About Us Our Leadership
Debra F. Sukin, MHA, PhD, FACHE
President and CEO
As President and CEO 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 four hospital locations — Texas Children’s Medical Center Campus, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands and Texas Children's North Austin Campus.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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).
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Myra Davis
Image
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.
Image
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).
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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.