Dr. Andrew Jea, Fellowship Program Director, Director of Educational Programs for the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, was recently appointed to the college’s Medical School Curriculum Committee.
The committee oversees the medical education program as a whole and has responsibility for the overall design, management, integration, evaluation and enhancement of a coherent and coordinated medical curriculum.
“I am honored to have been selected to serve on such a prestigious committee,” Jea said. “I look forward to playing a role in shaping the medical curriculum at Baylor College of Medicine.”
Jea earned his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He completed an internship at the school, and completed his residency and spine fellowship there. Before joining Texas Children’s, he finished a second fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children.
Jea’s awards in the field of medical education include three Fulbright & Jaworski Faculty Excellence Awards in Teaching, and Evaluation, Educational Leadership, and Development of Enduring Educational Materials, respectively. He is the recipient of successive annual Baylor College of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery teaching awards since 2010, including Teach of the Year honors in 2012. Jea was also named the Texas Children’s Hospital Department of Surgery Faculty Research Mentor Award in 2012. Moreover, he was recently elected a Senator to the inaugural Baylor College of Medicine Faculty Senate.
Jea’s clinical interests center around the surgical treatment of spine and spinal cord disorders, including scoliosis, kyphosis, spondylolisthesis, trauma, and tumors, in the pediatric and young adult age groups. His laboratory interests involve the use of nanotechnology to effect neuronal regeneration in the setting of spinal cord injury. These interests have led to numerous grants, presentations, and publications, as well as a lasting collaborative relationship with nanotechnology scientists at Rice University.