Albert C. Hergenroeder, MD - Chief

I am a board certified specialist in pediatrics, sports medicine and adolescent medicine who has brought a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the care of adolescents and young adults with a variety of conditions, with special interests in improving the process of safely, effectively and efficiently helping youth and young adults with special health care needs transition from pediatric to adult-based care. I have provided subspecialty adolescent medicine care for youth with chronic illness and disabilities and sports medicine care at Texas Children’s Hospital since 1986.

Clinical Interests:

My goal is to provide the best care to adolescents and young adults in an interdisciplinary context. I provide care to adolescents and young adults with a variety of adolescent medicine problems including eating disorders, mental health conditions, menstrual problems and chronic fatigue; and sports medicine problems, including sports medicine problems, including common musculoskeletal injures, concussion, and problems associated with the female athlete triad: bone health, menstrual problems and inadequate nutritional intake.

Organizations and Roles:

As the Founding Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, BCM, my philosophy of combining the two specialties into one program was to provide a framework for serving as broad a spectrum of adolescents and young adults (AYA) as possible. This framework addresses traditional health risk behaviors associated with the leading causes of AYA morbidity and mortality, e.g. accidents, suicide, homicide and issues related to reproductive health, while promoting healthy lifestyles including physical activity, and, therefore, blending exercise physiology and sports medicine with adolescent growth and development. Addressing common conditions such as anxiety, obesity, eating disorders and chronic fatigue by incorporating healthy eating and physical activity when appropriate has characterized our Division’s approach to clinical care, research, teaching, public health, and advocacy for 36 years and makes us unique among adolescent medicine programs. I am the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Director.

I was a founding member of the University Interscholastic League’s (UIL) Medical Advisory Committee in 2010 and remain an active member, advising the UIL on medical issues related to extracurricular activities for students across Texas. I have served as a high school and college team physician for 38 years.

I saw the need to improve the transition from pediatric to adult-based care for AYA with special health care needs and I founded the Annual Baylor Transition Conference, which held its 22nd annual meeting in 2021 and broadcast to over 300 registrants in 36 states, Australia, and Canada. I founded and am Program Director for the Annual Chronic Illness and Disability Conference:

Transition from Pediatric to Adult-Base Care, holding the 20th annual meeting in 2019. The conference is attended by patients, families, and an interdisciplinary spectrum of health care professionals, including pediatricians, family medicine, internal medicine, combined medicine-pediatric physicians, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, other health care coordinators/navigators, dietitians, psychologists, counselors, hospital and clinic administrators, public health professionals, and community agency representatives (continuing education credits are offered). Attendance at the conference has grown from 65 participants in its inaugural year (2000) to an average of more than 200 participants annually, plus over 500 registrants at broadcast sites, annually, over the last nine years. This conference is broadcast live to interdisciplinary graduate programs and Title V agencies across the U.S. (35 sites in 2022), supported by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and the Robbins Foundation. It is now coupled with the national Health Care Transition Research Consortium which has chosen to have its annual meeting in conjunction with the transition conference for the 13th consecutive year, bringing the best HCT researchers together to present their work. I have lead the HCT planning efforts at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) since 2004. I developed the EHR-based Transition Planning Tool (TPT) which was adopted as an Epic Clinical Program in 2014 and is being used by 21 clinical services at TCH. In 2015, the TPT was selected as a Best Practice by the national Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP).

Research Interests:

I have published in peer reviewed literature (see View PubMed Publications, below) with the main topic areas being adolescent medicine, eating disorders, bone health, sports medicine, health care transition and medical education.

As an adolescent medicine physician interested in the health care transition (HCT) from pediatric to adult-based care, I have contributed to the field of HCT over the past 19 years by scientific publications. I was also Co-Editor, Health Care Transition: Building a Program for Adolescents and Young Adults with Chronic Illness and Disability, First Edition, A.C. Hergenroeder & C.M. Wiemann. Springer International AG, 2018.