Translational Science in Global Health Speakers

Huda Zoghbi, MD

Huda Zoghbi is Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the founding Director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital. Zoghbi’s interests range from neurodevelopment to neurodegeneration. Her discovery (with Harry Orr) that Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 1 is caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract and her subsequent studies that such expansion leads to accumulation of the mutant protein in neurons has had profound ramifications since many late-onset neurological disorders involve similar accumulations of disease-driving proteins. Zoghbi’s work in neurodevelopment led to the discovery of the gene Math1/Atoh1 and to showing that it governs the development of several components of the proprioceptive, balance, hearing, vestibular, and breathing pathways. Zoghbi’s group also discovered that mutations in MECP2 cause the postnatal neurological disorder Rett syndrome and revealed the importance of this gene for various neuropsychiatric features. Zoghbi trained many scientists and physician-scientists and is a member of several professional organizations and boards. She has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among Dr. Zoghbi’s recent honors are the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize from Rockefeller University, the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Canada Gairdner International Prize, and Honorary degrees from Yale University, Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

William Zoghbi, MD, FASE, FAHA, MACC

Dr. Zoghbi is a leader in cardiology, nationally and internationally. He trained in Cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Methodist and has been on faculty since 1985. In 2005, he established the Cardiovascular Imaging Institute at Houston Methodist, a unique entity where all cardiovascular imaging modalities are integrated for enhanced patient care, education and research. In 2008 and 2012, he served as president of the American Society of Echocardiography and the American College of Cardiology (ACC), respectively. In 2013, the ACC honored him as a Master of the American College of Cardiology. He has helped launch the ACC Cardiosmart.org website for the public and cardiologists, to enhance patient care and cardiovascular wellness.

As an internationally renowned cardiologist and researcher, Dr. Zoghbi has dedicated his career to advancements in clinical cardiology, enhancing non-invasive approaches to assess and manage cardiac disease through cardiovascular imaging. His areas of expertise include valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, emphasizing a patient-centered approach to medicine and cardiology.

Anna Mandalakas, MD, PhD

Anna is a Professor of Pediatrics and Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine where she serves as Chief of the Section on Global and Immigrant Health and directs the Global Tuberculosis Program of Texas Children’s Hospital.  She also serves as adjunct Professor in the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston’s School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Science. Over the past two decades, her translational research has focused on identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and prevention of TB disease in children living in both TB high and low burden settings.  Since joining Baylor College of Medicine in 2012, Anna has collaborated with colleagues to develop research capacity and enhance the care and treatment of TB and TB/HIV affected children and adolescents living in over a dozen countries hosting Baylor initiatives.