Seema Jilani, MD, FAAP

Dr. Seema Jilani is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Hospitalist Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, where she trained. Her humanitarian aid work has taken her to Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Bosnia, Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank over the past 20 years. She has treated migrants onboard refugee rescue ships in the Mediterranean Sea and responded on the scene after the 2020 explosion in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. She was selected by the U.S. State Department as a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Istanbul, where she designed a curriculum for medical students on how to engage in media advocacy.

She currently serves as a member of the Child Abuse and Neglect Medical Staff Committee at Texas Children's Hospital and on the American Academy of Pediatrics Humanitarian Subcommittee in the Section on Global Health. Dr. Jilani has briefed the United Nations Security Council, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senior Officials at The White House and National Security Council. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Truman National Security Fellow. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, PBS NewsHour, The New Yorker, and The Guardian.

Clinical Interests

Global health, humanitarian medicine in conflict zones, health equity, child abuse and neglect

Education

Organizations

Board Certification

Honors and awards

2025

InterAction Humanitarian, Award InterAction

2024

Best Stories of 2024 Award, National Public Radio 

2024

Champion for Freedom Award, Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands

2024

Sherry-Holroyd Award, American Academy of Pediatrics

* 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 interests

Health equity, humanitarian medicine