Sara Stephens

Instructor

Email

sstephen@bcm.edu

Positions

Instructor: Pediatrics
Pediatric Cardiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX, US

Education

BA from Baylor University: Waco, Texas, United States; Medical Humanities, Biology

MPH from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: Houston, Texas, United States; Epidemiology

PhD from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: Houston, Texas, United States; Epidemiology

Honors & Awards

Aurelia Murphy Killian Endowment In Public Health: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (08/2020)

First Place, Best Clinical Poster: Baylor College of Medicine Cardiovascular Research Institute (03/2022)

Dean's Scholarship: UTHealth School of Public Health (08/2022)

Young Investigator Competition Finalist: American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (10/2023)

Alpha Iota Chapter: Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health (05/2024)

Professional Statement

As a pediatric epidemiologist, my long-term goal is to advance our understanding of the genetic causes and outcomes associated with congenital heart disease (CHD) to ultimately generate clinically informative prognostication tools and screening strategies for affected children and families. My research focuses on health outcomes among children with cardiovascular and genetic disorders, with a specific focus on structural cardiac defects, hereditary arrhythmia disease, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. I bring expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics, building on prior applications to large-scale studies evaluating the clinical and genetic epidemiology of CHD. My scientific work is grounded in collaborative efforts at the city, state, and national levels, including partnerships with experts the Texas Medical Center, public health agencies, and hospitals across the United States. These collaborations have enabled me to contribute to epidemiologic investigations that may inform both clinical practice and public health guidelines, including both population-based investigations of all CHD and rare diseases.

Selected Publications

Stephens SB, Morris SA, Benjamin RH, Canfield MA, Shumate CJ, Li R, Cazaban-Ganduglia C, Agopian AJ. " Longitudinal Trends in Pediatric Survival by Congenital Heart Defect in Texas, 1999 to 2017 " JACC Adv.. 2025 May 19;
Pubmed PMID: 40393281.
Stephens SB, Follansbee CW, Novy T, Howard TS, Pham TD, Lang AM, Beecroft-Dawson T, Yesso A, Soludczyk E, Zou W, Fan Y, Kim JJ, Valdes SO, Miyake CY.. " Clinical and Genetic Variant Reanalysis Among Pediatric Probands Undergoing Genetic Testing for Arrhythmia Syndromes " Heart Rhythm. 2025 Oct ;
Pubmed PMID: 40383177.
Stephens SB, Tsang R, Li R, Cazaban-Ganduglia C, Agopian AJ, Morris SA. " Congenital Heart Defects and Concurrent Diagnoses in Influenza Hospitalization in the Pediatric Health Information System Study, 2004–2019 " Pediatr Cardiol. 2024 Aug ;
Pubmed PMID: 39103680.
Stephens SB, Benjamin RH, Lopez KN, Anderson BR, Lin AE, Shumate CJ, Nembhard WN, Morris SA, Agopian AJ. " Enhancing the Classification of Congenital Heart Defects for Outcome Association Studies in Birth Defects Registries " Birth Defects Res. 2024 Aug ;
Pubmed PMID: 39169811.
Stephens SB, Shalhub S, Dodd N, Li J, Huang M, Oda S, Kancherla K, ..., Morris SA. " Vertebral Tortuosity Is Associated With Increased Rate of Cardiovascular Events in Vascular Ehlers‐Danlos Syndrome " 2023 Sep ;
Pubmed PMID: 37776192.
Moore JA, Stephens SB, Kertesz NJ, Evans DL, Kim JJ, Howard TS, Pham TD, Valdés SO, de la Uz CM, Raymond TT, Morris SA, Miyake CY. " Clinical Predictors of Recurrent Supraventricular Tachycardia in Infancy " J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Sep ;
Pubmed PMID: 36109110.
Stephens SB, Raphael JL, Zimmerman CT, Garland BH, de Guzman MM, Walsh SM, Hergenroeder AC, Wiemann CM. " The Utility of Self-Determination Theory in Predicting Transition Readiness in Adolescents With Special Healthcare Needs " J Adolesc Health. 2021 Oct ;
Pubmed PMID: 34059429.

Memberships

American Academy of Pediatrics

American Heart Association

Society For Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research

Society For Epidemiologic Research