About Us

University of Texas Health Science Center Houston / Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital Contributors

KuoJen Tsao, MD, Principle Investigator. Dr. Tsao is a Professor of Pediatric Surgery and Vice-chair of Quality and Safety in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He has served as the principal investigator and executive director for the March of Dimes perinatal safety center (MOD PCS). He is a pediatric surgeon trained in maternal-fetal surgery. Academically, he is a quality improvement and patient safety expert that has been the PI on several funded patient safety initiatives. Dr. Tsao has directly supervised the research and the training & comparative analytics cores. He’s been responsible for the developing and supervising the partnerships with healthcare organizations, educational institutions, and industry.

Eric J. Thomas, M.D., Sub-Investigator. Dr. Thomas is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Dr. Thomas is the Director of the UT Houston-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety and is Associate Dean for Healthcare Quality. Since 1992 he has conducted research on patient safety and his work was heavily cited in the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report on medical error. Dr. Thomas’ current research focuses on diagnostic errors, measuring safety culture, measuring and improving teamwork, and the use of health information technology to improve quality and safety. Dr. Thomas contributed his expertise and knowledge in safety culture and had direct involvement in the evolvement safety culture roadmap.

Madelene Ottosen, PhD, MSN, RN, Sub-Investigator. Dr. Ottosen is an assistant professor with the Cizik School of Nursing at UT Health and a faculty member with the UT Houston-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety (CHQS). Her research interests lie in the exploration of organizational safety culture, the involvement of patients and family in patient safety and healthcare quality improvement and the use of qualitative and mixed methods research designs. She has developed patient and family focus groups at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. Dr. Ottosen’s efforts on this project have primarily been in contributing her expertise and knowledge in safety culture, continued research in various areas of the safety culture roadmap and website.

Sue Lesser, PhD, MSN, RN-BC. Dr. Lesser is a Quality Improvement Specialist in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. Dr. Lesser has decades of experience as a clinical nurse. She has been licensed in four states, and has experience in academic and community hospitals, in urban and rural settings. Her passion has always been for mothers and babies. Her specialty focus is Maternal/ Child Nursing, Quality Improvement and Professional Development. Her experience includes NICU, LDRP and home health nursing. She taught Lamaze childbirth preparation classes for nineteen years. Dr. Lesser’s efforts has been devoted to the evolvement of the safety culture roadmap and website through her continued research. She has expertise in qualitative and patient-centered research.

Maryam Broussard, BS, MHA. Ms. Broussard is a Program Manager in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. She received her bachelor’s in science at the University of Houston followed by her Master’s in Healthcare Administration at the University of Houston-Clear Lake and is a certified clinical research professional. She has over 15 years of experience in healthcare in various roles including translational, human subjects, and clinical trial research as well as project management. Ms. Broussard has overseen the March of MOD PSC program and participated in various areas of research.

Nutan Hebballi, BDS, MPH. Ms. Hebballi is a Senior Research Associate in the department of Pediatric Surgery at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. Ms. Hebballi received her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from The University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston and Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India. She is a certified Project Management Professional and Six Sigma Green Belt. Ms. Hebballi has assisted in various areas of research for the MOD PSC roadmap and website development. Her research focuses on quality data acquisition.

Elisa Garcia, BSN, RN. Ms. Garcia is a Research nurse in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. Prior to nursing school, Ms. Garcia worked in Fetal Medicine research and in the Pediatric Surgery outpatient clinic. Ms. Garcia worked on several subprojects for the March of Dimes Perinatal Safety Center.

Kendra Folh, MSN, RN-OB, is a project manager in pediatric quality and safety at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. She is an experienced registered nurse with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry focusing on the obstetric population. Kendra has experience in project management focusing on clinical effectiveness, quality, and safety projects. She is a system lead project manager in clinical redesign of obstetric APR-DRG workstream, clinical effectiveness, and cost reduction. Ms. Folh is a member of various quality improvement communities and has been an asset in the collection and dissemination of key data.

Nana Ama E. Ankumah, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services at the University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School

Clara Ward, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services at the University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School

Susan Wootton, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School

Mary Austin, MD, MPH Assistant Professor in both the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School and UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Patti Heale, DNP, RNC-OB Clinical Nurse Specialist, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

Paige Del Castillo, BSN, RNC-OB Director of Women’s Services, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

 

Rice University / Safety Science Experts

Eduardo Salas, PhD
Professor and Chair at Rice University’s Department of Psychological Sciences

Tiffany M. Bisbey, MA
Graduate Researcher and Doctoral Student, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Rice University

Molly Kilcullen, MA
Graduate Researcher and Doctoral Student, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Rice University

 

Roadmap Project Expert Panel (Reviewers)

Suzanne McMurtry Baird, DNP, RNC-OB
Co-Owner and Nursing Director, Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics, LLC

Susie Distefano, MSN, RN
Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

Siobhan Dolan, MD, MPH
Professor and Vice Chair, Research Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health Montefiore Medical Center / Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Donald Dudley, MD
The William T. Moore Professor and Director Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine University of Virginia

Karen E. Harris, MD, MPH
Ob/Gyn Program Director HCA/UCF Consortium, Gainesville, Florida

Karen Kendrick, MSN, RN
Vice President, Clinical Initiatives Texas Hospital Association Foundation

David Lakey, MD
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer the University of Texas System

Kathy Luther, MPM, RN
Director of Quality, UT McGovern Medical School Partners

Eugene Toy, MD
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School.

 

Leadership Advisory Council

Barbara Stoll, MD
Dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston McGovern School of Medicine

Kevin Lally, MD
A.G. McNeese Chair in Pediatric Surgery, Richard Andrassy Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and Interim Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center

Sean Blackwell, MD
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Services at the University of Texas Health Science Center and director of the Larry C. Gilstrap, M.D., Center for Perinatal and Women’s Health Research at UTHealth McGovern Medical School

Amir Khan, MD
Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston McGovern School of Medicine and Medical Director of Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital NICU, Respiratory Care, and Transport Team

Susie Distefano, MSN, RN
Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

 

Patient and Family Advisory Council

Paige D. Mellor
Pamela A. Merhan
Crystal Needham
John D. Needham
Chris Peterson
Jennifer Peterson
Susana M. Rosas

Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through the March of Dimes

 

 

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