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About Us Our Leadership
Mark A. Wallace
Chief Executive Officer
Mark A. Wallace was appointed president and chief executive officer of Texas Children’s Hospital in 1989 at the age of 36. Under his leadership, Texas Children’s has grown into one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive pediatric and women’s health care organizations, recording nearly 4.9 million patient encounters annually and achieving international recognition as a referral center. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Texas Children’s Hospital in the top four among all children’s hospitals in the nation.
Debra F. Sukin, MHA, PhD, FACHE
President
As President of Texas Children’s, one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive pediatric and women’s health care organizations, Dr. Debra F. Sukin oversees all administrative and clinical areas of the Texas Children’s system including its three hospital locations — Texas Children’s Medical Center Campus, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.
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Dean B. Andropoulos, MD, M.H.C.M.
Anesthesiologist-in-Chief and Chair of Texas Children's Department of Anesthesiology
Dean Andropoulos, M.D., M.H.C.M. is Anesthesiologist-in-Chief, and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics, and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine. He received his M.D. degree from the University of California, San Diego, and completed Pediatrics and Anesthesiology residencies at the University of California, San Francisco. He also earned a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Michael A. Belfort, MD, PhD
Obstetrician/Gynecologist-in-Chief and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Michael A. Belfort, MD, PhD, is Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Obstetrician and Gynecologist-in-Chief of Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Belfort serves as the medical director of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, which offers women a complete range of obstetric and gynecologic services.
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Larry H. Hollier Jr., MD, FACS, FAAP
Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Surgery at Texas Children's
Dr. Larry H. Hollier, Jr. is a board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery. He is a Professor of Plastic Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Pediatrics. He serves as the Baron Hardy Chair of Plastic Surgery and as the Surgeon in Chief and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital. He is also a Vice Chair of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.
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Thierry A.G.M. Huisman, MD, PD, EDiNR, EDiPNR, FICIS
Radiologist-in-Chief and Chair of Texas Children’s Department of Radiology
Dr. Huisman serves as Radiologist-in-Chief at Texas Children’s Hospital. Prior to coming to Texas Children’s Hospital, Dr. Huisman served as Chairman of the Department of Imaging and Imaging Science at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. In addition he was Director of the Division of Pediatric Radiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Co-Director of the Neurointensive Care Nursery (NICN), the Johns Hopkins Fetal Program and Center for Translational and Molecular Imaging (CTMI).
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Lara Shekerdemian, MD
Pediatrician In-Chief and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Lara S. Shekerdemian is Pediatrician-in-Chief at Texas Children’s Hospital, bringing 23 years of experience on three continents — 11 of those at Texas Children’s, where she has served as Chief of Critical Care since 2010. She also is Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and a tenured Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, where she previously served as Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Pediatrics.
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Jeffrey S. Shilt, MD
Community-In-Chief
He is the Medical Director of the Motion Analysis & Human Performance Lab and serves as the Pediatric Sports Medicine Liaison to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for USA Cycling.
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James Versalovic, MD, PhD
Pathologist-in-Chief and Chair of Texas Children’s Department of Pathology
Dr. Versalovic serves as Pathologist-In-Chief at Texas Children’s Hospital and Director of Texas Children’s Microbiome Center. He is the Milton J. Finegold Professor and Vice Chair of Pathology & Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine. He also is Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics, Molecular Virology & Microbiology, and Pediatrics, and Co-Director of the Medical Scientist (MD/PhD) Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine.
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Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD
Research-In-Chief
An internationally-renowned physician-scientist, Zoghbi founded the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at TCH in 2010. Under her leadership, it now is a premier destination for families with neurological concerns.
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Linda Aldred
Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
Linda Aldred, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Texas Children’s Hospital, also serves as the principal strategist and implementer for the People Strategies and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives across the Texas Children’s system.
Ms. Aldred has been an executive at Texas Children’s for nearly two decades. In addition to her Human Resources role, her tenure has also included leading marketing, public relations and community initiatives.
Her enthusiasm lies in fostering leadership development, enriching the employee experience and creating a compelling and inclusive environment where people can perform their work with fulfillment. Ms. Aldred characterizes her leadership approach as “thinking big, leading it bigger and being the difference.” She is steadfast in her belief that an organization cannot attain preeminence without building and executing effective and meaningful people strategies that demonstrate and exemplify its brand and culture.
Ms. Aldred holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Houston and a Master’s in Organizational Performance and Change from Colorado State University.
Outside of work, Linda enjoys spending time with her family, hiking in international locations, and learning from leadership books and podcasts.
Myra Davis
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Executive Vice President & Chief Information and Innovation Officer
Myra Davis is the Executive Vice President and Chief Information and Innovation Officer at Texas Children’s, an internationally recognized health care organization for pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology, research center and teaching hospital affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine.
For 30 + years she has been in the profession of bridging the gap leading and communicating the opportunities and benefits of technology. Davis has served at Texas Children’s Hospital as the Director of Customer Support in Information Services; Assistant Vice President of Information Services; Vice President of Information Services and Sr. Vice President of Information Services. Prior to joining Texas Children’s her career included serving roles of software development; project management; leadership positions and various consulting roles where she has not only lead technology implementations but she’s had to influence the change management that’s often forgotten and required for adoption and acceptance of technology to be successful.
Davis was the 2023 Winner of the HoustonCIO Leadership ORBIE® , 2019 Winner of the Houston CIO of the Year Orbie Award and nominated as a CIO Finalist in 2018. She has was also nominated by peers and awarded the CIO of the Year in the Houston Business Journal 2017. In 2014, Texas Children’s received 2014 ComputerWorld Data + Award and Most Wired. In 2013, for the very first time Texas Children’s received Most Wired and Most Wired Innovation Award. Texas Children’s has been a recipient of Most Wired 6 consecutive years. In 2011, CIO magazine recognized Texas Children’s Hospital as one of most innovative organizations by naming the facility as winner of the CIO 100 award, which exemplifies the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology.
Davis served on the Board of Directors for CHIME (College of Health Information Management Executives) 2015-2018 - a professional organization for Chief Information Officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. She is also a faculty member of the CHIME Educational Boot Camp. She was a member of Board of Directors for Genesys Works – a non-profit organization focused on giving underprivileged high school students the opportunity to work in corporate environments. Davis has also served on the CIO Advisory Forum of the Child Healthcare Corporation of America (CHCA), the Strategic Advisory Board of the Help Desk Institute (HDI) and the CIO Executive Council of the Executive Women in IT Steering Committee. She also is a member of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Davis has an B.S. Computer Information Management, Loyola University, New Orleans, La, and M.S. Software Development, St. Thomas University, Minneapolis, MN and is professionally certified in Medical and Healthcare Management, ITIL Foundation (Gartner Institute of Project Management), Facilitative Leadership, Consulting as an IT Professional, Negotiating as an IT Professional, Conflict Management, Advance Project Management and E-Business Rapid Technology Development.
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Dan DiPrisco
Executive Vice President
Dan DiPrisco, is an Executive Vice President at Texas Children's Hospital. Mr. DiPrisco has been with Texas Children’s for 18 years, starting out as an administrative fellow at BCM in 2002, and progressing quickly through the ranks. Mr. DiPrisco’s role during his tenure has progressed from business and physician support service leadership to hospital operations as Senior Vice President of The Woodlands and the Baylor Operating Unit. Mr. DiPrisco was critical in implementing and leading the Texas Children's Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine Operating Unit and opening The Woodlands Campus.
Currently, his primary areas of operational responsibility include the pediatric inpatient and ambulatory services on the Texas Medical Center Campus, Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, nursing, pharmacy, respiratory and therapy services, as well as continued oversight of the institutional affiliation between Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital.
Mr. DiPrisco holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from Purdue University and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Indiana University. He is a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional with the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), and also holds memberships with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA).
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Weldon Gage
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Weldon Gage, is the Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer for Texas Children’s. Mr. Gage re-joined Texas Children’s in June of 2016. He previously served in financial leadership roles at Texas Children’s for six years between 2005 and 2011. Prior to coming back to Texas Children’s, Mr. Gage served in the CFO roles at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Mr. Gage’s healthcare financial management career began in 1997 at the Hendrick Health System in Abilene, Texas.
In addition to leading the organization’s financial strategy and overseeing the system’s financial management functions, his responsibilities currently include oversight of the system’s Revenue Cycle, Legal, Risk Management, Audit, Compliance and Government Relations functions.
Mr. Gage is a graduate of Texas A & M University with a Masters of Business Administration degree. He is also a graduate of Hardin-Simmons University with a BBA in Finance.
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Matt Girotto
Executive Vice President
Matt Girotto, is an Executive Vice President at Texas Children’s Hospital. He has been with Texas Children’s since completing his Administrative Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2002. During his tenure he has held a variety of leadership roles throughout the organization most recently serving as the Sr. Vice President overseeing ambulatory access, capital approvals and the nation’s number one heart center. In his current role he is focused on anesthesiology, pathology, radiology, surgery, the heart center, physical, occupational and speech therapy, food and nutrition services, quality and safety, facilities operations and planning.
Matt holds Bachelor’s degrees in Finance and Management from Texas A&M University and Master’s degrees in Health Administration and Human Resources from Washington University in St. Louis. In addition, Matt serves on two boards that closely align with the mission and vision of Texas Children’s, LifeGift and Nora’s Home.
Kelly Jo Golson
Executive Vice President and Chief Brand & Marketing Officer
Kelly Jo, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand & Marketing Officer, leads brand strategy, marketing, public relations and consumer experience across the Texas Children’s system.
Kelly Jo is an accomplished executive with more than 30 years of expertise in marketing, communications, public affairs, digital innovation, consumer experience and philanthropy. She has led sweeping transformative growth strategies, spending the last nearly 17 years as the Executive Vice President, Chief Brand, Communications & Consumer Officer at the national system, Advocate Health.
Golson is recognized for building culture, developing high-performing leaders and teams and successfully implementing multifaceted change. She has leveraged digital innovation, executive stakeholder engagement, breakthrough branding and extraordinary story telling both internally and externally to build lasting value.
In addition to progressive experience across four large health care systems, Golson has held leadership roles in the staffing and retail industries. She began her career as a journalist.
She is a bold and strategic thinker who has advanced growth and brand strength on a national level, and has received numerous recognitions including being recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a Notable Marketing Executive in 2021 and 2020. She has served in a variety of leadership roles with the American Heart Association, The Health Management Academy and Ragan Communications and is the founder and Board Chair of Jay’s Hope, a non-profit organization focused on offering hope and support to young adults battling cancer.
Golson received a master’s degree in business administration from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M University
A native Texan, outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling and running.
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Keith Nelson
Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer
Keith Nelson is Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer for Texas Children’s Hospital. Mr. Nelson joined Texas Children’s Hospital as Director of Investments in 2013. He assumed responsibility as SVP & Chief Investment Officer in 2018 and broadened his scope across the enterprise as Executive Vice President in 2023. In his current role, Mr. Nelson is responsible for the direction, oversight, administration and management for all Texas Children’s investment portfolios, including the organization’s long-term reserves and pension plan, as well as the investable reserves for the Texas Children’s Health Plan.
Prior to Texas Children’s, Mr. Nelson served on the investment team for the North Carolina Retirement Systems, following several roles in investment management and finance at Hatteras Funds, Dogwood Equity and Wachovia Securities.
An Ohio native, Mr. Nelson is a graduate of Davidson College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, as well as the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University where he earned a Master of Business Administration.
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Tabitha Rice
Executive Vice President
In her role as Executive Vice President, Tabitha is responsible for a variety of areas including Texas Children’s research enterprise, Texas Children’s Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics. Tabitha has been part of the Texas Children’s family for more than two decades, after starting her career as an Administrative Fellow. During her tenure, she has led numerous strategic priorities at Texas Children’s including our ongoing and system-wide care coordination initiative.
After graduating from University of Pennsylvania in 1996, Tabitha earned a certificate in public health from Harvard, and then her MBA at Rice University in 2000.
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Russ Williams
Senior Vice President, Texas Children’s Austin, Preceptor, Administrative Fellowship
As Senior Vice President of Texas Children’s Austin, Russ Williams is tasked with executing forward-thinking ideas to amplify Texas Children’s mission and impressive expansion into the central Texas community.
Williams brings more than 20 years of successfully navigating complex health care systems with academic components to his role with Texas Children’s latest freestanding, state-of-the-art hospital and the other Austin facilities. By the end of 2024, he expects the Texas Children’s Hospital North Austin Campus to be so busy due to the safety and quality of care provided that further growth is needed.
Aisha Jamal
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Chief of Staff and Vice President, Corporate Governance
Aisha serves as Chief of Staff to the President & CEO and works closely with him to implement his vision for the strategic, financial and operational priorities for the organization. As Vice President of Corporate Governance, Aisha serves as the key liaison with the Texas Children’s Board of Trustees and also oversees the governance structure and related documents for the Texas Children’s system. Aisha has also held interim responsibilities for marketing and public relations at Texas Children’s.
Aisha holds a B.S. in Accounting, an MBA in Finance and is a Certified Public Accountant.