Pediatrics Honors, February 2026

LBJ Hospital NICU Earns Gold Beacon Award for Excellence

Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and High-Risk Nursery, led by Medical Director Sophia Tsakiri, MD, CMQ, earned the Gold Beacon Award for Excellence, a national distinction awarded by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (external link) (AACCN). This recognition reflects the NICU team’s sustained commitment to exceptional patient outcomes, a healthy work environment, and a highly skilled and engaged nursing workforce.

The Beacon Award for Excellence is one of the most respected honors in critical care nursing. It is awarded to units that demonstrate measurable excellence across three major domains: patient outcomes, work environment and nursing workforce. Each domain is evaluated using rigorous national benchmarks, qualitative exemplars and quantitative performance data.

Nivedita Thakur, MD, was selected to serve on the NBIA Disorders Association Medical Advisory Board (external link). The UTHealth Houston NBIA Disorders Clinic was also named a Center of Excellence by the NBIA Disorders Association.

Thu Tran, DO, has been elected chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Respiratory Structure and Function (RSF) Early Career Professional Working Group (external link).

David Weisoly, DO, was re-elected to his role as the Neonatal Medical Director of the SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council (SETRAC (external link)) Perinatal Committee.

Allison Woods, DO, PGY-2 resident, was selected as a 2026 APPD AIM Scholar (external link).

Shannon Erhardt, graduate student in the PRC Wang Lab, has earned the Ellen Taylor Goldin Legacy Award (external link), a $5,000 scholarship to recognize an exceptional GSBS student making excellent progress toward their degree and educational goals.

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