Kathleen is a Physician Assistant in the UTMB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Kathleen is BOI (born on the island), born and raised in Galveston, Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree from UTMB in Health Care Administration. Realizing her true calling was inpatient care, she returned to school. After graduating from UTMB’s PA program in 2000, she joined UTMB’s Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Kathleen has over 20 years of experience caring for patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings. She spends much of her time in the operating room, where she specializes in endoscopic vein harvest and first assists for complex cardiac cases.

Dr. Wallace is an assistant professor within the Acute Care Surgery/Trauma division within the department of Surgery. Prior to joining UTMB full-time, Dr. Wallace was in private practice at St. Joseph Medical Center in downtown Houston for over 28 years. His practice was split between surgical oncology and acute care surgery. He held numerous leadership positions at St. Joseph, including Chairman of Surgery and Academic Chief of surgery.

Dr. Wallace has a longstanding affiliation with UTMB. Since 2013 he was the site director responsible for overseeing the UTMB surgical residents while they rotated through St. Joseph's. He also served as an associate program director for multiple years and led a weekly resident didactic conference for six years.

Dr. Wallace grew up outside of Boston, MA. He attended college at the University of Chicago, where he graduated with honors with a degree in Classical Languages and Literature. He then worked for four years as a computer analyst/programmer before returning to the University of Chicago for medical school. He then did his surgical residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical center in Chicago, finishing in 1994. Following this, Dr. Wallace moved to Houston to join a busy Surgical Oncology practice.

Dr. Welsh is an Assistant Professor in the UTMB Health Department of Surgery.

Originally from the Philadelphia region, Dr. Francis Welsh graduated summa cum laude from Jefferson Medical College. Wanting to become a trauma surgeon, he came to Houston, TX to complete his residency in General Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and Ben Taub General Hospital.

After training, he remained at Baylor an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery. For over 10 years, he worked as a Trauma/Emergency General Surgeon at Ben Taub General Hospital and was Medical Director of the Trauma/Surgical Intensive Care Unit.

Dr. Welsh is Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a member of the Harris County Medical Society and the Texas Medical Association.

Dr. Welsh performs a wide variety of trauma, emergency, and elective general surgery cases, as well as complex abdominal and laparoscopic procedures. His research interests include trauma surgery, thromboelastography and the coagulopathy of trauma.

Dr. Welsh is a dedicated family man and is married with two children.

Dr. Steven E. Wolf is a Professor and the Division Chief of Burn, Trauma, and Acute Care Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He is a surgeon who holds the Joseph D. and Lee Hage Jamail Distinguished Chair in Burn Research and Education.

Dr. Wolf earned his medical degree in 1990 at UTMB and completed his surgical residency at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1995. He went on to a research fellowship in trauma and burns at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston (SHC) from 1995-1996 and then a clinical fellow in critical care and burns at UTMB from 1996-1997.

From 1997-2004, Dr. Wolf remained at UTMB as an Assistant and then Associate Professor. During this time, he held several leadership positions, including Director of the Blocker Burn Unit and Assistant Chief of Staff at SHC. In 2004, Dr. Wolf moved to San Antonio, Texas to become Director of the Burn Center at the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research during the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict, and a Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio (UTHSC). During this time, he was responsible for managing all burned combat casualties and all aspects of burn care and reconstruction for the US military. While concurrently at UTHSC, Dr. Wolf held the Betty and Bob Kelso Distinguished Chair in Burns and Trauma and was the Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery.

In 2011, Dr. Wolf became a Professor, Vice-Chair for Research, and Section Chief for Burns in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He also held the Golden Charity Guild Charles R. Baxter, MD, Endowed Chair. In 2018, Dr. Wolf returned to UTMB.

Dr. Wolf has held over 40 grants totaling over $25M funded by numerous organizations, including the NIH and U.S. Department of Defense, 21 as Principal Investigator. He has also remained actively engaged in numerous committees for national and international professional medical organizations including 3 as president. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Burns journal since 2004 and is on the editorial board of several scientific journals. Dr. Wolf has authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, over 130 book chapters and reviews, and three books. He has also been invited to give presentations and lectures all over the world.

Enrique R. Barrientos, PA-C, is a certified Physician Assistant in the Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). He has over 35 years of experience as a Physician Assistant.

Mr. Barrientos completed his graduate physician assistant program in 1982 at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C, and went on to complete a post-graduate surgical program for physician assistants at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, in 1983.

Throughout his career, Mr. Barrientos has worked at various hospitals and medical practices as a Physician Assistant and First Assist OR in New York, California, and Texas.

Dr. Sara Demola was born in the Netherlands and raised in Houston, Texas. She completed undergraduate training at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and at the University of Texas in Austin. Her medical education was completed at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. She began residency training in general surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Newark, and after two years returned to Texas to complete a two-year research fellowship in gastrointestinal oncology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). She completed general surgery residency and surgical critical care fellowship training at UTMB in Galveston.

Dr. Demola joined the UTMB faculty in 2012 and is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, specializing in trauma and acute care surgery. She is medical director for surgical services at the newly opened League City Campus of UTMB. She lives in Dickinson with her husband, daughter, and pets.

Dr. Richard Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Minimally Invasive and Foregut Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. He also serves as an Associate Program Director for the General Surgery Residency Program and the James E. Thompson, MD, Distinguished Professor in Surgical Simulation. He completed his internship and residency in general surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. During his residency he demonstrated a keen interest in minimally invasive surgery as well as teaching, and has been honored with various awards including the LSTAR Resident Surgical Olympics PGY-5 Champion, Golden Apple Award in Stimulation, Gold Foundation Humanism and Excellence in Teaching, the Thayer Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was also elected as a Raleigh Ross Scholar and a nominee for the institution's best resident.

Following residency, Dr. Lu completed a fellowship in Advanced GI and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. During his time there, he trained with world-renowned experts in abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repair as well as foregut surgery.

Dr. Lu is a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and a member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Texas Surgical Society, and the International Hernia Collaboration.

Dr. Lu's clinical interests include minimally invasive abdominal wall reconstruction, ventral hernia repair, inguinal hernia repair, mesh complications, and benign biliary disease.

His personal interests outside of surgery include spending time with his family, racquetball, cooking, photography, and working on cars.

Dr. Joshua Person is an Assistant Professor in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery in the Department of Surgery. He is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery in both general surgery and surgical critical care.

Dr. Person was an MD honors graduate at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School (UTMMS) in Houston, Texas. He completed his general surgery internship and residency at UTMMS from 2011-2016 and then went on to complete a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2017.

Dr. Person's clinical interests include trauma management, acute care surgery, and surgery critical care. He has also authored several chapters in surgical textbooks.