Dr. Lauren McTaggart, MD is a board-certified general surgeon. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. She returned to pursue a career in medicine obtaining her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean. She completed her internship and residency in General Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She accomplished a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery, Advanced GI and Bariatric Surgery at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.

Dr. McTaggart’s surgical interests include: Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Foregut, Bariatric, and General Surgery. She has experience in bariatric and revisional bariatric surgery, foregut surgery, including esophageal motility disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hiatal and paraesophageal hernias, and gastroparesis. She also has an interest in endoscopy, benign gallbladder disease and abdominal and inguinal hernias. She utilizes minimally invasive surgical techniques through a robotic and laparoscopic approach.

Dr. Lauren McTaggart is a member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Association of Women Surgeons, and the American Hernia Society.

Lastly, Dr. McTaggart is passionate about patient care and her community. She is dedicated to helping her patient’s understand disease processes and achieve a better quality of life.

Dr. Whittington grew up in Austin, Texas, attended Baylor University earning a BS in Neuroscience before obtaining his medical degree at Texas A&M College of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee followed by a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.

He has returned to Texas with a focus on treating the broad field of vascular disease with special interest in both open and endovascular surgical repair of complex aortic pathology, renal and mesenteric ischemia, carotid disease, dialysis access, and peripheral arterial disease.

Dr. Jani Lee grew up mostly in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating with a Biochemistry degree from New York University, she completed her medical school education at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. Dr. Lee graduated from General Surgery Residency training from Mount Sinai West-Morningside Hospitals, and graduated from Vascular Surgery Fellowship training from The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Dr. Lee has been well trained in all open and endovascular aspects of Vascular Surgery including complex aortic repair, peripheral artery disease, carotid disease, mesenteric disease, dialysis access, and venous disease. She is fluent in Korean and familiar with Spanish.

Dr. Christine Shokrzadeh received her MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and completed her residency in Vasculary Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Clinically her interests relate to aortic disease, carotid artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, venous disease, hemodialysis access creation and management, endovascular and minimally invasive vascular surgery.

Dr. Alexander Perez is a Professor of Surgery, Vice Chair of Quality for the Department of Surgery, Chief of the Division of Minimally Invasive and Foregut Surgery, the Surgical Director of the Sealy and Smith Laboratory for Surgical Training Assessment and Research at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and Adjunct Professor at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Perez was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He completed his Research Fellowship and Internship in General Surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He then did his Residency in General Surgery at Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine and his Fellowship in Endosurgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Perez received his Medical Degree at the Bosque University Colombian Medical School in Bogota, Colombia.

Dr. Alexander Perez is board-certified in Surgery, fellowship-trained in Endosurgery and specializes in minimally invasive general and oncologic surgery - hernias, gallbladder, stomach, spleen, adrenal, and pancreas. He has authored over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 10 book chapters in surgical textbooks. Dr. Perez has been honored with several awards for teaching and clinical work and is active in scientific organizations.

Dr. Sarah Samreen is the Surgery Clerkship Co-Director and the Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Samreen earned her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the Aga Khan University Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. She completed her internship in General Surgery at Berkshire Medical Center in Berkshire, Massachusetts and completed her residency in General Surgery at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania where she was an Administrative Chief Resident. She accomplished her fellowship in Advanced GI, Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Dr. Samreen is a member of the Association of Women Surgeons, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Samreen's clinical interests include complex esophageal motility disorders including achalasia, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), paraesophageal and hiatal hernias, bariatric surgery, gall bladder disease, inguinal hernias, and ventral hernias. She uses a minimally invasive approach through laparoscopy and robotic surgery.

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Christina is a Nurse Practitioner in the UTMB Health Department of Surgery.

Christina Guarin grew up in San Antonio, TX and always knew she wanted to be in healthcare. In high school she joined the Health Occupations Students of America and became a Certified Nursing Assistant at the age of 16. She worked in a Skilled Nursing facility until after graduation when she enlisted in the US Navy. After bootcamp she was attached to a Marine Corps Unit and did 2 tours in Iraq as a MedEvac corpsman. After completing her enlistment, she challenged the state board and was approved to take the NCLEX for LVN. Christina then worked as an LVN in an outpatient surgery center while taking pre-requisites to get into nursing school. After graduating with her BSN, she worked one year in a Critical Care Stepdown Unit before transferring to the Intensive Care Unit where she would stay until completing her master's degree and becoming an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.

Christina Guarin is Board Certified by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

In her free time, Christina enjoys traveling with her husband, and chasing after her ever-energetic children.

Dr. Marilyn Marx is a board-certified general surgeon with a special interest in laparoscopic surgery, diseases of the breast, hernias and endoscopy. Dr. Marx received her B.S. from The University of Michigan and her M.D. from Rush Medical College. She completed her general surgical residency at The University of Texas Medical Branch, furthering her education by receiving a Master of Medical Science Degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch in 1987 and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Houston Clear-Lake in 2000. Upon completing her surgical residency, Dr. Marx was in private practice until 1997 when she joined the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

In additional to her clinical and educational responsibilities as a Professor of Surgery, she has served in several administrative appointments within the Faculty Group Practice over the past years including Chief Medical Director for Outpatient Services, Assistant Dean for Faculty Practice, and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Practice, and Chief Physician Executive. Dr. Marx served as President of the Association of Women Surgeons from 2010-2011.

Dr. Sahai currently serves as a Professor and Division Chief of General Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). Prior to moving to UTMB in February 2020, he was on the faculty of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where he served as the Chief of the Section of Consultative Medicine in the Department of General Internal Medicine. and was part of the leadership team of the Perioperative Evaluation and Management (POEM) Center. His undergraduate education was at Tulane University, followed by medical school at the UTMB. He completed residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Dr. Sahai has completed a board certification in Medical Quality, as well as a graduate certificate in Health Care Management from Rice University School of Business.

Dr. Sahai is an advocate for patients being a partner in their healthcare and is recognized internationally as an expert in the perioperative care of the cancer patient.