Providing care for adults of all ages, I enjoy educating my patients about their current health condition and recommending ways to improve it. My main focus is on prevention of chronic illness and disease. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling with my family, reading, and being active.

Dr. Priya Shah is a family physician. She received her MD from St. George's University - West Indies and completed her family medicine internship and residency at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York, an affiliate of the Mount Sinai Health System. Her clinical interests include all aspects of family medicine including preventative medicine.

 Provider is LGBTQIA+ Responsive

Maria Escamilla is a certified nurse practitioner. She graduated with her Masters of Science in Nursing from UTMB and her clinical interests include occupational medicine and family practice medicine.

Nancy Ross comes from a long line of health care professionals and is a long time nurse, first specializing in cardiac surgery, then wanting more patient contact, obtained her master's degree and becoming a Nurse Practitioner. From there Nancy worked in a private solo practice in Alvin for three years, enjoying seeing a wide variety of patient conditions, including our older patients. Upon coming to UTMB, Nancy worked with oncology patients in the Department of Surgery before working in primary care and enjoyed the professional challenges of working with the patient population.

A recurrent theme of Nancy's career is that she enjoys challenges and learning at every opportunity to provide the best outcomes for her patients. When her mother retired at 67 from nursing, her mother found new challenges to enjoy in a new career as a published poet and author. Nancy took this to heart, understanding that every phase of life is a challenge to be relished and enjoyed. Nancy also enjoys quilting, baking, travelling and reading a good book.

Samuel Kahiu is a graduate of Texas Woman's University in Houston, where he obtained his Master of Science in Nursing. Samuel specializes as an experienced family nurse practitioner, and enjoys all aspects of family medicine and urgent care.

Tiffany Perez, DO is originally from Houston, Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Following this, she attended medical school at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Auburn, Alabama. She completed residency at Oklahoma State University/OMECO Teaching Health Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Dr. Perez puts the needs of her patients at the forefront of everything she does and continually strives to deliver the best levels of patient care at all times. She pursued family medicine because she enjoys taking care of patients of all ages and backgrounds. Her clinical interests include minor procedures, women's health, and preventive medicine.

Dr. Perez’s hobbies include spending time with family, playing with her dog, and traveling. She is excited to join UTMB and hopes to make a positive impact in the community.

Cynthia grew up in Delaware County Pennsylvania, attended and graduated from Temple University for both her undergraduate and graduate studies. She started her career in an oncology unit at Temple University hospital while completing her graduate studies. In 2010 after graduate school, she and her family relocated to the great State of Texas where they have since made their home. She joined the 82nd Medical Group-Sheppard Air Force Base as a Family Practice Clinician-Civilian Contractor for about 3 years. There she was awarded the Outstanding Performance Award by the United States Air Force Medical Service's Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Inc. In the 3 years at Sheppard Air Force Base, she started and completed a post graduate education earning her doctorate degree for which her research focus and publication was on diabetes management. Cynthia went on to serve as a Primary Care consultant for the next 6 years at the North Texas State Hospital where she received numerous recognitions for her work and her contribution to successful joint commission surveys. At this time, most of her family have moved from Pennsylvania to Houston, thus they relocated to the Houston area to be closer to family.

She enjoys spending time with family, serving at her local church and doing crossfit. Cynthia is honored to join the UTMB family at the Angleton Danbury Campus.

Howdy, my name is Farha Syed and I am practically Texas born bred and a proud Aggie! I had an amazing medical school journey that allowed me to travel and provide care in rural mountain and island areas. This eventually led me back home to Houston, where I’m glad to be giving back to my community. I served as co-chief at UTMB Family Medicine Residency Program and helped develop and deploy the COVID response team, providing support and leadership during a challenging time in our world. I have grown a special interest in guiding people through the challenges of COVID recovery, while maintaining a focus on the rest of their general health. I love helping my patients reach their healthcare and preventative medicine goals such as losing weight, dietary changes and lifestyle modifications. When I’m not participating in patient care and my passion for medicine, you can find me biking the trails of Bayou and Memorial park, finding new home improvement projects I have to start right away, and helping my husband work on our cars.

Melanie Gray was born in Houston, TX and raised in the once small town of Pearland, TX. She initially received her Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from UTMB in 2004, graduating with honors. After working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Texas Children's Hospital and in the Day Surgery Unit at University General Hospital, she pursued her master's degree at UTMB. With two young girls, one on the way, and the help of her husband, she received her Master's of Science in Nursing and became a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2015.

With a passion for primary care, she accepted a position at Texas Gulf Coast Medical Group in 2016. At TGCMG, she grew as a nurse practitioner and served as a preceptor. Recently, she joined the Primary and Specialty Care Clinic at UTMB.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She can usually be found hustling kids to different activities or enjoying time outdoors.

Emily Smith was born and raised in Beaumont, TX. She received a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2010. She then went on to pursue nursing and received her Bachelor's in Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 2012.

She worked as an emergency room nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital and then for five years worked for Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center as a trauma nurse. While working full time as a trauma nurse, she went back to school for her Master's degree at UTMB. She graduated with a 4.0 GPA with her Master's in Nursing, specializing in family practice. She has worked urgent care for UTMB since 2017 and began working full time at Webster Adult Primary Care in 2018.

Emily is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She enjoys spending her spare time with her husband and daughter.