Message from the Chair
Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics at McGovern Medical School!
Our diverse and talented award-winning faculty are known for their expertise and compassion.
The Department of Pediatrics aims to: provide the highest quality and cost-efficient medical care to infants, children, and adolescents entrusted to us; advance the knowledge in biomedical, clinical, and behavioral science through our research programs; and provide excellence and innovation in the training of the next generation of pediatricians and sub-specialists through our medical student, residency and fellowship programs. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to this unifying mission that grounds us in our work to keep children safe and healthy — in Greater Houston and beyond.
Houston is the most diverse city in the country, and the Texas Medical Center is the largest in the world. McGovern Medical School is at the center of it all. The Department of Pediatrics benefits greatly from this advantageous position as it allows our team of award-winning clinicians and scientists to engage a wide variety of complex issues within a well-resourced network. For simplicity, we think of our multi-faceted approach with the acronym C.A.R.E.: Clinical care, Advocacy, Research and Education.
Clinical Care
“Pediatricians are prevention specialists, naturally. We work with parents and communities to understand how to keep kids healthy.” Dr. Mary Aitken, Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics
Our physicians deliver expert inpatient care at the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, right next door to McGovern Medical School. Our children’s hospital, with 234 pediatric beds and an additional 76 beds in our Women’s Center, is one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country and provides comprehensive pediatric care in all medical and surgical sub-specialties. Our team staffs the pediatric services at Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital (LBJ), part of the Harris Health System, as well as MD Anderson Cancer Center. All of these hospitals also serve as training sites for our residency and fellowship programs. UTHealth Houston Department of Pediatrics provides clinical care at Memorial Hermann community hospitals: Memorial Hermann Cypress, Greater Heights, Memorial City, Southeast, Sugar Land and Katy. Outpatient care is provided at a number of sites, including UT Physicians in the Texas Medical Center, Harris Health System outpatient clinics, and a number of community-based clinics throughout Greater Houston.
Residents visit the Capitol in Austin for Advocacy Day each spring.
Advocacy
Our team champions children in a variety of ways, meeting their health needs and raising awareness on how to improve their lives overall. The Population Health Project is the umbrella for a variety of working groups that look closely at factors affecting child wellbeing, such as social determinants of health, Injury Prevention and medical-legal partnership. The Department of Pediatrics residency offers the Community Health and Advocacy in Pediatrics (CHAP) rotation as part of the post-graduate year-one (PGY-1) curriculum. In CHAP, residents learn about issues relevant to populations they treat and volunteer in the community. These connections inspire participatory research projects and strategic partnerships with community organizations also focused on safety and prevention, like the Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program. All of these collaborative efforts produce strong, well-rounded physicians.
Research
Research in the Department of Pediatrics is thriving and poised for growth in the coming years.
The clinical care we provide is complemented by pioneering basic and clinical research conducted by our physician-scientists. As one of the sites of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Development Neonatal Research Network, our faculty have contributed to major advances in the care of newborn infants. The Department also has a Pediatric Research Center whose investigators are involved in clinical, basic and translational research in several areas of pediatrics, genetics and developmental biology. The department’s specialized centers include the Institute for Clinical Research and Learning Healthcare, the Children’s Learning Institute, the Gulf States Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center, and the Center for the Treatment of Pediatric Neurodegenerative Diseases.
From trainees to faculty, the Department of Pediatrics has a thriving culture committed to never stop learning.
Education
In addition to training third and fourth–year medical students in pediatrics, our pediatric residency program is home to 88 pediatric residents, 4 Pediatric Chief residents, 9 Child Neurology residents, 4 Medical Genetics/Pediatrics residents, and more than 50 fellows across all major sub-specialties. Our large multi-site pediatric residency and fellowship programs combine a diverse and often underserved patient population with our extraordinary clinical, educational and research resources at UTHealth Houston. The result is a training experience that prepares our graduates to be outstanding clinicians and leaders with skills needed to advance the health of children throughout the region and nationally.
We are proud and grateful to be a big part of the big picture of child health in Texas. We invite you to explore this site and learn more about the massive opportunities that the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston Department of Pediatrics has to offer.
Mary E. Aitken, MD, MPH, FAAP
Professor and Chair
Dan L Duncan Distinguished University Chair in Pediatrics