Professor and Chairman
Department of Orthopedic Surgery
Wilhelmina Barnhart Endowed Chair
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Dirschl is a nationally recognized orthopaedic surgeon and healthcare leader who has led academic departments for nearly three decades. Since joining Baylor College of Medicine in 2023, he has doubled the orthopaedic service line, recruiting 12 providers and expanding care to two community hospitals. He serves on Baylor’s Board of Governors, chairs its Finance Committee and leads the orthopedic service line for CommonSpirit Health’s Texas Division.
Prior to Baylor, Dr. Dirschl served as the inaugural chairman and Lowell T. Coggeshall Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Chicago, where he tripled the size of the service line and served as Physician-in-Chief of the Musculoskeletal Center. He also held leadership roles at the University of North Carolina and Oregon Health & Science University, along with senior executive responsibilities at UNC-affiliated WakeMed.
Dr. Dirschl has earned national distinction for his leadership and contributions to the field. He served as President of the American Orthopaedic Association, President of the Foundation for Orthopaedic Trauma and created the AOA Own the Bone Program and the AOA Orthopaedic Institute of Medicine Council. He was also selected as an ABC Traveling Fellow.
His honors include Bucksbaum Institute Master Clinician, Best Doctors in America for over a decade and the OTA Bovill Memorial Lecturer. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Bucksbaum-Siegler Institute for Clinical Excellence at the University of Chicago and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Association, as well as an inaugural Fellow of the International Orthopaedic Trauma Association. He also holds national editorial roles, including reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine, Elite Reviewer for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and Section Editor for the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma.
Clinically, he specializes in orthopaedic traumatology and bone health and has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed publications, along with multiple books and chapters, supported by funding from the NIH and other national organizations.
Professor and Chair
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Director, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center
Thomas C. Thompson Chair in Cell Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
Margaret (“Peggy”) Goodell is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and also Director of the Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center, at Baylor College of Medicine. Goodell’s research is focused on the mechanisms that regulate hematopoietic stem cells, and their dysregulation in malignancies, particularly DNA Methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A). Goodell is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a recipient of the Tobias Award from the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology, the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine from TAMEST. Goodell is Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Keystone Symposia and is a member of their Board of Directors. Goodell is a former president of the International Society for Experimental Hematology. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Cell Stem Cell and Cancer Cell and has served on the editorial board of PLoS Biology, and as an Associated Editor of Blood. Goodell directs a laboratory of about 15 trainees.
President (2010-2026)
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Paul Klotman served as president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine from September 1, 2010 – May 31, 2026. He received his B.S. degree in 1972 from the University of Michigan and his M.D. from Indiana University in 1976. He completed his medicine and nephrology training at Duke University Medical Center. He stayed at Duke as a faculty member before moving to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1988, where he became chief of the Molecular Medicine Section in the Laboratory of Developmental Biology. In 1993, he became the chief of the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the NIH. In 1994, he moved to Mount Sinai School of Medicine as chief of the Division of Nephrology. In 2001, he was appointed to the chair of the Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
During his tenure as president, Dr. Klotman guided a period of transformational growth marked by major clinical, academic and research advancements and recruitment of outstanding clinicians, scientists and educators.
Key clinical milestones included the 2012 expansion of Baylor Medicine outpatient clinics on the McNair Campus, the 2014 joint venture with CHI to establish Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and the strategic integration of the Texas Heart Institute with Baylor College of Medicine.
Research funding experienced significant growth and major discoveries were made in basic science and clinical research programs throughout the institution. In addition, Baylor moved research labs into the new Dynamic One building on the TMC Helix Park campus.
In the education mission area, Baylor opened its first regional medical school campus in Temple, Texas, in 2023. Innovative education pipelines through partnerships with Houston ISD were expanded as well as statewide STEM+M partnerships with programs in the Rio Grande Valley, Midland, Corpus Christi and Temple. He also oversaw the construction of the new Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower to house the School of Medicine and the School of Health Professions, which will be completed in 2026.
Professor
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology
Joseph L. Melnick Chair of Virology
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Anthony W. Maresso is the Joseph L. Melnick Chair of Virology and serves as professor of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. His research focuses on the study, detection and generation of therapies and vaccines for microbes. He founded TAILΦR (Tailored Antibacterials and Innovative Laboratories for phage (Φ) Research) Labs, the United States’ first personalized antimicrobial discovery, manufacturing and therapy Center at Baylor. Dr. Maresso also founded PHIOGEN, a biopharma start-up addressing the growing antibiotic-resistance crisis. He has authored over 100 original papers, 26 research grants totaling $83 million and mentored over 70 trainees. Additionally, he founded TexWEB, a statewide initiative that uses metagenomic sequencing of wastewater to track viruses. TexWEB was voted the Medical Breakthrough of the Year in 2024 by STAT News. His most recent work focuses on understanding how climate change drives the emergence of pathogen outbreaks. He is married with three boys and enjoys fishing, kayaking, gardening, camping and woodworking.
Assistant Professor
Department of Neuroscience
Baylor College of Medicine
Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Kara Marshall earned a Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical sciences from Columbia University and completed postdoctoral training at Scripps Research Institute in the Patapoutian lab. In 2022, Dr. Marshall established her laboratory to study internal mechanosensation as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Her research has been supported by the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation as a McNair Scholar, and she is now a Freeman Hrabowski Scholar with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute—a prestigious distinction recognizing early-career scientists with exceptional potential to advance discovery.
Chair and Professor
Director, Dermatologic and Mohs Micrographic Surgery
Department of Dermatology
Baylor College of Medicine
Ida Orengo, M.D. ’87, Res. ’91, is professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine. She has been a practicing Mohs surgeon for over 31 years. Dr. Orengo established the first Mohs unit within a Veterans Affairs medical center in the country. Dr. Orengo was the medical director for Dermatology for over 10 years. During her career, she has received numerous awards, including being named as the Top Doctor in Cancer, the Women of Excellence Award (Baylor) and she also received the Director’s Award for Professional Leadership from the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center (MEDVAMC).
Expanding the educational reach of Baylor, Dr. Orengo implemented the dermatologic surgery fellowship and obtained permanent funding support from the MEDVAMC. She has trained over fifteen surgical fellows who now work all over the United States as Mohs surgeons. For many years, Dr. Orengo was the course director for the Baylor medical student core dermatology program and the primary surgical educator for the Mohs fellowship and dermatology residency programs. For the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), Dr. Orengo was the course director for the following courses: (1) AAD Surgical Pearls and (2) AAD Basic Surgery Course.
Dr. Orengo has published over 100 scientific papers and given over 300 international, national and local lectures. She has also participated in several key research studies, including a National Institutes of Health research grant on skin cancer and a VA Merit Review grant to study melanoma.
Dr. Orengo describes her newest job as the chair of Dermatology as just the beginning of an amazing adventure. Her primary goal as chair will be to provide the leadership and focus to ensure that Baylor Dermatology will become one of the premiere dermatology departments in the country. To support this goal, Dr. Orengo would like to implement clinical and basic science research, enhance patient care, expand educational opportunities and increase the scope and efficiency of the department through innovation and collaboration. She has organized the dermatology department to continually improve educational, research and clinical goals, while still providing mentorship to faculty and staff, so that they can all achieve their professional goals and work in a harmonious, cohesive environment.
Dr. Orengo graduated from Bellaire High School where she was named a Jesse Jones Scholar. As an undergraduate, she attended Rice University and graduated cum laude in Biochemistry. While at Rice, she worked with Dr. Fred Rudolph to characterize adenosine deaminase as her senior research project. She then attended Baylor College of Medicine and was inducted into the AOA Honor Society. During her medical school years, she focused on photobiology research with her mentor, Dr. Homer Black, and explored various interventions, which included diet modification, as well as the addition of Cox-2 inhibitors, to prevent skin cancer. Dr. Orengo completed her internship year in internal medicine at St. Luke’s Internal Medicine program in 1988. She then matched in Dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine, where she continued photobiology research with Dr. Black. During this time, Dr. Orengo decided to sub-specialize in Dermatologic surgery (Mohs) and was accepted to the Harvard Medical School Dermatology Surgery fellowship in 1991.
Dr. Orengo is board certified in both dermatology and dermatologic surgery. Community service and giving back to the community is a compelling desire of Dr. Orengo. For many years, she has conducted skin cancer screenings in collaboration with many Houston organizations, including SEARCH Homeless and the VA Stand Down. Likewise, she has provided education to numerous elementary and middle school students on sun protection. She has also provided education and skin cancer screening to many businesses and sports organizations, including the Houston Astros and Aramco Oil. Dr. Orengo also regularly teaches and volunteers for her church.
On a personal note, Dr. Orengo has been married to Ed Hanel for over 30 years and together they have four amazing children. Family is extremely important to Dr. Orengo. Dr. Orengo is from a family committed to medicine and public service. Of her six siblings, four are doctors including her twin sister, Silvia Orengo-Nania, M.D., who is also a faculty member at Baylor in the Department of Ophthalmology and her brother, James Orengo, M.D., Ph.D., who is also a faculty member at Baylor in the Department of Neurology.
Dr. Orengo is proud to be an alumnus of Baylor College of Medicine. Baylor was her first choice for medical school, and she has always been grateful for the opportunity to attend Baylor. Dr. Orengo credits her experiences at Baylor as helping to shape her as the physician and leader that she has become today. As a part of the Baylor family, she plans to continue mentoring and training future students, residents and fellows, and well as new faculty, for many years to come.
Associate Dean of Student Affairs, School of Medicine
Professor of Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Poythress has dedicated more than three decades to Baylor College of Medicine, where he has served in the Department of Internal Medicine for 33 years. His tenure spans every stage of academic medicine—from residency and Chief Resident to a Geriatrics Fellowship—followed by faculty appointments in Geriatrics and General Internal Medicine from 1999 to 2006, and in General Internal Medicine from 2006 to the present.
He currently serves as Professor of Internal Medicine in the Section of General Medicine, Director of Wound Care at Ben Taub General Hospital and Associate Dean of Student Affairs in the School of Medicine. In these roles, he is deeply engaged in clinical care, medical education and student mentorship, helping to shape the next generation of physicians while advancing patient-centered care.
Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
McIngvale Presidential Endowed Chair
Baylor College of Medicine
Eric Storch, Ph.D., is Professor and McIngvale Presidential Endowed Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine, where he serves as Vice Chair, Head of Psychology and co-director of the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Program. A leading expert in obsessive-compulsive and anxiety-related conditions, Dr. Storch specializes in the assessment and treatment of OCD, anxiety disorders and PTSD across the lifespan, including among youth with autism.
He is one of the most widely published researchers in his field, with more than 1,000 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and 30 books. His work has been supported by multiple federal grants and spans treatment efficacy, underlying mechanisms, genetics and innovative approaches to improving outcomes for individuals with OCD and related conditions.
President and CEO
Executive Dean
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Jakub Tolar began serving as president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine on June 1, 2026, bringing extensive experience as a physician‑scientist and academic leader dedicated to advancing education, research and patient care. An internationally recognized pediatric blood and marrow transplant physician‑scientist, he is known for pioneering work in cellular and gene‑based therapies for rare genetic disorders and has been an NIH‑funded investigator for more than 20 years with more than 250 peer‑reviewed publications. Prior to joining Baylor, Dr. Tolar served as dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School and vice president for Clinical Affairs, where he co‑led a major academic health system and advanced clinical, research and public health initiatives. At Baylor College of Medicine, he oversees one of the nation’s leading health science institutions with $683 million in research funding, more than 10,000 employees, and the Baylor medical staff practicing across a broad network of premier hospital and clinic partner institutions across Texas.
Dean, School of Medicine-Temple Regional Campus
Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Infectious Diseases
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Vallejo serves as Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine Temple Regional Campus and a pediatric infectious diseases physician-scientist. He has held leadership roles across research, admissions and international patient services, with NIH-supported work focused on neonatal infections, innate immunity and pediatric infectious diseases. Through his work, Dr. Vallejo is dedicated to training the next generation of physicians and advancing the care of children through education, research and service.
