July 3, 2018

The Department of Surgery’s Kris Marsack has been recognized as a distinguished fellow by the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA).

Marsack is a physician assistant in the division of Plastic Surgery, assistant director of clinical operations for surgery advanced practice providers (APP) and academic director for the Physician Assistant Surgical and Orthopedic Fellowships. She also is an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine and a director at large for the Association of Plastic Surgery Physician Assistants.

To earn the AAPA distinguished fellow distinction, Marsack demonstrated leadership in medicine and healthcare, distinction in medical practice and education, professional involvement, community service and a commitment to lifelong learning.

“After beginning her career at Texas Children’s two years ago as a clinical manager in Plastic Surgery, Kris has been an impactful leader within the larger Department of Surgery and has been a wonderful mentor to many of our new APPs,” said Ryan Krasnosky, director of advanced practice providers at Texas Children’s.

June 26, 2018

Marial Biard, May 2018 Employee

Your name, title and department. How long have you worked here?
Marial Biard, Music Therapist, Child Life Department. I have had the privilege of working at Texas Children’s Hospital since February, 29 (Leap year) 2016.

What month are you Super Star for?
May 2018

Tell us how you found out you won a super star award.
My assistant director summoned me in for a “brief in-person meeting” in her office. Turns out I was instead being awarded, a pleasant surprise. I later got to celebrate with my department, family and the Texans. It was a whirlwind day.

What does it mean to be recognized for the hard work you do? How has the organization helped you achieve your personal and professional goals?
It means the world to me! It also means that Texas Children’s is now understanding and appreciating creative arts as a means to help in the healing of the “whole child.” Children need more than medicine to get better. I will always be grateful to Texas Children’s for giving me the opportunity to provide and promote music therapy services. Music Therapy enhances our patient’s opportunities to learn, express, and play while they heal and rehabilitate. It positively impacts the way both parents and patients view their hospitalization experience. By letting me explore and create alongside of my patients this organization has helped me learn not just to hear but to listen, not just to see but to have vision, and not just to speak up but to sing proud.

What do you think makes someone at Texas Children’s a super star?
In my opinion you are a Texas Children’s super star when the people you serve and work alongside of no longer see you as an individual, instead they see the actions and services that embody our core values to embrace freedom, lead tirelessly, live compassionately, and amplify unity. It seems I am now an embodiment of patient’s stories; when I walk into a room I hope people see service that has deeply impacted a patient’s admission or coworker’s career. Instead of seeing me, I hope they remember sessions that have brought great joy or great comfort to a time in someone’s life when it was most needed.

What is your motivation for going above and beyond every day at work?
The children I serve; the opportunity to be the favorite part of someone’s day. I think it is so cool and humbling that I get to help be a light in a child and/or family’s darkest time – to help them continue to make happy memories, celebrate milestones, and show them that every facet of their child’s care is being taken into the deepest consideration.

What is the best thing about working at Texas Children’s?
The people I work beside every day. Texas Children’s Hospital has knocked it out of the park in bringing in people who are equal parts – head, heart and hands. The brilliance, service, leadership and passion every member of our team exudes is what pushes Texas Children’s to the top of the “dream job” charts. Our team knows what it means to serve the greater good.

What does it mean to you that everyone at Texas Children’s is considered a leader? What is your leadership definition?
My definition of leadership is this: If you are a leader, the true measure of your success is not how far you go, but how far those around you go as well. I believe everyone at Texas Children’s is a leader and therefore it is our responsibility to continually raise one another up, to push each other for the common goal of improving the health and lives of the kiddos and families we serve.

Anything else you want to share?
I would like to express gratitude to the people beyond the walls of Texas Children’s who have supported and sustained me through my career. Thank you to my family, husband, fellow music therapists and friends. Your unwavering love has given me the courage, knowledge and freedom to do my best every day.

Do you know someone who exemplifies our values? Then be sure to nominate them today!

June 22, 2018

Cancer Center Director Dr. David Poplack was recognized as a Hometown Hero at the June 20 Houston Astros game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros Hometown Heroes Program recognizes people from the Houston area who have helped their community in extraordinary ways.

Poplack has served as the director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers since 1993. Since his arrival, the Texas Children’s Cancer Center has grown exponentially, from seven faculty members, 42 employees, 4,000 square feet of laboratory space and less than $1 million in annual external grant funding in 1993 to over 180 faculty members, 1,000 employees, 100,000 square feet of lab space and $50 million in annual external grant funding.

Congratulations Dr. Poplack!

June 19, 2018

Dr. Zhandong Liu, assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine and researcher at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s has received a distinguished service award from the International Association for Intelligent Biology and Medicine (IAIBM).

As a non-profit organization, the IAIBM’s mission is to promote bioinformatics, systems biology and intelligent computing among scientists of diverse backgrounds through discussion, network communication, collaborations and education.

The Liu laboratory has developed many new software tools (e.g. MARRVEL and CRISPRcloud) that have helped biomedical scientists analyze complex bioinformatics data faster and with ease. In addition, Liu’s collaborations with neuroscientists have led to many important biological discoveries that have far-reaching implications for various neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Mingshan Xue, assistant professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and a researcher with the NRI at Texas Children’s has been awarded the prestigious 2018 McKnight Scholar Award.

The McKnight Scholar Awards are granted to young scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their own independent laboratories and research careers and who have demonstrated a commitment to neuroscience.

Out of 64 applicants, Xue was one of six awardees. The recipients were chosen for their creativity, technological, precise and rigorous new approaches to overcome barriers in answering long-standing neuroscience questions.

The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience is an independent organization funded solely by the McKnight Foundation of Minneapolis, Minn., and led by a board of prominent neuroscientists from around the country. Each of the six McKnight Scholar Award recipients receives $75,000 per year for three years.

Dr. Hsiao-Tuan Chao, a child neurologist and postdoctoral researcher at the NRI, has been awarded the highly-competitive 2018 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund is an independent private foundation dedicated to advancing the biomedical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities. The main goals of this fund are to help early-stage scientists develop into independent scientists and to advance undervalued areas of basic biomedical research. To fulfill that mission, the Career Award for Medical Scientists provides $700,000 of research funding spread over five years to physician-scientists who are currently receiving advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training. This award is intended to help physician-scientists embark on independent academic careers.

Chao, who is also an instructor in the department of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, associate program director of the child neurology residency program and clinical child neurologist, is one of the 13 physician-scientists from leading academic institutions in the US to receive this honor in 2018. This award will help Chao establish an independent research program to understand the mechanisms underlying transcriptional dysregulation of inhibitory signaling pathways in childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.

Earlier this year the Houston Business Journal’s 2018 Landmark Awards selected it’s winners for the top commercial real estate projects in Houston. Our very own Texas Children’s Hospital, The Woodlands campus, won in the medical category.

On April 19, the winners were revealed at the highly anticipated awards ceremony. Finalists and winners of all categories were announced and awarded on stage in front of the top individuals in the commercial real estate community. According to The Houston Business Journal, entries were judged on impact to Houston, such as job creation, innovation, best use of land, site plan, and development of surrounding neighborhoods, visual plan, amenities and being environmentally friendly. Attendees of the event received copies of the Landmark Awards section, as well as the April 20th paper, and winners received crystal trophies engraved with the organization’s name and category.

“Receiving this year’s Landmark Award for the medical category was the perfect way to celebrate our one-year anniversary,” said Trent Johnson, Assistant Vice President of The Woodlands campus. “It is truly the perfect ending to our first year which has been an incredible story of success with Texas Children’s offering world-class care, close to home for patients and families in our community.”

Nominations were open to all real estate projects completed in the greater Houston area from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. In all, there were 54 projects in 16 categories in the running for this year’s awards. Our medical competitors were Legacy Community Health Fifth Ward Clinic and University of Houston Health 2 Building.

“The honor of having Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands campus win in the medical category told me two things – we’ve created a significant landmark and we’ve made an impact to the Houston area landscape, not only physically, but functionally,” said Jill Pearsall, Vice President of Facilities Planning and Development. “The success of the campus gives me a sense of pride and humility.”

June 5, 2018

The Clinical Research Center/Research Resources Office presented the Clinical Research Award for Second Quarter 2018 to Debbie Barrera, nurse manager, Research Resources Office (RRO).

This award was established by the Clinical Research Center in collaboration with the Research Resources Office to recognize and honor individual contributions to protecting the best interest of the research subjects and compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

Debbie does not have just one research focus. She works on many studies and is the nurse manager for the RRO research coordinators.

“I had the great fortune of joining the Research Resources Office (RRO) in 2015 as nurse manager,” said Barrera. “I feel very honored to be part of such a great team. In the time since I joined the RRO, the department has tripled in size and continues to expand. The RRO team provides support to pediatric departments at Texas Children’s Hospital requiring assistance with research management. It has been very rewarding to work with and watch the RRO team grow and gain expert research knowledge in multiple settings. My job has provided a wonderful opportunity to work with a group of dedicated researchers who provide safe and effective research. And most importantly, it is always a pleasure to see positive outcomes for so many of our patients.”

May 29, 2018

One extremely deserving employee earned the Best of the West award. On May 18, Cindy Baurax, supervisor of Respiratory Care at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, was presented a plaque signed by many of her colleagues for her exemplary work.

The Best of the West award recognizes an employee each quarter who has exceled at demonstrating Texas Children’s values – leading tirelessly, living compassionately, amplifying unity and embracing freedom.

“Cindy took on the challenge with no complaints and willingness to do whatever it takes to lead our teams forward,” her coworkers said. “She took on more roles in order to live up to the expectations of the organization, leading the respiratory department tirelessly.”

Over the past two years, Baurax has been committed to excellence through her support of West Campus leadership in taking on additional responsibilities with daily operations and piloting of new projects. Recently, she supported the facilitation of the PICU +1 Sleep project to increase access for our neurophysiology patients.

She has exemplified the many qualities of Best of the West by finding opportunities to demonstrate Texas Children’s values in her role as supervisor of Respiratory Care.

Congratulations!