Senior Associate Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine
Division Chief, Pediatric Tropical Medicine
Professor, Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Distinguished Professor, Department of Biology
Baylor University
Co-Director, Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
Texas Children’s Hospital
Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD, is an internationally recognized vaccinologist, global health advocate and scientific leader whose work advances Baylor College of Medicine’s mission to improve health through research, education and the development of impactful vaccine technologies for tropical and emerging infectious diseases. She serves as Senior Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and holds professorships in Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology. She also co-directs the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, one of the nation’s leading academic vaccine development programs.
Dr. Bottazzi is known for building sustainable pipelines that bring new vaccine technologies for neglected tropical diseases and emerging infections from discovery into clinical evaluation. Her leadership has guided multiple candidates through collaborative, globally minded development strategies. She also helped advance an open-source, low-cost COVID-19 vaccine technology designed to expand global access—now recognized as a model for equitable vaccine development.
Her impact has earned significant national recognition. In 2024, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. She has received numerous U.S.-based awards spotlighting her scientific innovation, humanitarian commitment and public engagement, including the Texas Legacy Award (2023), the Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare (2023), the David and Beatrix Hamburg Award for Advances in Biomedical Research and Clinical Medicine from the National Academy of Medicine (2023), the Rachael Schneerson–John Robbins Vaccine Prize (2023), the LBJ Moral Courage Award from Holocaust Museum Houston (2023), induction into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame (2023), recognition as a Texan of the Year by The Dallas Morning News (2023) and the Michael E. DeBakey Excellence in Research Award from Baylor College of Medicine (2022). She has also received a Resolution of Congressional Recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives (2022). Her longstanding record of leadership has additionally been recognized through honors such as the Great Immigrant, Great American Honoree from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (2022) and service-based awards from organizations across Texas.
A scientist with deep multicultural roots—born in Italy, raised in Honduras and trained across the Americas—Dr. Bottazzi is a leader in strengthening Baylor’s footprint in vaccine sciences, virology and tropical medicine. Her work directly supports the College’s strategic growth in these areas and exemplifies Baylor’s commitment to advancing innovations that improve health locally and globally.
Professor of Surgery
David J. Sugarbaker Division of Thoracic Surgery
Director, The Lung Institute
Olga Keith Weiss Endowed Chair in Surgery II
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Shanda H. Blackmon is a dual board-certified thoracic surgeon and Director of the Lung Institute at Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at Baylor College of Medicine, followed by a Clinical Instructorship in Thoracic Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Blackmon previously founded and led the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital, serving as Chief for eight years, and later became a tenured Professor at Mayo Clinic. At Mayo, she held leadership roles within the Center for Digital Health, advancing innovative patient-centered technologies, including virtual survivorship programs and decentralized clinical trials.
An internationally recognized leader in thoracic surgery, Dr. Blackmon has authored over 200 publications, delivered more than 500 presentations and holds multiple U.S. patents. She has also held key leadership roles in national surgical societies, including serving as President of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association and currently as Vice President of the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association.
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
Vivian L. Smith Chair in Regenerative Medicine
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 & CEO
Executive Dean
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Paul Klotman began serving as president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine on September 1, 2010. 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.
At Baylor, he oversees the only private health sciences university in the Southwestern United States, with total research funding of more than $650 million. The School of Health Professions is among the best in the nation as is the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The College is also home to the first National School of Tropical Medicine in North America. Baylor is ranked first among all Texas colleges, universities and medical schools in federal funding for research and development, and it is ranked second in federally funded research expenditures by the National Science Foundation.
As the CEO of Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Klotman oversees approximately 15,000 employees, 3,500 students, residents and fellows. He is responsible for the Baylor medical staff at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Ben Taub Hospital and its affiliated clinics, the Menninger Clinic and the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. He serves on the Board of Directors of St. Luke’s Health System and the Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, the College’s jointly owned and governed private adult hospital.
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
Vice Chair and Head, Psychology
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.
Incoming President and CEO
Executive Dean
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Jakub Tolar is incoming president, CEO, and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine. He brings deep experience as a physician‑scientist and academic leader committed to advancing education, research, patient care and community impact.
Dr. Tolar most recently served as dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School and vice president for Clinical Affairs, where he co-led the M Health Fairview clinical enterprise and guided major initiatives spanning clinical transformation, research growth and public health. 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, including recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. He has been an NIH‑funded investigator for more than 20 years and has authored more than 250 publications.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Dr. Tolar earned his M.D. from Charles University in Prague and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Tolar enjoys educating and mentoring new physicians and is active in many professional societies. He is a strong advocate for cooperation and communication within the clinical and research communities. Outside of work, Dr. Tolar spends time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He enjoys reading, listening to opera, kayaking and CrossFit training.
At Baylor College of Medicine, he will oversee the institution with total research funding of $683 million. In 2026, U.S. News & World reported ranked Baylor as one of the 16 Tier One Research Intensive Medical Schools in the nation. The School of Health Professions and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences are also highly regarded nationally. Baylor is also home to the first National School of Tropical Medicine in North America. He will also oversee more than 10,000 employees, 3,500 students, residents and fellows, and is responsible for the Baylor medical staff at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, the DeBakey VA Medical Center, Ben Taub Hospital and its affiliated clinics, the Menninger Clinic and the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. The enterprise revenue is over $2 billion dollars with net assets of approximately $2 billion.
Senior Associate Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine
Division Chief, Pediatric Tropical Medicine
Professor, Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology
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.
