Keila N Lopez, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. She received her medical degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago and completed pediatric residency training at the University of Chicago. She subsequently completed her pediatric cardiology fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Lopez’s research portfolio reflects a longstanding commitment to addressing health disparities, as evidenced by several grants and publications in this area. She completed a Master of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2008 with a concentration in healthcare management and minority health policy. Dr. Lopez’s research interests focus on identifying healthcare disparities among minority and underserved populations, particularly as they pertain to the field of pediatric cardiology. She has worked with the Texas Department of State Health Services on epidemiologic projects to better understand congenital heart disease (CHD) patients in Texas, and has done multidisciplinary work using large databases and GIS mapping to better understand the connection between health, socioeconomic status, neighborhood level factors and access to quality healthcare.
Currently, Dr. Lopez serves as the Director of the pediatric cardiology transition program at Texas Children’s Hospital. Her innovative program focuses on improving care of patients with CHD as they move from pediatric to adult healthcare systems. She has received a NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute K23 early career grant for technology-based interventions to reduce health disparities, and was a recipient of the 2018 NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Health Disparities Research Institute award. Additionally she is a co-investigator for the Texas Children’s Hospital Policy and Advocacy Center.
Overall, Dr. Lopez seeks to incorporate cardiology, public health, technology and minority health policy in order to develop research initiatives that directly inform health policy and improve the health care of underserved and minority populations.
