Schedule
2026 Scientific Retreat
Hosted by the Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Research Center, and
Center for Craniofacial Research
The Fayez S. and Susan K. Sarofim Research Building
1825 Pressler St, Houston, TX 77030
April 17, 2026
| 8:30 am - 9:00 am | Check-In and Poster Setup – Light breakfast served |
| 9:00 am – 9:10 am | Welcome and Introduction Jacqueline Hecht, PhD Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics Professor and Director, Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Research Center Director, School of Dentistry, Center for Craniofacial Research Leah L. Lewis Distinguished Chair |
| 9:10 am - 9:55 am | Poster Blitz - Moderated by Noriaki Ono, DDS, PhD and Jun Wang, PhD |
| 9:10 am - 9:15 am | Maggie Aucoin |
| 9:15 am - 9:20 am | Zixiu Cheng |
| 9:20 am - 9:25 am | Caroline Crain |
| 9:25 am - 9:30 am | Fatemeh Ebrahimi |
| 9:30 am - 9:35 am | Shannon Erhardt |
| 9:35 am - 9:40 am | Shion Orikasa |
| 9:40 am - 9:45 am | Ephraim Vazquez-Rosado |
| 9:45 am - 9:50 am | Hiroyuki Yamaguchi |
| 9:50 am - 9:55 am | Xiaolei Zhao |
| 9:55 am – 10:55 am | "Vaccines and Immunizations: In a time of Global Boiling, Megacities, and Anti-science" - Moderated by Jacqueline Hecht, PhD Peter Hotez, MD, PhD Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics, Texas Children’s Hospital Co-Director, Center for Vaccine Development, Texas Children’s Hospital |
| 10:55 am - 11:15 am | Group Photo and Break |
| 11:15 am – 12:30 pm | Poster Session |
| 12:30 pm – 1:00 pm | Lunch |
| 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm | "Bridging population and functional genomics for therapeutic discovery in neurological disease" - Moderated by Mary C. (Cindy) Farach-Carson, PhD Ryan Dhindsa, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 1:30 pm – 2:20 pm | "Challenges in Clinical Trials Research with a focus on Rare Disease" - Moderated by Lydia Youmans, MD Mary Kay Koenig Associate Vice Chair for Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child and Adolescent Neurology Director, Pediatric Neurology Clinical Research Unit, UTHealth Houston Director, Department of Pediatrics, Center for the Treatment of Pediatric Neurology and Neurodegenerative Disease Co-Director, The UTHealth Houston - Memorial Hermann Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) Center of Excellence Endowed Chair of Mitochondrial Medicine |
| 2:20 pm - 2:30 pm | Break and Poster Breakdown |
| 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm | "Brain Development in Preterm Children: Evidence from a Parenting Intervention and Bilingual Exposure" - Moderated by Tricia Zucker, PhD Dana DeMaster, PhD and Kelly Vaughn, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Learning Institute Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Learning Institute |
| 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm | Butler Research Award Talks - Moderated by Yoshihiro Komatsu, PhD and Danielle Wu, PhD |
| 3:00 pm - 3:20 pm | Laura Farach |
| 3:20 pm - 3:40 pm | Linqi Jin |
| 3:40 pm - 4:00 pm | Karen Posey |
| 4:00 pm - 4:20 pm | Julianna Quinn |
| 4:20 pm - 4:45 pm | Award Announcements and Closing Remarks Jacqueline Hecht, PhD and Mary C. (Cindy) Farach-Carson, PhD |