston’s teaching hospitals including Children’s Memorial Hermann. She earned her medical degree from the University of Missouri and completed her residency at the St. Louis University of Medicine.