Ricardo J. Flores, MD
- Cancer and Blood Disorders
Clinical Director, Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital The Woodlands
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine
Office location:
17600 Interstate 45 South
The Woodlands, TX 77384
Get to know Ricardo J. Flores, MD
Dr. Ricardo J. Flores graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine with highest honors in 2004. He completed his training in pediatrics at the University of Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital in 2007 and his subspecialty training in pediatric hematology/oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center in 2010.
While in medical school, Dr. Flores experienced the death of a close family member who struggled against an aggressive type of leukemia. From this, he recognized that treating patients with cancer and blood diseases required an extremely concerted effort from family and health care providers, and decided to train in the field of hematology/oncology, which encompasses all aspects of the medical profession. During his initial year of hematology/oncology training, Dr. Flores became interested in pediatric bone tumors, especially in patients who presented with aggressive disease who had limited treatment options. At that time, he resolved to focus his research efforts on the high-risk bone tumor pediatric patients.
Beyond his clinical and research duties, Dr. Flores actively promotes the advancement of underrepresented minorities in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM-fields). In the early 2010’s he was selected as member of a Leadership Institute Training Program for minorities in STEM-fields, served as Master of Ceremonies for the Society on the Advancement of Science Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans National Conference, and was recognized as distinguished young physician scientist by the National Library of Medicine.
In 2016, Dr. Flores was named Clinical Director of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Texas Children’s Hospital’s The Woodlands. Since then, he has been highly involved in humanitarian efforts and mass media public education with interviews on nationwide radio, newspapers, and TV networks including Telemundo, Univision, CNN, and PBS, among others. He co-founded and serves as board member on multiple non-profit organizations to benefit childhood cancer patients and underserved populations, which have resulted in over $6,000,000 donations and 1,000,000 pounds of supplies to affected communities in the United States and Latin America to date.
Education
| School | Education | Degree | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor College of Medicine | Post-doctoral Fellowship | Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Cancer Biology Postdoctoral Training Program | 2013 |
| Baylor College of Medicine | Fellowship | Pediatric Hematology-Oncology | 2010 |
| University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus | Residency | Pediatrics | 2007 |
| University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus | Internship | Pediatrics | 2005 |
| University of Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital | Medical School | Doctor of Medicine | 2004 |
| University of Puerto Rico | Bachelors | Bachelor of Science, Biology | 2000 |
Organizations
| Organization Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Alpha Omega Alpha Organization | Member |
| American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) | Member |
| American Medical Association (AMA) | Member |
| American Medical Student Association | Member |
| American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) | Member |
| Children's Oncology Group (COG) | Member |
| Golden Key Association | Member |
| Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) | Member |
Board Certification
American Board of Pediatrics - Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Honors and awards
- 2021
-
Outstanding Community Caretaker Award, Morgan Frazier Cancer Foundation with special recognition from Mayor Sylvestor Turner
- 2021
-
Philanthropy Award in recognition of outstanding community service and generosity, University of Houston
- 2020
-
Clark Faculty Service Award for Humanitarian Efforts and Altruism, Baylor College of Medicine
- 2020
-
Hispanic Community Hero Award, Telemundo Houston
- 2019
-
Star Faculty Award for Excellence in Patient Care, Baylor College of Medicine
- 2019
-
Houston Business Journal’s Health Care Hero Award
* 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.
Research Area:
Bone Tumors
His research efforts focus on high-risk bone tumors in pediatric patients.
After completing his training, Dr. Flores was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NIH-NCI) to continue his research on pediatric bone tumors, cancer biomarkers, and novel therapeutic targets for high-risk pediatric cancer patients. Since 2008, he has applied state-of-the-art technologies and novel informatics approaches that have resulted in significant findings and progress regarding personalized cancer treatment. His research has been published in various peer review medical journals including Cancer, Pediatric Blood and Cancer, and BMC Systems Biology. And, he has presented at national and international meetings, such as the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), the Cancer Education Consortium (CEC), and the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). He has also served as the co-editor of several cancer research and clinical books. In 2016, the NIH highlighted Dr. Flores efforts as an example of excellent cancer research.
Dr. Ricardo Flores previously conducted clinical research on Langerhan's cell histiocystosis with Dr. Kenneth McClain and Dr. Carl Allen for the Histiocytosis Program at Texas Children’s Cancer Center.
Dr. Ricardo Flores also worked in the laboratories of Dr. Ching Lau and Dr. Chris Tsz-Kwong Man. In Dr. Man’s laboratory he researched the use of a tumor-targeted approach to identify metastatic biomarkers in osteosarcoma tumor cells, followed by the confirmation of biomarkers in plasma using proteomic and computational approaches.
R Flores, AJ Kelly, Y Li, M Nakka, DA Barkauskas, M Krailo, LL Wang, L Perlaky, CC Lau, MJ Hicks, TK Man. A novel prognostic model for osteosarcoma using circulating CXCL10 and FLT3LG. Cancer, August 16, 2016 doi: 10.1002/cncr.30272
R Flores, Y Li, A Yu, J Shen, PH Rao, SS Lau, M Vannucci, CC Lau, T-K Man. A Systems Biology Approach Reveals Common Metastatic Pathways in Osteosarcoma. Open Access: BMC Syst Biol, 2012. 6(1):50, 2012. Highly Accessed by BioMed Central, categorized July 2, 2012.
Y Li and R Flores, A Yu, MF Okcu, J Murray, M Chintagumpala, J Hicks, CC Lau, T-K Man. “Elevated Expression of CXC Chemokines in Pediatric Osteosarcoma Patients.” Cancer, Vol 117(1): 207-217, 2010. PIMD: 20806347
R Flores, L Wang. “Secondary Osteosarcoma,” In: Osteosarcoma, (Vol. 1) Editorial Alfil, S.A. de C.V., Insurgentes Centro 51-A, Col. San Rafael 06470, Mexico D.F., 2014.
R Flores, T-K Man (eds). Proteomics: Human Diseases and Protein Functions (1st edition), Vol 3. InTech - Open Access Publisher, Rijeka, Croatia. 2012.