Meet our Team
Director
Dr. Kristina Tebo has been passionately involved in pediatric global health for over 17 years. While pursuing her medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine and completing her residency training at Northwestern University, Dr. Tebo completed a Global Health Track and spent several months rotating at hospitals in West Africa. She then focused her professional efforts in Togo, West Africa at the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Christian Hospital (KKMCH) where she worked as a pediatrician and served in many administrative and teaching roles.
She then joined McGovern Medical School as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in 2021 and founded the Pediatric Global Health Program along with Dr. Aneji shortly thereafter. She also serves as the Assistant Vice President of Global Health Initiatives for UTHealth Houston and the Assistant Dean of Global Health for McGovern Medical School.
Assistant Directors
Dr. William Chong is a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics hospitalist. He has interests in global health resident education and simulation with the Global Health Supper Club series and application of point-of-care ultrasound in under-resourced clinical settings. He obtained his undergraduate degree at Duke University in Biomedical Engineering, then received his medical degree at University of Tennessee Memphis (2017) and completed his training in Med-Peds at the UTHealth Houston McGovern Med School (2021).
Dr. Chong joined the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and became Med-Peds Core Faculty in 2023. He is heavily involved with the residency program with interests in small-group teaching, presenting case reports, and POCUS applications.
Dr. Guenet Degaffe is a native of Ethiopia who is interested in Pediatrics and infectious diseases. She received her BA from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa before going to the University of New Mexico where she earned a masters degree in Biology and her medical degree. She completed her Pediatric residency training at UTHealth Houston where she continues to practice as a Pediatric Hospitalist.
Along with other medical members of the Ethiopian diaspora, Dr. Degaffe formed the medical non-profit Global Initiatives for Better Health. This organization aims to support sustainable medical work in Ethiopia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Degaffe enjoys reading, writing, etymology, language, and travel.
Global Health Faculty
Chiamaka U. Aneji, MD, MPH, FAAP
Dr. Chiamaka Aneji completed her medical education at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Growing up on two different continents opened her eyes to the differences in health care she saw as a child in England and subsequently as a medical student in Nigeria. This piqued her interest in Global Health and set the stage for her medical career path.
As a neonatologist, Neonatal Resuscitation Program instructor, and master trainer in the Helping Babies Survive program, Dr. Aneji has trained trainers and providers in the United States and several resource-limited countries in newborn resuscitation and care. She provides clinical mentorship, volunteer telehealth support, and ongoing volunteer education support to health care workers in several hospitals in Nigeria.
She currently serves as the Associate Medical Director of the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as well as the Director of Patient Quality for UTHealth Houston Neonatology.
Dr. Bista is a native of Nepal with interest in global health and management of critically ill children in both academic setting and low resource setting. He completed his Master of Public Health (MPH) and his Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship at UTHealth Houston.
He worked in various clinical setting in Nepal before moving to the USA. As part of his medical school internship in Nepal, he worked in Primary Health Care, government district and zonal hospitals, and tertiary care center. Subsequently, he worked as medical officer in tertiary cancer hospital in Nepal and sole physician in a hospital in rural Nepal. These experiences provided him with clinical acumen and organizational skills to perform at various healthcare settings in Nepal.
After completing his medical and public health training in the United States, he worked in medically underserved area in Rio Grandy Valley in South Texas. He is currently working to expand pediatric global health curriculum and experiences for pediatric subspecialty fellows.
In his spare time, he has run marathon races around Texas and is pursuing his graduate studies in Sanskrit language.
Dr. Wan-Hsuan “Sherly” Chen is a pediatric hospitalist with interests in global health, child advocacy and medical education. A native of Taiwan, Dr. Chen earned her medical degree from Kansas City University and completed her pediatric residency at UTHealth Houston. She enjoys being a part of global health resident education and exploring effective ways to practice pediatric medicine in diverse healthcare environments. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Chen is committed to child advocacy and seeks ways to support vulnerable pediatric populations.
Dr. Chelsea Gatcliffe is from the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. After spending time in London during an undergraduate summer abroad, she decided to head ‘across the pond’ to start her medical training at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Her introduction to clinical medicine across various settings throughout Ireland was a formative experience and has remained a highlight of her training.
She trained in pediatrics at the University of Miami/ Jackson Memorial Hospital and went on to pursue pediatric pulmonology at UC San Diego/ Rady Children’s Hospital. She is now an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at UTHealth Houston and the Director of the Pediatric Aerodigestive Clinic.
Houston’s Caribbean community and diverse patient population have renewed her interest in global health work and she is excited to engage with the pediatric community in Trinidad and the wider Caribbean region.
Dr. Whitney Rome is a pediatric hospitalist practicing in community and inpatient rehabilitation settings. She is interested in global health resident education and ethics. She received her medical degree from the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, earned a master’s degree in public health from UTHealth Houston, and completed pediatrics residency at UTHealth Houston.
Dr. Rome joined the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine in 2018 and is now an assistant professor of Pediatrics.
Program Coordinator
713-500-7142
[email protected]