Pediatrician-Scientist Program Residents

Hometown: Charlotte, NC 
Undergraduate Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
Medical/Graduate School Institution: The Ohio State University College of Medicine 

Research interests: I’m interested in studying disease processes in primary epithelial or other tissue cultures in either the lung or gut. 

Fellowship Interest: Pulmonology, Gastroenterology 

Why did you pick Texas Children's/Baylor Pediatrician-Scientist Program? 
I was drawn to Baylor PSP because of the breadth of programmatic activities and opportunities for physician-scientist specific training for PSP residents. Currently, my research interests are broad but so are the research opportunities within Baylor, Texas Children’s and the Texas Medical Center. The research and mentoring environment give me confidence that this is a place where I will be able to define my research interests and build an incredible supportive research network for the early stages of my career. These research opportunities, alongside the excellent clinical training at the nation’s largest children’s hospital, in one of the nation’s largest and most diverse cities, provides a unique combination for training to truly be a well-rounded pediatric-scientist. 

What do you do for fun? Workout, watch sports, cook, bake, dinner and drinks with friends
E-mail: tiffany.king@bcm.edu 

Hometown: Nashville, TN 
Undergraduate Institution: Davidson College
Medical/Graduate School Institution: Vanderbilt

Research interests: My current research interests are aimed at better understanding microbial-host interactions at mucosal surfaces. I hope to decipher the mechanisms of how enteric bacterial infections alter extra-intestinal organs and can be therapeutically targeted to alleviate disease burden in children suffering from intestinal infections.

Fellowship Interest: Infectious Diseases

Why did you pick Texas Children's/Baylor Pediatrician-Scientist Program? I chose the Texas Children's/Baylor PSP because the fantastic mentorship opportunities, strong track record of trainees, and amazing people integrated within the leadership team and the program. The Texas Children's/Baylor PSP has been incredibly supportive in developing an individualized mentoring program and providing structured protected time to facilitate my growth as a pediatrician-scientist. The combination of amazing clinical educators with an abundance of basic and translational research support - centered in the culturally rich and diverse city of Houston - has made this program an ideal home for me. 

What do you do for fun? Playing and coaching ultimate frisbee, trying new restaurants and cooking with my wife, and hiking with our dog.
E-mail: christopher.peek@bcm.edu 

Home Town: New York, N.Y.
Undergraduate Institution: University of Maryland
Medical/Graduate School Institution: University of Minnesota

Research interests: My research focuses on the homeostasis of mucosal immunity, primarily antiviral CD8+ T cells. As I continue training in pediatrics, I am excited to identify areas of translational research that will synergize with ongoing basic research on surveillance and survival mechanisms employed by tissue-resident immune cells.

Fellowship Interest: Allergy/Immunology

Why did you pick Texas Children's/Baylor Pediatrician-Scientist Program?
I chose Texas Children's/Baylor College of Medicine for its thoughtful commitment to training future pediatrician scientists. Our program promotes the development of well-rounded pediatricians by providing early autonomy in medical decision-making. At the same time, dedicated research time has been integrated into every year of training, so that I can continue pursuit of research interests and develop new connections to research centered on pediatric disease. The Texas Children's/Baylor pediatric research community is an outstanding resource and has been very welcoming and supportive of my career development every step of the way.

What do you do for fun?
Cycling, grilling, watching Terps basketball, and spending time with my family
E-mail: sathi.wijeyesinghe@bcm.edu

Home Town: Taipei City, Taiwan
Undergraduate Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Graduate/Medical School Institution: Northwestern University

Research interests: I am interested in studying disease mechanisms and identify new treatment targets through a global metabolomics approach.

Fellowship Interest: Genetics

Why did you pick Texas Children's/Baylor Pediatrician-Scientist Program?
I love the breadth of research Texas Children's/Baylor has to offer and the strong and rigorous clinical training opportunities.

What do you do for fun?
Binge-watching Netflix dramas
E-mail: jimmy.h.chang@bcm.edu

Home Town: Fresno, Calif.
Undergraduate Institution: Smittcamp Family Honors College at California State University, Fresno
Medical/ Graduate School Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

Research interests: I am interested in healthcare policy research and biomedical informatics. Pediatricians rely on data extrapolated from adults as normative part of everyday practice. The origin of this practice pattern is likely attributable to hesitancy surrounding the conduct of clinical research with this vulnerable population and relatively low disease prevalence, limiting enrollment. A few pieces of legislation have attempted to address these barriers with the goal of making novel therapeutics accessible to more children in a safe and timely manner. We hypothesize that policies governing the use of adult-derived data for FDA approval of pediatric drugs and devices may result in the unintended consequence of disincentivizing the conduct of robust pediatrics studies in lieu of extrapolation from adult data. In turn, we propose leveraging existing clinical data with bioinformatics approaches to inform targeted clinic studies in the pediatric population.

Fellowship Interest: Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Why did you pick Texas Children's/Baylor Pediatrician-Scientist Program?
With the degree of personalized mentoring and encouragement to develop “Texas-sized” ideas, I knew this was a place in which I would not only thrive, but grow into a more autonomous pediatrician scientist.

What do you do for fun?
I enjoy playing soccer, running, listening to music, cooking, and cuddling with my cats.
E-mail: Audra.Iness@bcm.edu