Primary Faculty
Debra L. Palazzi, M.D, M.Ed.
Dr. Palazzi's research interests include antimicrobial stewardship and diagnostic stewardship. She participates in the Sharing Reports for Pediatric Stewardship (SHARPS) Collaborative and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study on de-implementation of unnecessary surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in children.
Hani Abou Hatab, M.D.
Dr. Abou Hatab’s primary interests focus on artificial intelligence and clinical informatics in pediatric infectious diseases. His work centers on developing and evaluating machine learning models, with a strong emphasis on responsible AI, including model validation, bias assessment, safety monitoring, and AI governance to support ethical and trustworthy clinical implementation.
Claire E. Bocchini, M.D.
Dr. Bocchini’s research interests include the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in immunocompromised children, including children who undergo hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplants. She has also led projects assessing and addressing vaccine hesitancy, especially in families of immunocompromised children. Finally, Dr. Bocchini conducts research aimed at ameliorating nonmedical drivers of health in families of children who are immunocompromised or have other chronic medical conditions.
Judith R. Campbell, M.D.
Dr. Campbell’s primary interests are in the epidemiology, and the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections. Specifically, she investigates risk factors for and prevention of healthcare-associated infections in high-risk patients, such as premature neonates, immunocompromised hosts, and those with complex medical conditions. She is especially interested in multi-disciplinary collaboration projects across several subspecialties to implement evidence-based quality improvement initiatives. Furthermore, she is interested in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and public health strategies to prevent and control those infections. She is passionate about medical education to prepare and encourage the next generations of clinicians, researchers and medical educators.
Kathryn Carpenter
Dr. Carpenter’s research focuses on optimizing care for immunocompromised patients, particularly recipients of solid organ and bone marrow transplants. She has a strong interest in multicenter studies that characterize infectious complications in these populations and inform the development of evidence-based treatment protocols. Her work aims to reduce the burden of multidrug-resistant infections through antimicrobial stewardship interventions tailored to immunocompromised hosts.
Margaret Taylor Danner, M.D.
Dr. Danner's research focuses on antimicrobial stewardship, penicillin allergies, and quality improvement. She is developing an outpatient antimicrobial stewardship program and has helped establish a collaborative penicillin allergy de-labeling program at Texas Children’s Hospital. Her work aims to improve antibiotic prescribing in community hospitals and pediatric outpatient settings.
Gail J. Demmler-Harrison, M.D.
Dr. Demmler-Harrison’s research focuses on congenital and neonatal infections. She conducts studies on the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and neurodevelopmental, ocular, and audiologic outcomes of children born with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease, and the impact of this congenital infection on personal and family life, society, and the health care system. She also is involved in research and development studies for rapid diagnosis of congenital and neonatal infections, and newborn screening for congenital CMV. She also participates in multicenter clinical trials evaluating antiviral treatment of congenital CMV.
Kristen Valencia Deray, M.D.
Dr. Valencia Deray's research interest is to contribute to evidence-based data on infectious diseases in solid organ transplant recipients to maximize their health outcomes. Specifically, her research focuses on epidemiology and long-term outcomes of viral infections in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients.
Ankhi Dutta, M.D.
Dr. Dutta’s clinical research mainly focuses on fungal infections in immunocompromised hosts and fever of unknown origin. She is passionate about medical education and faculty development initiatives which include innovations in team training, communication, and leadership. She has received educational grants from the Center for Research, Innovation and Scholarship in Medical Education at Texas Children Hospital, to promote team training and teamwork education among health care workers.
Catherine Foster, M.D.
Dr. Foster's research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of healthcare-associated infections, including central-line associated bloodstream infections and catheter associated urinary tract infections. She has investigated the prevention of Staphylococcus aureus device related infections and has also completed individual case reports, case series, and literature reviews on a variety of pediatric infectious disease topics.
C. Mary Healy, M.D.
Dr Healy’s primary interest is in vaccination and vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly in preventing infections through maternal immunization and other strategies focusing on preventing infection in young infants and children. She is a co-investigator on the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) where, among others, she studies the prevention and treatment of respiratory pathogens such as COVID-19, influenza, pertussis, Mpox, tuberculosis and other pathogens. She is also working on factors that impact vaccine hesitancy and communication around vaccines with colleagues at Texas Children’s Hospital and through a longstanding, ongoing collaboration with colleagues at the University of Texas School of Public Health, she studies methods to increase vaccination rates through clinic- and system- based strategies and incorporating behavioral science theory.
Kristina Hulten, Ph.D.
Dr. Hulten’s research focuses on gram-positive bacteria, in particular Streptococcus pneumoniae. She is involved with projects predominantly describing serotype distributions and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of isolates obtained from pediatric patients with invasive pneumococcal disease or otitis media. Other projects strive to understand the contemporary serotypes of colonization isolates in young children.
Sheldon L. Kaplan, M.D.
Dr. Kaplan’s research focuses on the epidemiology, treatment and prevention of community-acquired infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus.
Katherine Y. King, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. King's research is focused on investigating the effects of infection and inflammation on hematopoietic stem cell biology. These findings will have implications for prevention and treatment of blood disorders related to inflammatory conditions, stem cell transplant outcomes, and immunity. For more information, please see the Katherine King Lab.
Katherine P. Lemon, M.D., Ph.D.
The long-term goal of Dr. Lemon’s research is to develop innovative biotherapeutics (bacterial strains, bacterial compounds, and bacteriophages) from the human nasal microbiome to prevent and treat infections caused by the common nasal pathobionts Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, and to reduce the severity of viral respiratory tract infections. To accomplish this, the KLemon Lab identifies factors that mediate microbe-microbe and microbe-epithelial interactions within the human nasal microbiota using human nasal epithelial organoids and human nasal bacterial strains.
Lucila Marquez, M.D.
Dr. Marquez is an attending physician in pediatric infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, and practices primarily at the Medical Center Campus of Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Marquez cares for children with a range of infectious diseases both in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Additionally, she is the Associate Medical Director for Infection Control and Prevention at Texas Children’s Hospital and in this role addresses issues such as catheter-associated bloodstream infections, surgical site infections, and exposures to and outbreaks of infections in the hospital system. She is passionate about medical education and teaches a variety of learners including medical students, residents and fellows at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. She has national roles in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Education Committee and the American Academy of Pediatrics PREP Infectious Diseases Editorial Board.
Katie Matatall, Ph.D.
Dr. Matatall’s research focuses primarily on understanding a naturally occurring phenomenon known as clonal hematopoiesis, which is defined as the clonal outgrowth of a population of mutated hematopoietic stem cells. Specifically, Dr. Matatall is interested in understanding how environmental factors, such as infection and inflammation, effect clonal dynamics within the blood and what this may mean for the likelihood of going on to develop diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Jonathon C. McNeil, M.D.
Dr. McNeil’s research seeks to understand the clinical and molecular epidemiology as well as optimal management of bacterial infections in children with a focus on gram-positive pathogens. Specific areas of interest include Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and S. anginosus group epidemiology in children, the management and outcomes of osteomyelitis and septic arthritis, bacterial head-and-neck infections, healthcare-associated infections, and Haemophilus influenzae disease. His work has influenced a number of recommendations in IDSA/PIDS clinical practice guidelines. Dr. McNeil has received research support through NIH, AHRQ and industry partnerships. Dr. McNeil has a history of mentoring trainees at all levels including medical and allied health students, residents, and fellows.
Elizabeth A. Moulton, M.D.
Dr. Moulton's research focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of viral, fungal, and multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in transplant patients. She specifically studies Epstein-Barr virus, adenovirus, and other respiratory pathogens. She also participates in pediatric clinical trials of new antivirals and vaccines.
Flor D. Muñoz-Rivas, M.D.
Dr. Muñoz’s research is aimed at understanding the epidemiology and prevention of vaccine preventable diseases in special populations including infants, children, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised. She is a clinician-scientist with special interest in respiratory pathogens, evaluating vaccines, vaccine safety, and implementation of pediatric and maternal immunization.
Erin Nicholson, M.D.
Erin Nicholson, MD is a physician scientist with a primary interest in respiratory viral infections in young children. She conducts phase I, II, and III vaccine trials as well as researching potential biomarkers and their associations with respiratory virus severity. An additional area of interest for her is understanding why respiratory viruses cause such a broad spectrum of severity in children without risk factors. To do this she collaborates with Dr. Pedro A. Piedra, Dr. Vasanthi Avadhanula and Dr. Gina Aloisio in their development of the respiratory organoid model. Dr. Nicholson also collaborates with several Baylor College of Medicine entities including the NIH Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit and she also leads the clinical and translational research hub for the Pandemic Threat Technology Center at BCM.
Liset Olarte, M.D., M.Sc.
Dr. Olarte’s research focuses on the impact of pneumococcal vaccines in invasive and non-invasive pneumococcal disease in children. Recent projects have sought to understand the prevalence of pneumococcal colonization in different pediatric populations. She has participated in the evaluation of higher-valency pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for infants.
Ryan H. Rochat, M.D.
Dr. Rochat is a pediatric infectious disease physician with an interest in informatics and long-term outcomes in congenital infections. He conducts studies on the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and neurodevelopmental outcomes of children born with congenital syphilis. He is also involved in a multicenter clinical trial directed towards rapid diagnosis of congenital syphilis. He currently runs a congenital syphilis clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital which seeks to normalize the evaluation and management of children with congenital syphilis and provide excellence in patient care, but also provide a useful resource to providers, the community, and local health departments.
Brittany Rodriguez, Pharm D
Brittany A. Rodriguez is one of the clinical pharmacy specialists for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infectious Diseases at Texas Children’s Hospital. She is a Board Certified Infectious Diseases Pharmacist, a Fellow of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, and a member of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacist as well as the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Brittany participates in multiple clinical research projects and leads several quality improvement initiatives to improve antimicrobial use in children and prevent antimicrobial resistance. Brittany’s interests include optimizing perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, rapid diagnostics, maternal and fetal infections, and Gram-negative resistance.
Beenish Rubbab, M.D.
Dr. Rubbab’s interests include antimicrobial stewardship, diagnostic stewardship, infections in immunocompromised hosts, and medical education. She leads the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Texas Children’s Hospital Austin campus, and her current research focuses on optimizing diagnostic stewardship to improve antimicrobial stewardship.
Grant Stimes, Pharm D
Dr. Stimes’ research interests include antimicrobial stewardship and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics with a focus on gram-negative infections. His focuses are on how to best use antimicrobials to treat infections while minimizing overall development of antimicrobial resistance and identifying stewardship interventions to optimize appropriate use of antimicrobials. Dr. Stimes also has a history of mentoring trainees including pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and medical fellows.
Jesus G. Vallejo, M.D.
Dr. Vallejo’s clinical and academic interests include general pediatric infectious diseases, health care disparities, and medical education. His research focuses on pediatric infectious diseases, including upper respiratory pathogens such as the Streptococcus anginosus group and Haemophilus influenzae, as well as sepsis, viral myocarditis, and device-related infections. He is actively involved in undergraduate medical education at Baylor and nationally. Dr. Vallejo serves as Dean for the Baylor College of Medicine School of Medicine Temple Campus.
Joint Faculty
Andrea T. Cruz, M.D.
Dr. Cruz’s primary appointment is in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, where she serves as the chief of research and is an associate division chief. Her research interests include clinical prediction rules, risk stratification of febrile children, sepsis management, and childhood tuberculosis. She is a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s American Committee for the Elimination of Tuberculosis. She serves as the deputy editor of Pediatrics and is the site principal investigator for the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) and the chair emeritus of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Committee.
Denver Niles, M.D.
Dr. Niles has research interests in diagnostic stewardship and antimicrobial resistance. His research has focused on the clinical impact of advanced diagnostics tests in the clinical microbiology laboratory and appropriate utilization of these tests.
Pedro A. Piedra, M.D.
Dr. Piedra's major research efforts are aimed to reduce respiratory virus illness burden in infants, children, and the community through successful vaccination programs. His research has focused on vaccine development and therapeutics against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza virus and other respiratory viruses. With the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic his laboratory has expanded to study SARS-CoV-2 biology including the molecular epidemiology, immunity, and disease pathogenesis. Recently his laboratory has developed a novel human nose organoid (HNO) platform that recapitulates the complexity of the respiratory epithelium. The adult and pediatric human nose organoid derived air-liquid interface cultures are being used to unravel the mechanisms underlying the pathobiology of respiratory viral infections, and for studying vaccines and therapeutics.
Jill E. Weatherhead, M.D., Ph.D., CTropMed
Dr. Weatherhead’s research focuses on host – parasite interactions that lead to end-organ disease. Dr. Weatherhead’s translational research laboratory investigates the mechanisms of parasitic larval migration through the host and anti-parasite immunity. The goal of the Weatherhead lab is to characterize parasite pathogenesis and identify targets for the development of novel diagnostic tests and preventative interventions like vaccines that are urgently needed to reduce the burden of parasitic infections in children around the world.
