Brenda Pickhardt, CNM is a Maternal Child Health Specialist, Certified Nurse Midwife, with UTMB Regional Maternal & Child Health Program since 2011. Ms. Pickhardt is a nationally certified by American Midwifery Certification Board. Brenda received both her Bachelor in Science in Nursing and Master's Degree in Nursing focusing on Nurse Midwifery at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Ms. Pickhardt is a member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Along with caring for patients not only in the clinic setting but also in Labor & Delivery and Postpartum, Ms. Pickhardt is a Regional Director for the Regional Maternal & Child Health Program. Ms. Pickhardt continues to be an advocate for all women.

Nydia has approximately one decade of experience in caring for women infants and children. Nydia began filling the need as a float provider for RWSP in June of 2023 and is now a core OB/GYN Advanced Practice Registered Nurse caring for patients at our Texas City location.

Ms. Nancy Hernandez, a Texas native, attended The University of Texas Medical Branch where she graduated with honors as Family Nurse Practitioner in 2016. Nancy has more than a decade of experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology and is currently practicing in her hometown of Texas City.

Nancy is dedicated to the underserved population, both locally and abroad. Nancy has volunteered on several mission trips to Peru and the Dominican Republic.

In her free time, Nancy enjoys spending time with her two dogs, Louie and Zeus, and traveling the world.

Tomeka Washington has over 15 years of nursing experience caring for women in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. For the past 4 years she has been practicing at the UTMB-Regional Maternal and Child Health Program clinic in Pearland as a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner.

Tomeka is passionate about women's Health and is a strong advocate for her patients and women's empowerment. She believes that good health is essential and that the biggest threats to women's health are often preventable and keeping women informed and educated is the key to a longer healthier life.

Tomeka was born on the island at UTMB (BOI). She attended Dickinson independent School district and graduated in 1999. After obtaining her associate degree in nursing in 2005 Tomeka began her nursing career as a Labor and delivery nurse at UTMB in Galveston. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in 2013, and her Master's Degree in Women's Health from the University of Cincinnati in 2016.

She is currently a member of The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), Minority Nurses association, and National Black Nurse Practitioner Association (NBNPA). Tomeka is married with 3 children and outside of her professional and educational obligations she loves spending time with her family and serving at her local church.

Patrick Karas was born in Cleveland, OH. He completed his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH with degrees in mathematics and chemistry. He then obtained his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, NY. Dr. Karas completed his neurosurgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine. During his residency he was awarded an NIH R25 grant to study multisensory integration using human intracranial recordings. His training also included over a year of time dedicated to brain tumor surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. After completing residency, he continued his study of epilepsy surgery techniques at the Charles Shor Epilepsy Center at the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Karas’s clinical interests include epilepsy surgery, brain and skull base tumor surgery, and functional neurosurgery. He performs the full range of modern techniques for epilepsy surgery, including robotic sEEG placement, open resection, minimally invasive laser ablation, and neuromodulation techniques (responsive neurostimulation and deep brain stimulation). He also offers awake surgery and advanced brain mapping techniques for difficult to remove brain tumors. Additional clinical interests include deep brain stimulator insertion for movement disorders, as well as percutaneous and open techniques for the treatment of facial pain.

Dr. Karas also runs a lab studying human electrophysiology. Current projects focus on using intracranial brain recordings to understand how auditory and visual signals are combined in multisensory regions of the brain.

Dr. Karas currently serves as a full-time faculty Neurosurgeon at UTMB, operating at both Galveston and Clear Lake campuses. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgeons, Texas Association of Neurosurgeons, and the American Epilepsy Society.

Dr. Shauntrell B Sarvaunt has over 15 years of nursing experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. She holds the title of clinic director at the Texas City RMCHP clinic. She was born and raised in Louisiana. She completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Grand Canyon University with a published study that focused on improving recognition of depression among postpartum mothers. Nursing is her passion, and she is committed to providing high-quality health care.

Monica E. Hernandez RN, FNP-BC is a graduate of University of Texas Pan American. She has advanced training from the UTPA Nurse Practitioner program and is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. Her clinical interests include women's health.

Dr. Somerson joined The University of Texas Medical Branch as Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in 2016. He is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with special fellowship training in shoulder and elbow surgery. His philosophy is to treat every patient as he would like his family members to be treated, developing individualized treatment plans and listening carefully to the needs of each patient. Dr. Somerson is experienced with minimally-invasive arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder and elbow, rotator cuff problems, treatment of arthritis, joint replacement, repair of torn tendons, treatment of unstable joints, and repair of broken bones. He is currently the only member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons society to serve Galveston and the Bay Area, and is fluent in both Spanish and German.

If non-surgical treatments are unsuccessful, Dr. Somerson uses the latest minimally-invasive techniques for treatment of shoulder problems, including rotator cuff tears and shoulder dislocations. He has extensive training in treating shoulder arthritis and is a high-volume shoulder replacement surgeon. For patients who have had prior shoulder replacement and are having difficulties, he is experienced with revision shoulder replacements.

He underwent residency training at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, a high-volume regional trauma center, where he gained experience in treating a wide range of orthopedic injuries, from high-impact motor vehicle collisions to everyday falls. He has a special interest in broken bones of the shoulder and elbow region and has published research and given lectures at national conferences on this topic. He also repairs a wide range of other broken bones, including hip, knee, ankle, and hand injuries.

During residency, Dr. Somerson had the opportunity to train in the management of difficult elbow problems, including fractures, instability of the joint, ligament and tendon tears, and arthritis, with Dr. Anil Dutta and Dr. Bernard Morrey, two renowned surgeons in the field of complex elbow reconstruction. He underwent an elective rotation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to further his knowledge regarding advanced elbow surgical problems, including elbow replacement and elbow arthroscopy.

He then completed a fellowship in shoulder and elbow surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center. Under the guidance of Dr. Frederick Matsen, he gained advanced training in the fields of primary and revision shoulder replacement and in-depth experience in the fields of rotator cuff repair, shoulder and elbow stabilization surgery, elbow replacement, and repair of humerus fractures. Dr. Somerson is trained in the ream-and-run procedure, a radically conservative treatment option for selected patients desiring a high level of activity after shoulder replacement.

Dr. Somerson is actively engaged in research to further our understanding of shoulder and elbow problems. With over 50 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, he is frequently invited to lecture on topics including reverse shoulder replacement and management of shoulder arthritis in active patients.

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Taylor Little, FNP-C is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner who specializes in Pediatric Primary Care. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2012. She began her nursing career at Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center working in Orthopedic Trauma for 3 and a half years. She then went on to earn her Family Nurse Practitioner degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 2015. She completed her clinical rotations for her Master's degree in the Downtown Houston and Pasadena areas.

Taylor has now been working in pediatric primary care since 2016 and is excited to continue her career at UTMB. She loves working with children and getting to know the families that care for them. She is passionate about educating her patients on healthy practices and prevention of disease in a holistic manner.

She is originally from Houston and currently lives in Clear Lake with her husband. They are currently expecting their first child and could not be more excited. She is a member of Houston Area Nurse Practitioners and Pasadena Running Club. In her free time, she enjoys running, practicing yoga, playing music, spending time with her family and friends, traveling, reading, learning, and watching movies.