Resident life highlights
CATCH Grant Community Event
On Sunday, February 8, a group of pediatric and med/peds residents and faculty hosted a Valentine-themed event for Project Delivery of Chronic Care (DOCC) families at the West Gray Recreation Center. This fun-for-all-ages gathering is one of two planned by PGY-3 resident Dominique “Nikki” Dagdag, MD, and sponsor Associate Professor Ebony Beaudoin, MD, as part of Dr. Dagdag’s Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) grant given through the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Nikki Dagdag, MD, (far left) with a family at the event alongside her mentor, Ebony Beaudoin, MD (second from right).
This experience was very special for Dr. Dagdag, and she shared what motivated her to apply for the grant and plan the event. “During my intern year, I rotated through one week of chronic care. I participated in our chronic care clinic, (CHOSeN) where I was exposed to the reality that children with medical complexity face. My most memorable experience was when I visited the home of a child with chronic needs. Her mom shared her empowering story of how she received the news of her child’s life-changing diagnosis and the struggles she encounters regularly as her daughter’s biggest advocate. From that moment, I have become passionate about advocating for this high-risk population, which inspired me to apply for the AAP CATCH grant. It was a full-circle moment since that mom and daughter from my intern year came to my community event!”
The Department of Pediatrics has had the rare honor of having back-to-back CATCH grant awardees, all part of the Community Health and Advocacy in Pediatrics (CHAP) program. We are so proud of the remarkable efforts of these residents and look forward to supporting more of this important work in the future. Dr. Dagdag’s next event will happen in May at Children’s Museum Houston.
Texas Pediatric Society Advocacy Day 2026
On Tuesday, February 10, a group of residents and two faculty traveled to Austin for the annual Texas Pediatric Society (TPS) Advocacy Day. Sheela Gavvala, MD, FAAP, and Zackary Brown, MD, led this group as they met with legislative teams to speak about vaccines. (Also seen in The Scoop.)