Dr. Laurel L. Humphrey is an Assistant Professor in the Division of MIS/Foregut Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Prior to practicing at UTMB Dr. Humphrey was in private practice in General Surgery and Endoscopy in Dallas, Crockett, and La Grange, Texas.

Dr. Humphrey earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Her residency in General Surgery was completed at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Humphrey has been a part of scientific societies such as the Brazoria County Medical Society, Colorado-Fayette County Medical Society, Tarrant County Medical Society and membership in the Texas Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Humphrey's specialties include endoscopy, breast and colon cancer, thyroid, hernia repair, gall bladder, appendectomy, and emergency surgery.

Dr. Ruth L. Bush is a professor of vascular surgery and the Associate Dean for Educational Affairs at the John Sealy School of Medicine-UTMB. She is board certified in both general and vascular surgery. She has over two decades of experience in vascular surgery and undergraduate (UME) and graduate medical education (GME). Prior to joining the faculty at UTMB, she was the founding Associate Dean for Medical Education and Professor at the University of Houston College of Medicine. She has also held leadership roles at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas A&M College of Medicine where she was the former Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, holding tenured professor rank at both institutions.

A native North Carolinian, Dr. Bush graduated from R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, medical degree from University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, juris doctorate from William Taft Law School, and masters in public health from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Bush completed residency at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, CA where she also spent an additional two years doing vascular surgery research. Following completion of general surgery residency, she completed a vascular surgery fellowship at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA. She practiced in the VA healthcare system for 18 years and recently retired from federal service. She also has practiced in private and academic settings. Over the past decade, her clinical practice has focused primarily on venous disorders including chronic venous insufficiency, venous ulcerations, and post-thrombotic syndrome.

She is a member of several prestigious professional organizations and was elected in 2018 to the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators. Additionally, the Society for Vascular Surgery and the American Venous Forum have awarded her Distinguished Fellow status. Dr. Bush is past president of the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society (formerly known as the PVSS) and is president-elect (2023) of the American Venous Forum. She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Vascular Surgery – Venous and Lymphatic Disorders.

She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles, >35 book chapters, and is on the editorial board of several medical journals. Dr. Bush has been an invited speaker and led workshops/courses at more than 200 national and international programs. She also is involved with her community as a volunteer at Dress for Success Houston, as a member of the American Heart Association’s Circle of Red which promotes cardiovascular health in women, and as a global volunteer to Haiti providing much needed primary care and general surgical procedures. She is passionate about medical education at all levels, patient care and barriers to care, and studying and improving health disparities in venous care.

Dr. Eric Cole was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, where he graduated from high school as a national merit semifinalist. He attended Stanford University, and then returned to Durham for Duke University Medical School. He remained at Duke for his Otolaryngology residency, and then completed his Plastic Surgery residency at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Dr. Cole practiced both Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology in Chapel Hill from 1999-2006 where he was on staff at many hospitals including the Durham Veterans Administration where he helped train Duke Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology residents.

Dr. Cole joined an academic private practice in his wife's home town of Norfolk, Virginia in 2006 after the birth of their first and only child. He performed craniofacial and pediatric surgery at Childrens Hospital of the King's Daughters and continued his training of residents and medical students. He developed an interest in cleft surgery and travelled internationally with Operation Smile. His decision to pursue full time academics in 2010 led to his completion of the prestigious Craniofacial and Pediatric fellowship at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles / University of Southern California.

Dr. Cole joined the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) immediately after training, and he currently performs surgery at Shriners Hospital in Houston and Galveston in addition to UTMB. He enjoys his role as Director of Craniofacial and Pediatric Plastic Surgery. He has recently been on a medical mission for cleft surgery to the Dominican Republic in order to augment resident training and increase international ties to UTMB. He has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has several more recently accepted. He recently authored a chapter on Pediatric Midface Fractures for the upcoming text Operative Techniques in Plastic Surgery. He is a member of multiple national Plastic Surgery organizations, and currently serves on the American Board of Plastic Surgery as an Oral Board Examiner.

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Dr. Anthony D’Andrea is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He grew up in Houston, and received a Bachelor in Business Administration at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He then went on to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine where he graduated with a dual Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Public Health (MPH). As a medical student he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. He completed residency training in surgery at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and fellowship training in colon and rectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida.

Dr. D’Andrea’s training in colorectal surgery is longstanding. Prior to medical school, he worked as a clinical research associate at the Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, under the guidance of Dr. John Marks. His research focused on minimally invasive laparoscopic colorectal surgery featuring radical sphincter preservation for rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiation. During medical school at the University of Miami, Dr. D’Andrea’s public health work involved the study of colorectal cancer survivorship and improving patients’ quality of life after treatment. In general surgery residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital, he spent a dedicated year of research under the mentorship of Dr. Patricia Sylla where he focused on minimally invasive laparoscopy, robotic surgery, and transanal endoscopic surgery for rectal cancer, as well as Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. Dr. D’Andrea’s training culminated at the Cleveland Clinic Florida where he had the opportunity to learn from longtime leaders in the field of colorectal surgery. Dr. D’Andrea is now privileged to return to Texas joining the faculty at UTMB where he can help serve the health and population of his home state with the highest quality of care.

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.

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Dr. Vaghjiani complete his undergraduate education at Brown University with a Sc.B. in neuroscience. He received his M.D. from Brown University and completed general surgery residency at the Albert Einstein COM/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, NY. During that time, he also completed a thoracic surgery research fellowship focusing on solid tumor immunology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY. He received subspecialty clinical training in complex general surgical oncology at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY before joining the faculty at UTMB.

His clinical interests include the treatment of a wide variety of cancers including: gastric, esophageal, small bowel, pancreas, bile duct, adrenal, thyroid/parathyroid, sarcoma, melanoma, and breast. He is also well versed in minimally invasive/robotic techniques.

Dr. Vaghjiani is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family (including his dogs Mango and Chutney), camping, and cars.

Dr. Naik-Mathuria is the Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), where she?holds the Granville T. Hall Chair in General Surgery.? Dr. Naik-Mathuria?is triple board certified in Pediatric Surgery, General Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care. She is an?experienced pediatric surgeon with over a decade of clinical experience in general pediatric abdominal and thoracic surgery, pediatric surgical oncology, and pediatric trauma.

Dr. Naik-Mathuria was born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya, she immigrated to Houston with her family during high school and graduated from Clements High School in Sugar Land. She attended Trinity University in San Antonio where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double major (BS in Biology and BA in Psychology), then matriculated from medical school at Texas A+M Health Science Center where she was nominated to the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. She joined the General Surgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (2003-2009), where she spent an additional year doing a research fellowship in fetal wound healing. Following completion of General Surgery residency, she moved to Los Angeles for Pediatric Surgery fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (2009-2011). She was then recruited back to Baylor in the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital where she was given the opportunity to develop and lead the recently established Level I pediatric trauma program. She completed a second fellowship in Surgical Critical Care and subsequently started the pediatric track of Baylor's surgical critical care fellowship. A few years later, she?obtained a?Master's?in Public Health?from John’s Hopkin’s Bloomberg school.?She was promoted to Associate Professor at Baylor 6 years after completing training (2018) and is currently pending approval for promotion to Professor at UTMB (2022).

Dr. Naik-Mathuria is an experienced and compassionate clinician. She is most passionate about caring for the most vulnerable – those affected by cancer or injury – and believes strongly in equitable, high-quality care for all. During the ten years that she worked at Texas Children's Hospital, she specialized?in surgical oncology and trauma in addition to practicing general neonatal and pediatric surgery. She received multiple awards during this time, including Texas Rising Star in Texas Monthly's SuperDoctors (2018),?Who’s Who in Medicine (2018), Best Doctors in Houston by Houstonia Magazine (2018, 2020, 2021), Texas SuperDoctors in Texas Monthly Magazine (2022). Her clinical academic excellence was awarded by Baylor College of Medicine through the Early Career Faculty Excellence Award (2017), the Women of Excellence Award (2020), and The Texas Children’s Hospital Department of Surgery Faculty Clinical Excellence Award (2020).

Dr. Naik-Mathuria is an avid clinical outcomes, trauma, and public health researcher. She has authored over 100 publications and co-edited the primary textbook in pediatric trauma. In 2017, she was chosen as a Future Trauma Leader by the American College of Surgeons and is now considered a national leader in pediatric trauma. She has contributed to several national initiatives affecting the care of injured children and is frequently invited for national speaking engagements. Dr. Naik-Mathuria has an R01 award from the Centers for Disease Control to understand the epidemiology of firearm injury and violence in Harris County (Houston) and was the only surgeon to be funded by CDC in the first round following a 24-year federal ban on firearm-related funding. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Houston Chronicle. She is a strong advocate for child firearm safety and works with Houston city leadership and law enforcement through her leadership role on the Houston Mayor's Commission Against Gun Violence. Additionally, she is a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy in the Firearm Injury Prevention and Safety program.

Dr. Naik-Mathuria is involved in several national surgical organizations at the leadership level. She completed a term on the executive board of the Pediatric Trauma Society, is the current Chair of the Advocacy committee of the AAP Section on Surgery, and the Vice-Chair of the Pediatric committee of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. She also serves on several committees in the American Pediatric Surgical Association and Society of University Surgeons.

Finally, Dr. Naik-Mathuria has a special interest in global surgery, and travels to Africa to the town where she grew up frequently to work with local pediatric surgeons to increase access to high-quality pediatric surgical care, train local pediatric surgical fellows and residents, and build local capacity. She also works with the Rice 360 and bioengineering program to create low-cost innovative solutions for surgical problems in low resource settings. She plans to start a global surgery program at UTMB and train passionate residents and students to be leaders in global surgery.

As the new leader of pediatric surgery at UTMB, Dr. Naik-Mathuria is excited about programmatic development and research to ensure the highest quality of surgical care for the children and families in South Texas, to educate the next generation of surgeons, and to continue to advocate for child health and safety, and the highest level of health for all people.

Mr. Davis, a Southeast Houston native, graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas with a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Humanities. He returned to his hometown of Deer Park and taught high school Biology and Anatomy before continuing his medical education. Reagan then obtained his Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 2018, where he served as class Vice President. Mr. Davis began his medical career as a PA here at UTMB and sees both adult and pediatric patients for General ENT disorders, with a specialty interest in head and neck cancers and myofascial pain. He remains passionate about education and enjoys teaching rotating clinical students as well as providing lectures to didactic students. During his free time, Mr. Davis enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, and going on walks with his wife and newborn daughter, and their dog, Oliver.

Dr. Jing Bai Qin is the Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Dr. Jing is a nationally recognized plastic surgeon known for her expertise in hand surgery, plastic surgery, and cosmetic surgery. Dr. Jing received her undergraduate degree from Bates College, where she graduated with summa cum laude, multiple honors, and an unprecedented accomplishment of triple major in biology, economics, and neuroscience, as well as a minor in chemistry. She then attended Boston University Medical School, where she obtained her M.D. degree with Cum Laude distinction and Alpha Omega Alpha honor from the Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Jing completed her plastic surgery residency at the University of Massachusetts Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program, where she received multiple in-service awards and served as the Chief Resident at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. She then received additional specialized training in Hand and Microsurgery at the prestigious New York University, where she learned exceptional skills from the leading experts in plastic surgery and participated in the world’s first successful face and double hand transplant in history. Additionally, Dr. Jing has authored numerous publications and has been invited to present her research in plastic surgery innovations at numerous regional and national plastic surgery conferences.

Dr. Jing offers a wide range of reconstructive plastic surgery and hand surgery procedures. She treats a variety of hand and wrist problems, including carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, arthritis, fractures, sprain, De Quervain's tenosynovitis, ganglion cyst, mucous cyst, dupuytren's contracture, tendon injury, nerve injury, and deformity, amongst other pathologies. She is experienced in treating patients of all ages – including children, adults, and elderly patients - and she is the Director of Pediatric Plastic Hand Surgery at UTMB. Additionally, she frequently treats common skin problems such as skin tags, benign skin lesions, malignant skin cancer, and complex tissue reconstruction.

Dr. Jing performs a wide range of cosmetic plastic surgical procedures for the face, body, breast, and chest. She uses the latest techniques in facelift, neck lift, eye lift (blepharoplasty), eyebrow lift, ear pinning (otoplasty), rhinoplasty, and facial implants for the chin, jaw, and cheeks. She offers the most state-of-the-art minimal-incision breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction, tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), liposuction, mommy makeover, labiaplasty, fat grafting or fat transfer with enhancement, body contouring, facial rejuvenation, and hand rejuvenation treatment using a variety of cutting-edge surgical and non-surgical modalities. For her male patients, she provides a variety of treatment modalities for gynecomastia removal and other enhancement options of the male chest, body, arms, and legs.

Dr. Jing has a strong interest in volunteering and philanthropy and is passionate about giving back to her community. She has been recognized nationally for her volunteer work and she is the recipient of several national Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award – the highest honor for volunteerism in the United States. She also volunteers for medical missions and has traveled abroad to treat children and adults in developing countries around the world.