I can still visualize the Playskool Doctor Kit my parents purchased for me when I was six years old. I remember leaning in and listening to their heart beats with the stethoscope as I took their temperature with my tiny thermometer. They were never too busy to sit down and submit to an "examination." As a preteen, I devoured television series like Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. During my teenage years, I volunteered at a hospital, graduated a year early from high school, and received a scholarship to attend Texas A&M University. I went on to earn a medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch.

I spent an additional nine years training to become a pediatric surgeon (five years surgery residency, two years research fellowship, two years clinical pediatric surgical fellowship) and completed a pediatric surgery fellowship at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

As the co-chair of the American Pediatric Surgical Association Obesity Committee, I understand the lifelong impacts of childhood obesity. My vast clinical and obesity-related research focuses on adolescent behavioral therapy, technology and weight loss surgery, and has resulted in multiple grant awards including NIH fellowships. My publications includes 35 manuscripts, four book chapters, 37 abstracts and more than 26 presentations at national and international conferences. I have received recognition three times from Houstonia magazine as a Top Doctor in Pediatric Surgery and two times as Best Pediatric Specialist in D magazine in Dallas.

Today, I perform many high-degree-of-difficulty laparoscopic cases in pediatric surgery, including, but not limited to, laparoscopic duodenal atresia repair, video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy, bariatric surgery, and thoracoscopic congenital diaphragmatic hernia repairs.

My clinical practice includes, but is not limited to, the following; non-cardiac thoracic, obesity, gastrointestinal surgery, hepatobiliary, ano-rectal, head and neck, oncology, minimally invasive surgery, congenital anomalies, urology, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support of critically ill children, and traumatic injuries.

As an associate professor of pediatric surgery, who has been in clinical practice for 10 years, my goal is to provide state-of-the-art pediatric surgical care for the children of Prosper, Texas and the surrounding area. I am driven by the desire to constantly deliver excellent care that is as good as or better than anywhere in the world. I consider it my duty to educate my patients' families on their child's disease processes and to provide long-term continuity of care, serving as a resource to assist the parents in taking care of their children.

I am a member of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery in Surgery and Pediatric Surgery. I am involved in several national committees that address the need for excellent, comprehensive pediatric surgical care.

When not at work I enjoy running, biking, and outdoor activities with my family. I'm a proud mother of two young children who, when I'm not at work, keep me more than busy. My husband and I have been married for 18 wonderful years and have enjoyed making Prosper, Texas our home. Having young children of my own, I understand the trust and faith that my patients' families place in me every day. Knowing this, I adhere to the golden rule by treating every family the way I would want my own family treated.