News

AAP CATCH Grant event at Children’s Museum As part of her American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) CATCH Grant (external link), PGY-3 resident Dominique “Nikki” Dagdag, MD, hosted the second of two successful events with Project DOCC families and pediatric/med-peds residents….

Faculty and staff Don’t miss the 2026 Department of Pediatrics recipients of the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Awards. Residency and Fellowship Program Coordinators Melodie Allison and Judith Cerino (pictured above) won the First Place Viewer’s Choice award for their poster “Everyone…

[As seen in The Scoop, May 6, 2026] Congratulations to the 2026 winners of the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Awards. May is Teaching Excellence Month at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Since 2025, the awards have shifted focus toward junior…

Moments from community events made possible by the Pediatrics team Big Splashy Day On May 2, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital, Director of Community Pediatric Hospital Medicine Melissa Kwan, MD, and her team of…

The 2026 Scientific Retreat—a collaborative retreat between McGovern Medical School Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Research Center and UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry Center for Craniofacial Research—brought together more than 100 attendees for an engaging and inspiring program. We were…

On May 9, 2026, the LoneStar LEND Program hosted the first Disaster Readiness EXPO of its kind focused specifically on individuals and families with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities (ASD/IDD). The event was held at the Jim…

Gun violence remains a leading cause of death in the U.S., even among children. On Friday, June 5, the Department of Pediatrics hosted an important day of discussion and education focused on firearm injury prevention to change this statistic. The…

Medical Genetics Associate Professor and Residency Program Director Paul Hillman, MD, PhD; Associate Professor Myla Ashfaq, MS, CGC; and Professor and Division Chief Hope Northrup, MD;  represented McGovern Medical School at this year’s Association of Professors in Human and Medical…

Publications Presentations Heather Saavedra, MS, RD, LD, (pictured above) presented a workshop and plenary session at the Genetics Metabolic Dietitians International (GMDI) Conference (external link). Leslie Dunnington, MS, CGC; Sarah McMahan, PT, PCS; and Neurology Fellow Ardeene Francisco, MD; presented…

[As seen in The Insider (external link), May 7, 2026]   President Melina R. Kibbe, MD, continued her listening tour with a visit to the Children’s Learning Institute May 4, spending time with faculty and leadership to learn more about…