Chelsea Gatcliffe , MD

An internationally known researcher and pediatrician, Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, MD, was appointed the Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair on Oct. 22, 2012. He became dean and H. Wayne Hightower Distinguished Professor in the Medical Sciences of the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School, a part of UTHealth, Sept. 1, 2007 and served in that role until Oct. 1, 2015. Born in Morrone Del Sannio, Italy, Colasurdo completed his undergraduate education at The Liceo Scientifico “Galileo Galilei” in Pescara, Italy. He earned his medical degree summa cum laude from G. D’Annunzio School of Medicine in Chieti, Italy. Determined to achieve the best medical training in the world, Colasurdo came to the United States in 1988. He completed his residency at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and his fellowship at the University of Colorado Health Science Center and the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. In Colorado, he worked in the laboratory of Gary L. Larsen and initiated his studies on the autonomic regulation of the airway smooth muscle, the biology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, and ontogeny of airway dysfunction and inflammation in childhood asthma. Colasurdo joined McGovern Medical School’s faculty in 1995 as an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine. He became the division head in 1997 and started directing the fellowship training program in pediatric pulmonary medicine in 2001. He served as chair of the Department of Pediatrics from 2005 to 2011. Colasurdo specializes in RSV, pediatric asthma, and other lung disorders in infants and children. Colasurdo has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Children’s Miracle Network, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Katrina E. McBeth, MD, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained pediatric pulmonologist whose primary interests include asthma/reactive airway disease, paradoxical vocal fold movement disorder (vocal cord dysfunction), pulmonary complications of childhood cancer and related treatment, airway clearance, and community pulmonology. She’s also an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. McBeth is a native Houstonian who graduated from Langham Creek High School in 2002. She went on to major in Plan II at The University of Texas at Austin, graduating magna cum laude in 2006, followed by medical school at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, graduating in 2010. She quickly returned to her Houston roots, completing her pediatric residency at McGovern Medical School in 2013 and serving as chief resident until 2014. She completed a pediatric pulmonary medicine fellowship training at the medical school in 2017. McBeth met her husband, Sean, in college, and they have been married since 2007. The couple has four children: Lizzie, born in 2011, Travis, born in 2013, Poppie, born in 2016, and Crockett, born in 2018. Outside of work, McBeth’s hobbies include crafting and science experiments with her children, running (she has completed five full marathons, many half marathons, and dozens of shorter races), volunteering with the PTA, and serving as a Girl Scout troop leader.