Department of Pediatrics Honors, January 2025
Congratulations, Pediatrics Residents
The General Pediatrics Residency Program is proud to celebrate a 100% first-time pass rate on the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) certification exam!
Congratulations, Dr. Findley
Tina O. Findley, MD, Associate Professor, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, has been awarded a grant from Men of Distinction: $100,000 in support of sex-specific cardiac care. Building on her five years of neonatal biobanking efforts in the Mother Baby Biobank, this grant will advance translational research aimed at improving outcomes for neonates with congenital heart disease.
Each year, pediatric research, education, and/or patient care programs from the Texas Medical Center are eligible for Men of Distinction support. Grant awardees are selected annually by a committee composed of Men of Distinction Board members and a liaison from the Texas Medical Center.
Congratulations, Dr. Reynolds
Eric Reynolds, MD, MPH, completed the Emory Chief Medical Officer Training Program through Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
Pediatric Research Center News
From the Lab of Jun Wang, PhD:
L-R: Nam Truong, PhD, and graduate student Julianna Quinn
Postdoctoral research fellow Nam Truong, PhD, and graduate student Julianna Quinn have received the American Heart Association Fellowship Award.
The sinoatrial node (SAN) is the natural pacemaker structure of the heart. SAN ensures the heart beats in a regular rhythm with a normal rate. Nam’s award, “Decipher the sinoatrial node aging in dish” ($143,764.00, 10/1/2024-9/30/2026), will investigate SAN aging using the human SAN-like cells model as aging is a major risk factor of cardiac diseases. Julianna’s award, “Investigating Hippo Signaling in Sinoatrial Node Development” ($69,548.00, 1/1/2025-12/31/2026), will study molecular and genetic regulation of SAN formation using various mouse models. Congratulations to Nam and Julianna on their awards!
Mingjie Zheng, PhD, presenting his research at FASEB Conference in November 2024.
Mingjie Zheng, PhD, presented his work “Hippo signaling interacts with TGFb pathway to regulate pacemaker cell state and sinoatrial node fibrosis” at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Science Research Conferences-Hippo Pathway in Biology and Diseases, held in Melbourne, Florida. The Hippo conference is a major conference held annually in the field of Hippo signaling study.
From the Wang and Komatsu Labs
L-R: Hiro Yamaguchi, PhD; Xiaolei (Sherry) Zhao, PhD; and Julianna Quinn
Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, PhD; Xiaolei (Sherry) Zhao, PhD; and Julianna Quinn won first place awards at the 2024 UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Genetics & Epigenetics (G&E) Program Retreat. Sherry, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Wang Lab, won in the Postdoc/Trainee Platform Talks category. Julianna Quinn, graduate student also in Wang Lab, won in the Pre-Candidacy/MS Poster Presentations category. Hiro, a postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of Yoshihiro Komatsu, PhD, won in the Postdoc/Trainee Poster Presentations category. Congratulations to Sherry, Hiro, and Julianna!
The Department applauds these outstanding accomplishments! If there are some you’d like to share, please send to Assistant Project Manager Clarissa Webb to include in the next CARE Chronicles Newsletter.