Kimberly Kay Lopez, DrPH, MPH

Personal Statement

As Director Public Health and the Center for the Study of Adversity, Resilience, and Education, Dr. Lopez leads the application of a public health framework to inward and outward facing research and program initiatives designed to improve maternal child health outcomes. Dr. Lopez and her team design, implement and evaluate innovative strategies, programs, policies, and practices to mitigate childhood and community adversities and to promote resilience. Dr. Lopez is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Public Health Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. She also serves as adjunct faculty at The University of Texas School of Public Health-Division of Health Promotion and Prevention, and is a Faculty Affiliate with the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University.

Research Interests:

Dr. Lopez's research interests include the traumatic effects of adversities on children, families, and communities. Her areas of expertise include maternal/child health, community assessment, and qualitative research methods. Dr. Lopez works with communities and vulnerable populations to identify health issues of concern and to develop solutions from within the community. She has more than twenty-five years’ experience engaging community and vulnerable populations in research and advocacy and developing strategic partnerships and action-oriented collaboratives to address health disparities and improve outcomes for children and families. Currently, Dr. Lopez is leading a research initiative designed to evaluate maternal support programs for mothers of newborns and infants; conducting an assessment of the health and medical needs of children in foster care, and bringing to scale a community-based early brain/language development program in underserved communities.

Education

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* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Hill, R., Hayes, A., Lopez, K., Kaplow, J.. "Suicide-Related Behaviors Among Abused and Maltreated Youth: A Call to Action and Recommendations for Providers." APSAC Advisor 2018;4(30):28-41.

Cain, C., Lopez, K., Levine, S. Resiliency in Children and Adolescents.. "Resiliency in Children and Adolescents." Rudolph’s Textbook of Pediatrics, 23rd edition. 2018 July.

Lopez, K., Cain, C.. "A Public Health Approach to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities: Summary of Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities." APSAC Alert 2017 December;8(3):1-4.

Alzacar, L., Raber, M., Lopez, K., Markham, C., Sharma, S.. "Examining the Impact of a School Based Fruit and Vegetable Co-Op in a Hispanic Community Using Documentary Photography." Appetite 2017;116:115-122.

Raber, M., Lopez, K., Pomeroy, M., Mody, A., Markham, C., Sharma, S.. "Brighter Sights: Using Photovoice for the process evaluation of a food co-op style nutrition intervention." Journal of Health Disparities 2016 October;9(3):20-24.