Clinician Resources Planning Committee

Michael Fordis, MD is the founding director of the Center for Collaborative and Interactive Technologies (CCIT) at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; the Senior Associate Dean for Continuing Professional Development; and Director of the Institute for Continuing Professional Development in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. He has recently completed 8 years of service as the Director of the John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communication Sciences, the national center for evidence translation and dissemination supported by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; he also was the Director of the Academic Consortium for the Patient-Centered Outcomes and Research Institute Translation Center. Before being recruited to Baylor, he served at the NIH, including being the first Director of the NIH Office of Education.

Dr. Fordis’ interests focus on applying information technologies to healthcare provider and patient learning, decision making, behavioral change, quality improvement, and clinical decision support including leading the technical development of the Passport for Care, an online clinical decision support application deployed internationally for long-term survivors of childhood cancer and the clinicians who care for them.

He has been active in educational and technology efforts nationally and has served as President and in leadership positions for the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education; Chair of the Tri-group Society for the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions; and on numerous national committees and task forces as well as on the Accreditation Review Committee for the Accreditation Council on Continuing Medical Education. His awards at NIH include the Secretary’s (Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services) Award for Exceptional Achievement and the NIH Director’s Group Award. Other awards include induction into the Academy of Fellows of the Society for Academic CME; the William Campbell Felch/Wyeth Award for Research in CME from the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education; the President’s Award for Exemplary Service in CME from the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education; and the Fox Award for Research in CME from the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education.

Ashok Balasubramanyam, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Baylor College of Medicine, received his clinical and research training at Baylor and at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He serves as Vice President for Academic Integration at Baylor and Chief Academic Officer of Baylor-St. Luke’s Medical Center and the Texas Division of the Catholic Health Initiatives network. Dr. Balasubramanyam’s research focuses on the causes of complex metabolic diseases - he holds the Rutherford Chair in Diabetes Research and is known for his work in identifying and characterizing atypical forms of diabetes and disorders of adipose tissue. He is the principal investigator of the RADIANT (Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network) project, a consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health to discover and determine the causes of new forms of diabetes, and a member of the Baylor Center for the NIH’s Undiagnosed Diseases Network. He has been deeply involved in education at every level of clinical and research training, and currently serves as director of Baylor’s Clinical Scientist Training Program.

Dr. Balasubramanyam is Chair of the American Board of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, and a Councilor of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Blieden treats patients with Adult & Pediatric Glaucoma at the Alkek Eye Center and Texas Children's Hospital. She completed medical school and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, then went on to complete a fellowship in Glaucoma at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. Dr. Blieden was faculty at McGovern Medical School for 5 years where she was the Medical Director of the Vale-Asche-Russell Clinical Trials Unit before “coming back home” to Baylor in 2017. She serves on national committees for the Childhood Glaucoma Research Network, the American Glaucoma Society, the National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasia, the Sturge-Weber Foundation, and the Undiagnosed Disease Network.

Dr. Hatzenbuehler-Cameron has a clinical interest in the prevention and management of pediatric Tuberculosis (TB) and Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial (NTM) infections. Her most substantial research contribution was to implement a TB education, screening, evaluation, and treatment program in two HISD high schools. In addition, she helped with managing children with localized and disseminated Mycobacterium abscessus infections following a dental clinic water associated outbreak in Atlanta, GA. Following her return to TCH/BCM, she has joined a multidisciplinary team to collectively manage patients with CF who are infected with NTM. She has helped with the development and implementation of a Mycobacterium abscessus treatment protocol.

Lastly, Dr. Cameron has a passion for clinical education and curriculum development. She is the medical director of the pediatric resident and medical student rotations in pediatric ID and the associate fellowship program director in the section. She hopes to use this position to improve the education and training of learners in the field of pediatric ID.

Dr. Galant Chan is an infectious disease specialist with research interests in HIV prevention and treatment, medical education, general infectious diseases, and transplant infectious diseases. She earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and went on to complete her residency at Columbia University New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship at the University of Washington Medical Center. She is passionate about delivering high-quality, compassionate care to Houston and its neighboring communities.

Ms. Collier has over 20 years working in graduate medical education (GME) to include continuing education and faculty development. She has worked in the GME office and is currently managing the residency, fellowship, and medical students for the Neurosurgery department. She oversees grand round conferences and supports new initiatives to increase faculty development within the Neurosurgery department. Ms. Collier has worked closely with the ACGME, TMB, and various Neurosurgery organizations. Her passion for higher education continues to grow in her career and she looks forward to assisting trainees and faculty to become the best in their specialty.

Dr. Cortez is a primary care sports medicine and physical rehabilitation medicine physician. She is currently Assistant Professor in Sports Medicine and Spine Medicine for Baylor College of Medicine. She was previously Assistant Professor in Sports Medicine at the University of California Davis where she served as head team physician for American River College athletics and team physician for UC Davis athletics. She has also served internationally as race physician for The Yak Attack, the world's highest mountain bike race. Her clinical interests include primary care sports medicine, office-based primary care sports medicine procedures, diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, diagnostic sports ultrasound, and sports ultrasound guided procedures.

Dr. Czelusta’s first faculty role as Associate Residency Director upon psychiatry residency graduation at BCM in 2003 initiated a dream career trajectory that combined her interests in education, outpatient clinical work, administration and leadership. For the next 15 years, she was part of the Residency Director team, leading and expanding the psychiatry residency program to over 50 residents across dozens of clinical sites. Since 2018, Dr. Czelusta has been Vice Chair for Education, overseeing all undergraduate (UME) and graduate (GME) medical education as well as psychology training programs in the Department.

She has been involved in the Continuing Education Committee in the Department since 2002 when she was Psychiatry Chief Resident and now as Chair of the Committee. Since 2018, Dr. Czelusta’s leadership in Continuing Education has led to; 1) transition from paper to electronic Grand Rounds evaluations, 2) creation of review process for Grand Rounds proposals, 3) switch to all-virtual Zoom format with the pandemic, and 4) addition of Faculty Development Workshop series. In the near future, she aims to partner with more BCM Departments and local groups/institutions to co-sponsor outside speakers that result in further interdepartmental collaboration.

Dr. Donepudi has had a growing interest in medical education since early in her career. As a chief resident in OB/GYN, she was a participant in focused training programs for new intern physicians in preparing them for their clinical duties. During her MFM fellowship, she was an instructor for the OB emergency simulation program which was attended by the residents and all members of the obstetric team. She is currently involved in ultrasound education for medical students, OB/GYN residents, MFM fellows and fetal surgery fellows. With her experience in simulation, Dr. Donepudi was also able to organize and implement obstetric ultrasound simulations to further raise the quality of ultrasound education. Now as the associate fellowship director for the fetal surgery fellowship, she has been able to contribute to the ultrasound and intervention training curriculum in the form of online weekly case review and didactic sessions. Dr. Donepudi credits work with a group of remarkably talented faculty for boosting her interest in education. Her additional fetal surgery training has increased her understanding of normal and abnormal fetal development, ultrasound imaging and necessary interventions. This has given Dr. Donepudi great joy not only with patient care, which will always be an important part of her daily clinical activities but also because it has enhanced her educational interests.

Dr. Heinen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, and has worked as a hospitalist with Baylor College of Medicine since 2013. In 2016, she was an integral part of founding the Baylor Hospitalist Group at Baylor St Luke’s Medical Center and was named Associate Medical Director in 2018. Prior to 2016, a Baylor Hospitalist Group did not exist at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. The group has grown over the last 6 years to include 45 physicians with a daily census of >200 patients. They have improved the quality of care and decreased length of stay at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. Dr. Heinen was also named Assistant Director of Medical Education at BSLMC in 2018. In this role, she developed a hospitalist rotation for trainees who are upper-level residents. She worked with another colleague to develop a medical student elective in hospitalist medicine, which welcomed its first student in 2022. She serves as the director of Baylor St. Luke’s Internal Medicine Grand Rounds, which provides educational opportunities for residents and faculty at Baylor St Luke’s. Dr. Heinen was elected to the Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center Medical Executive Committee as a voting Member at Large in 2020. More recently, she was named Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine residency program.

Exploring the issue of health inequity and fairness in various forms, Dr. Juneja hopes to further efforts for eliminating disparities. As a healthcare provider, a researcher, an educator, and a community partner, she is passionate about the care of underserved populations. Dr. Juneja believes that lifelong learning is the amalgam that allows passion to join purpose and is committed to adopting the role of a seeker.

Dr. Khera is currently a Professor of Urology in the Scott Department of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine. He holds the F. Brantley Scott Chair in Urology. He earned his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University. He subsequently earned his Masters Degree in Business Administration and his Masters Degree in Public Health from Boston University. He received his Medical Degree from The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio and completed his Urology residency training in the Scott Department of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine. After finishing a six-year residency in Urology, he completed a one-year fellowship in Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Khera currently specializes in male and female sexual dysfunction and testosterone replacement therapy. Dr. Khera also serves as the Director of the Laboratory for Andrology Research, the Medical Director of the Baylor Executive Health Program and the Medical Director of the Scott Department of Urology. He is currently President-Elect of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America.

Dr. Lalani is currently a Professor and has served as the Director of Continued Medical Education series for Clinical Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine for the past 7 years. She completed a residency in Pediatrics at Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania and then fellowship in Clinical Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. She subsequently completed training in Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics. Her work has focused on understanding the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and cardiovascular disorders in children using chromosomal microarray analysis and exome sequencing. Dr. Lalani has also been involved with rapid sequencing of children with birth defects admitted in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. She has worked with the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) at Baylor College of Medicine for several years and helped characterize diagnoses in multiple undiagnosed children with rare diseases. Her team has made several novel gene discoveries related to pediatric disorders in the past decade. In 2016, she and her team identified the first cohort of patients with TANGO2 disorder, which led to a rewarding association with an international parental support organization, TANGO2 Research Foundation. Dr. Lalani currently serves as a Board member of the foundation.

Janet Malek, PhD is an associate professor of medicine and medical ethics at Baylor College of Medicine's Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy and the director of the Houston Methodist Biomedical Ethics Program. In these roles, Dr. Malek designs and teaches ethics and professionalism programs for Baylor residents and medical students, conducts research on the implementation of genomic sequencing into clinical practice, and carries out ethics consultation and other ethics activities throughout the Houston Methodist Hospital System. She also serves as the Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care. Her research focuses on issues related to clinical ethics, genomic and reproductive ethics, and professionalism education.

Dr. Mullen has a full-time appointment as an administrator and educator in the School of Health Professions. Currently serving as Interim Dean for the school, she is working to ensure faculty are supported towards promotion, administrative staff as supported in development, and students have successful outcomes in their programs. As a leader within our school, Dr. Mullen strives to demonstrate integrity and respect while supporting mission-driven projects and professional development. She has ensured faculty are supported in both education and research arenas through bringing in content-experts and encouraging faculty development. Her journey to higher education has not been straightforward. After starting a career in secondary education, she returned to graduate school to pursue athletic training. After obtaining my MSAT, she applied to a job posting in the profession of orthotics and prosthetics and never looked back. Dr. Mullen completed post-baccalaureate certificates in orthotics and prosthetics, with time away from employment during 2012-2013 due to family obligations, and successfully passed her board examinations to become a Certified Prosthetist Orthotist. Since entering the profession, she has always had a desire to return to teaching in her chosen healthcare field. As an educator in the Orthotics and Prosthetics Program, she is driven to ensure the success of her students through evidence-based education, quality assessment, and a commitment to modeling the values of lifelong learning and professionalism. In 2016 Dr. Mullen returned to higher education to successfully pursue a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies. Through this training, she developed skills as both a faculty member and an educational researcher. As a researcher in orthotics and prosthetics education, she has examined the progression of learners from admissions to clinical education, with a particular interest in competency-based assessment and performance. As an administrative leader in the School of Health Professions, she aims to support faculty toward academic promotion and students towards participation in research.

Dr. Pillow is an educator-clinician dedicated to “education design,” the creation of immersive learning environments. His focus has been leveraging education technology to disrupt existing practices and find innovative educational methods and modalities for learners across all disciplines. In this capacity, he designs and delivers curriculum in many different contexts, but particularly enjoys faculty development, technology-enhanced instruction, simulation, and bedside teaching. Dr. Pillow has had the privilege to teach, design curriculum, and serve in multiple leadership roles involving pre-medical education, medical student education, allied health education, graduate medical education, and continuing medical education. His current primary roles include serving as the Vice Chair Education for the Department of Emergency Medicine, as well as the Medical Director of the Simulation and Standardized Patient Program in the Office of Curriculum. In both these roles, he has helped build new programs and assessments to further the BCM education mission. Dr. Pillow’s breadth of my education scholarship reflects a breadth of experience and impact across the education continuum. He has a strong reputation for education excellence locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Locally, Dr. Pillow has been invited to multiple core committees across the institution and is supported by the Office of Curriculum to address curricular needs. Regionally, nationally, and internationally, he has been invited to speak, give workshops, and consult on a broad range of education topics, particularly education technology. Dr. Pillow continues his goal of creating immersive learning environments and aspires to create enduring learning experiences that will be continued and built upon by those that follow him.

Dr. Rochat’s experience as an MD/PhD has been a variegated and unique one. Exposure to bioinformatics during his graduate training in Genetic Epidemiology and Big Data during his Ph.D. training shaped the way he approaches medicine in the era of the Electronic Health Records (EHRs). His first foray into informatics occurred during Masters training when he developed a series of computer programs to collect, parse, and aggregate genetic data from queries of large publicly available databases to focus selection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms for genetic research. During his residency training, Dr. Rochat focused his efforts on developing a series of computer programs that would parse the EHR and systematically re-write themselves to adapt to the varied input data to determine rates of medication side-effects. This background has given him a unique perspective to medicine and nurtured his unconventional approach to data processing, informatics, and research. During his clinical fellowship in pediatric infectious disease, Dr. Rochat used similar high-throughput informatics to understand the healthcare-associated costs of congenital CMV and better understand the progression of this disease and its many sequelae throughout time. As a faculty member, Dr. Rochat has chosen to pursue clinical informatics because he recognizes the impact this field can have on care delivery and clinical research in an increasingly digitized world. His past experiences have steered him towards congenital infections and recent opportunities amidst a congenital syphilis epidemic have piqued his interest in this neglected disease. Dr. Rochat will continue to use these skills to further integrate the readily available digital clinical information into clinical workflow and use real-time patient data to drive clinical research and decision making. Dr. Rochat anticipates that these skills and tools will support the development of standardized protocols to query large patient record system to recover clinical information of particular interest to longitudinal studies and healthcare outcomes accordingly.

Dr. Joyee Vachani is a pediatric hospitalist and Associate Professor in Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) who is passionate about collaborating and representing diverse voices to deliver high quality, safe care to children. Dr. Vachani completed a residency in Pediatrics followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) at Emory School of Medicine in 2009. She subsequently completed a Master's of Education (M.Ed), Advanced Quality Improvement and Patient Safety course and Six-Sigma training at TCH, and a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Management from Rice University. During her time as faculty, Dr. Vachani has led local and national educational, quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives by mentoring inter-professional individuals and teams, developing curricula, participating in NIH and HRSA grant-funded research, disseminating/ publishing scholarly work, and serving in leadership roles. Dr. Vachani was a PHM fellowship program director for 10+ years and immediate past Chair of the AAP Section of Hospital Medicine (SOHM) Subcommittee of Educators. She currently serves as the Department of Pediatrics Associate Quality Officer and PHM Director of Quality and Safety at BCM/ TCH and is an active member of the AAP EQIPP (Education in Quality Improvement for Pediatric Practice), American Pediatric Association Quality and Safety Improvement Scholars committees, and incoming Chair of the AAP SOHM First Year PHM fellow conference. In her roles, Dr. Vachani works with team members to serve and support pediatricians across the country.

Chad T. Wilson, M.D., M.P.H. is a board-certified Trauma Surgeon in Houston, Texas. Dr. Wilson was born in Houston and grew up here prior to matriculating at The University of Texas at Austin where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 1997. Dr. Wilson then left Texas for nearly 20 years to pursue his professional interests in medicine.

He went to medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD and graduated in 2001. He then began his clinical training in surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. During surgical residency, he took a two year hiatus from clinical work to concentrate on research and completed the VA Outcomes Fellowship at the White River Junction VA in Vermont while simultaneously earning a MPH in 2006 from the Dartmouth Medical School’s Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences in Hanover, New Hampshire. He then completed his training in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2008, before relocating to rural East Africa for 1 year to work as a surgeon based out of Kijabe Hospital in Kenya as part of the Thomas S. Durant Fellowship in Refugee Medicine which was awarded to him in 2008. After a year abroad, he returned to Massachusetts General Hospital where he completed a 2 year fellowship in Acute Care Surgery (critical care, trauma, and emergency surgery) in 2011. Dr. Wilson was then recruited to New York to join the staff of the department of surgery at the New York University School of Medicine, where he spent 5 years as an assistant professor with a clinical focus on trauma at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest county hospital in the country.

Finally, Dr. Wilson returned home to Houston, Texas in 2016 to join the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine as an associate professor in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and to serve in a leadership capacity in trauma care at Ben Taub Hospital.