Community Activities
Our commitment to community ranges near and far, and from engagements with existing charitable and not-for-profit organizations to those generated by department members.
The following is a small sampling of these activities:
Houston Walk for Victory: For the majority of his career Dr. Joseph Coselli has been at the forefront of the treatment of patients with Marfan syndrome. Dr. Coselli’s clinical stewardship has helped make the Texas Medical Center a major site for Marfan and heart-related studies. For over two decades, Dr. Coselli has partnered with The Marfan Foundation, bringing the foundation’s community-building and philanthropic events to Houston, including the nationwide Walk for Victory program benefiting the foundation’s research into this life-threatening genetic disorder. He chaired the inaugural 2016 Houston Walk for Victory, which raised nearly $140K—the largest and most successful fundraising even in the history of the foundation, and leads the “Coselli’s Crusaders,” a top fundraising team.
International Missions
The Department of Surgery has a long history of training surgeons to provide excellence in medical care to underserved and resource-limited communities in the US and around the globe:
Smile Train: As chair of the medical advisory board of the international non-profit, Smile Train, Dr. Larry H. Hollier, professor and surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital, has participated in numerous global surgical capacity-building trips for the treatment of craniofacial and hand deformities. Overall, he has safely supervised over 100,000 pediatric cleft surgeries in 85 countries. Dr. Laura Monson, assistant professor of surgery, traveled to Egypt and Dr. Edward Buchanan, associate professor and chief of pediatric plastic surgery, traveled to Tanzania to treat these children as well.
Global Surgery Residency: As a reflection of its commitment to both the Houston community and the international community, the Department of Surgery offers a curriculum to train leaders in Academic Global Surgery. Dr. Jed G. Nuchtern, professor of pediatric surgery, serves as chief of this innovative program. The General Surgery Residency incorporates a rigorous two-year global curriculum founded on broad-based surgical skills, international experience, and academic training. With an emphasis on both clinical training in a variety of medical fields and on cognitive and systems-based learning from regional experts and global organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Baylor Global Surgery Track residents are poised to meet the needs of patients in the operating room and beyond. All residents graduate prepared to address the majority of the 44 essential surgeries as outlined by DCP-3 and to lead local, national, and international initiatives.
Dr. Larry Hollier: Smile Train, Texas
In a interview with ETHealthworld, Dr. Larry Hollier, Chairman, Medical Advisory Board, Smile Train, Texas, talks about the areas of growth and the challenges that exist in terms of spreading awareness about the simple cleft surgery.