Galit Holzmann-Pazgal, MD, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital Physician of the Year, talks with patient Melanie Garcia, 9.
Galit Holzmann-Pazgal, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist featured widely as an expert in media stories about the swine flu outbreak last fall, has been named Physician of the Year at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital.
"I am so honored to receive this award," said Dr. Holzmann-Pazgal, a board-certified specialist who also is a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. "Children's Memorial Hermann and its affiliation with UT offer the perfect opportunity to practice medicine and pursue research."
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Holzmann-Pazgal received her medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. She completed a pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as a pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at St. Louis Children's Hospital in Missouri.
Dr. Holzmann-Pazgal is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Infectious Disease Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the American Association of Pediatrics Committee of the Section on Infectious Diseases.
She also is a dedicated instructor and has developed curriculum on infectious diseases and infection prevention for residents at UT Health Science Center at Houston. She has authored numerous manuscripts on infectious disease topics that have appeared in professional journals including Pediatrics, Journal of Pediatrics, and Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
Dr. Holzmann-Pazgal has presented research and abstracts at professional meetings nationwide on topics including prevention of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit infections, bloodstream infections in NICU patients and ventilator-associated pneumonia in extremely premature infants.
"Dr. Holzmann-Pazgal is a very talented and compassionate physician, and she is an integral part of the infectious disease service at our hospital," said Craig Cordola, CEO of Children's Memorial Hermann.
To be selected Physician of the Year, a doctor may be nominated by employees, administration or fellow practitioners and must demonstrate courtesy, respect, responsiveness, professionalism and teamwork, and always puts the patient first.
One colleague who nominated Dr. Holzmann-Pazgal wrote, "Her knowledge of the unique populations and needs of children have been very valuable in the reduction of infections in children. Her depth of knowledge of infectious diseases and issues regarding these diseases has been a bright addition to Children's Memorial Hermann."