Dr. Marsha Griffin, Director

Marsha Griffin, MD, is director of Community for Children, and pediatric clinical faculty member for the UTHSCSA Regional Academic Health Center. She is currently in practice at the Brownsville Community Health Center. Dr. Griffin received her medical degree from the UTHSCSA in 2003 and completed her residency in general pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in June 2006. Prior to her medical career, Dr. Griffin completed graduate studies in the theology of social justice at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, Minnesota. She was founder and, from 1988 to 1999, executive director of the FOCUS Foundation, a nonprofit organization that produced documentary films concerning adolescents and their struggle for success. As director of housing services for the Central Community Housing Trust in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1996 to 1999, she was instrumental in developing housing and services in the inner-city for homeless, former addicts, Somalian refugees, and street children. A lifelong advocate for the underserved, Dr. Griffin has served as a board member for numerous community-based organizations both nationally and internationally and provided care in countries such as Haiti, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

Dr. Minnette Son, Course Director

Minnette Son, MD, is associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and medical director of the Janey Briscoe Children's Center Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital in San Antonio. In 1979 she graduated from the UTHSCSA Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and received her medical degree from the UTHSCSA in 1990 where she also completed her residency in pediatrics and, in 2000, her fellowship in pediatric critical care. Dr. Son is a consultant to the Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council and member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association and other professional organizations. Her clinical and research interests include cerebral vascular responses and child abuse treatment and prevention. Dr. Son has traveled internationally, performing lifesaving surgeries on children in Mongolia, Kosovo and other developing countries. She has developed expertise in providing medical care in situations of extreme poverty and limited resources, serving on projects in Africa and Central and South America.

Dr. Stan Fisch, Curriculum Advisor

Stanley I. Fisch, MD, is professor and pediatric program director for the UTHSCSA Regional Academic Health Center. He is one of four partners at Harlingen Pediatric Associates, Inc., a clinical rotation site for UTHSCSA medical students. He graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York in 1970 and completed his internship and pediatric residency at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, Bronx, New York (1973). Dr. Fisch traveled to South Texas as a member of the National Health Corp with a two-year service commitment. Dr. Fisch was appointed to the medical staff at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen in 1973, an appointment he has held for 33 years, while also in general pediatrics private practice. Dr. Fisch is an advocate for children's health and a community leader, serving on numerous boards of directors and committees at local, state and national levels. In recognition of his efforts, Dr. Fisch received the 2006 Job Lewis Award for Leadership in Community Pediatrics from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Joseph B. McCormick

Joseph B. McCormick, MD, is regional dean at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health-Brownsville. He graduated from Duke University Medical School in 1967 and received his Master of Science from Harvard School of Public Health, through an intercalated program. Dr. McCormick completed his internship and residency at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia under Dr. C. Everett Koop. In 1974 he became an epidemic intelligence service officer at the Centers for Disease Control, and a fellow in Preventive Medicine. As a physician and researcher, Dr. McCormick has devoted the past 35 years to the pursuit of research and direct intervention in global public health, with a focus on epidemiology and international health, and worked on projects in South America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, and humanitarian awards from Florida Southern College and Duke University Medical School. Dr. McCormick has more than 200 scientific publications with co-authors from more than 20 different countries.

Dr. Sue Fisher-Hoch

Sue Fisher-Hoch, MD, PhD, is professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health-Brownsville. She attended the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in England and then attended Oxford, training in virology, gaining membership in the Royal College of Pathology, a master's degree in microbiology, and a doctoral degree in epidemiology. She was central to the discovery that the parvovirus B19 was responsible for Fifth's Disease (Slapped Cheek Syndrome), and uncovered the role of potable water in the spread of Legionnaire's Disease in hospitals and other large buildings. She has worked in the United States, Europe, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and many countries in Africa. In 1997 she took charge of the design, building and scientific program of a new BSL4 suit laboratory in Lyon, France, for which she was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.

Dr. Robert Luis Hamilton

Dr. Hamilton is Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology, Hospital Infantil de Tamaulipas/Secretaria de Salud de Tamaulipas and Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Autónoma of Tamaulipas. He is also a Professor in the Pediatrics Endocrinology Residency program at Hospital Infantil. He has worked with Hospital Infantil de Tamaulipas since 2000 in the Department of Endocrinology, and serves the State of Tamaulipas Health Secretariat caring for low-income and underprivileged children. His clinical and research interests include Congenital Hypothyroidism and Type 1 Diabetes. Dr. Hamilton oversees the endocrinology laboratory for the State of Tamaulipas Newborn Screening program for Congenital Hypothyroidism, processing over 30,000 samples a year. He also supervises the Diabetes program at Hospital Infantil de Tamaulipas and the Diabetes Camps each year.

Dr. Hamilton grew up in Los Angeles, California, but has lived in Mexico for more than 30 years and greatly enjoys working with the Mexican people. He graduated from the School of Medicine University of Autónoma de Nuevo Leon in 1997. After finishing medical school, he received an invitation from a friend to work at the Children’s Hospital in Ciudad Victoria. There he met his future wife and at the end of his fellowship married and received a teaching position in pediatrics at the University of Monte Morelos, where he taught from 1992-1996 and 1998 through 2000. Dr. Hamilton worked as a medical missionary for almost 8 years.

Dr. Daniel Llanas, MD, MSc

Dr. Llanas is currently Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at Hospital Infantil de Tamaulipas in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. He is also a Professor of Epidemiology in the University of Autónoma de Tamaulipas in the Public Health School. He received his Master’s degree in Science of Epidemiology from the National Institute of Public Health Cuernavaca, Mexico from 2003-2005 and received his Master’s degree in Public Health from University of Autónoma de Tamaulipas in 1996. He completed his Pediatrics Residency in 1984-1985 at the General Hospital in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and his Pediatric Endocrinology Residency at the Pediatrics National Institute, Mexico City from 1987-1989. He graduated from the School of Medicine University of Autónoma de Nuevo Leon, 1983. Dr. Llanas is board-certified in Pediatrics and Endocrinology and is a member of the Mexican Pediatric Academy. He also served previously as the President of the Mexican Society of Pediatric Endocrinology. Dr. Llana’s clinical and research interests include Type 1 diabetes, prediabetic state and childhood obesity.

Catherine Monserrat, PhD

Catherine Monserrat holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, a Master’s in Guidance and Counseling and an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education and Human Development. With over thirty years experience working as an educator, lecturer, and psychotherapist, she continues to teach and mentor health professionals, educators and counselors.

Throughout her life, Dr. Monserrat has taken leadership in numerous initiatives to enhance the quality of life of individuals and families within community. Working with local communities, as well as on state and national levels, she has developed programs and curricula addressing family life, parenting, adoption, teen pregnancy and child abuse prevention. Her expertise in adolescent pregnancy, parenting and prevention led her to become a consultant to the U.S. Office of Population Affairs, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation. She also serves as a Legislative Analyst for the New Mexico State Legistature.

Dr. Monserrat is the author of four books and numerous articles for both professional and popular publications. She serves as faculty at the Santa Fe Graduate Institute, and presents at conferences throughout the United States and Canada.

Father Michael Seifert

Father Michael Seifert is a Roman Catholic priest currently serving as the pastor of San Felipe de Jesus Church in Cameron Park. Cameron Park is the poorest town in the USA (Census 2000), with a per capita income less than that of El Salvador, Guatemala or Mexico. Its economic poverty belies the wealth of resources in the community. Fr. Seifert has been a part of a ten year effort by Cameron Park residents to transform the colonia. Seifert has worked extensively with community leaders, bringing about an 800% increase in voter participation. As a result, the community garnered more than $ 7 million in infrastrucuture improvements (paved roads and storm drains), a new park, a sheriff's substation, a satellite clinic, and a community services' center.

Seifert graduated with a Masters Degree in Theology in 1984 from Catholic University in Washington DC. He served in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca after ordination, where he saw the power of grassroots' organizing in a situation of extreme oppression and poverty. He worked for several years in Harlingen and La Joya, as a member of the United Farmworkers' Union and Valley Interfaith, before founding Proyecto Digna in Cameron Park in 1997.

Since 1989, Seifert has worked with Proyecto Vida Digna, in Matamoros, Mexico. Proyecto Vida Digna is a community organizing project that focuses upon the struggles of the families of women who work in foreign-owned factories in Mexico.

He has served on the Rio Grande Valley Health Services District, and is presently involved with several efforts at protecting immigrants' human rights.

Paula S. Gomez

Paula S. Gomez has served as the executive director of the Brownsville Community Health Center since 1984, a community and migrant health center situated in Brownsville with two school based clinics and two other satellite clinics. These sites serve more than 20,000 users in 2004 and offered almost 90,000 patient visits during the same year. Ms. Gomez was a COSSMHO fellow of public administration in 1990 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. A Brownsville native, Ms. Gomez has been actively involved in the community-health movement both locally and nationally for more than 35 years. Among key state and federal appointments, Ms. Gomez has served on the U.S. Surgeon General Committee on Hispanic Health and as board member for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Advisory Board of the National Health Service Corps and Advisory Board of the National Environment Justice Advisory Council. She is currently participating in a Shared Vision Panel for the Texas Center for Health Policy, is president of the Valley Primary Care Network and the vice president of the Gorgas Science Foundation. For her life's dedication to providing quality comprehensive health-care services to the medically underserved, Ms. Gomez was awarded the Louis B. Garcia Award in 1994 and the Avon Breast Cancer Leadership Award in 1996.