Carol Wise, Ph.D is a Professor in McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. 

Originally from Texas, Dr. Wise received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Texas A&M University and her doctorate degree in biochemistry from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in human molecular genetics with James Lupski at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and with Michael Lovett at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.  

Dr. Wise is a founding member and chair of the International Consortium for Spinal Genetics, Development, and Disease. She also co-directs the TSRHC GOOD for KIDs program aimed at solving rare debilitating musculoskeletal diseases in children using next-generation genomic methods.

Dr. Wise’s laboratory hosts the TSRHC Scoliosis Biobank and the U.S. DNA and Cell repository for the Primordial Registry, a joint effort with Dr. Michael Bober at A. I. duPont Hospital for Children.

Dr. Wise leads NIH-funded projects focused on mechanistic understanding of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, the most common musculoskeletal disorder in children, and on earlier onset forms. 

Heidi Jacobe, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Dermatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She holds the James N. Gilliam, M.D., Chair in Dermatology.

Dr. Jacobe earned her medical degree with honors at Baylor College of Medicine and completed a residency in dermatology at UT Southwestern Medical School. She also earned a master’s degree in clinical science at UT Southwestern.

A Diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology, Dr. Jacobe joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2002 after serving on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Jacobe’s main clinical and research interest is morphea, or localized scleroderma. She runs a comprehensive sclerosing skin disorders clinic, providing care for patients with morphea, scleroderma, and other sclerosing skin conditions. As Director of Phototherapy Services, Dr. Jacobe specializes in the use of ultraviolet light to treat eczema, psoriasis, and other inflammatory skin conditions.

Dr. Jacobe is a member of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance, the Scleroderma Foundation Medical Advisory Committee, and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance. She has served on the Skin Cancer Foundation’s photobiology committee since 2007.

Dr. Jacobe has delivered scores of presentations, contributed to more than a dozen books, and published numerous academic articles.

Dr. Jacobe was included in D Magazine's Best Doctors list for 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. She also has been named a Best Doctor in America and a Faculty of 1000 reviewer.

Jane Johnson, Ph.D. obtained her B.S. in Chemistry (1983) and her Ph. D. in Biochemistry (1988) at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her Ph. D. research was with Dr. Stephan Hauschka on muscle development. Postdoctoral research with Dr. David Anderson at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena led to the discovery of Ascl1 (previously Mash1), an essential transcription factor in neural development. She joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in December 1992 where she is currently a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and holds the Shirley and William S. McIntyre Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience. 

The research in the Johnson lab is focused on vertebrate nervous system development during the transition from proliferating neural stem cells to differentiating neurons and glia. We use the bHLH family of transcription factors to probe the molecular mechanisms controlling the balance of neural progenitor cell maintenance and differentiation, and the generation of neuronal diversity. Alteration in function and expression of the neural bHLH factors result in disturbances of connectivity, imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory neuron formation and loss of control of neural cell number. Our focus on understanding how transcription factors regulate neuronal differentiation and diversity has direct implications for stem cell biology and cancer.

Ralph C. Smith, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery

Jeffrey Cadeddu, M.D., is one of Texas’ leading urologists in the surgical treatment of prostate and kidney disorders. As Director of the UT Southwestern Clinical Center for Minimally Invasive Treatment of Urologic Cancer, he has performed more than 4,000 robotic/laparoscopic procedures on the prostate and kidney and introduced a number of firsts in the minimally invasive surgical treatment of kidney cancer and kidney disease.

His training and extensive experience with kidney cancers in particular allow him to offer patients the full gamut of options in managing the disease without losing the kidney. Those options include ablation, an outpatient procedure in which the tumor is destroyed with a heated probe, rather than removed surgically. Dr. Cadeddu was the first in Texas to perform the procedure. He also has the most experience in North Texas with laparoscopic and robotic partial or total nephrectomy to remove kidney cancers.

Dr. Cadeddu's experience treating prostate cancer with laparoscopic and robotic techniques spans 20 years, making him one of the most experienced surgeons with these techniques in the state of Texas. He is experienced with the full spectrum of robotic technologies, including the new single port robotic system.

Along with an active clinical practice focused on minimally invasive procedures, Dr. Cadeddu maintains a robust research program aimed at developing new technologies and techniques that will make kidney or prostate surgery even less invasive, while also maximizing kidney function better than what has traditionally been done.

Dr. Cadeddu joined the faculty of UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he is a Professor of Urology and Radiology, in 1999 after receiving his initial medical training and completing residencies in urology and surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. 

As an expert in the treatment of kidney and prostate cancer, Dr. Cadeddu regularly lectures and educates other medical professionals on the latest developments in managing urologic conditions. In 2007, he received the Gold Cystoscope Award from the American Urological Association for his contributions to advances in kidney cancer treatment and the training of numerous academic urologists.  In 2018, he received the Watson Award at UT Southwestern recognizing his outstanding clinical skills and compassionate patient care.

For over a decade, he has been included in D Magazine's Best Doctors list and has been named a Texas Monthly Super Doctor.

Lance Terada, M.D., is a Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Chief of its Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and holder of the Dr. Carey G. King, Jr. and Dr. Henry M. Winans, Sr. Chair in Internal Medicine. His clinical interests include general pulmonology and pulmonary disorders.

Originally from Honolulu, Dr. Terada received his bachelor’s degree in biophysics from Amherst College in Massachusetts, and his medical degree from the University of Hawaii. His clinical training in internal medicine was at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, followed by both clinical and research fellowships in pulmonary sciences at the University of Colorado in Denver, where he also served as a faculty member.

He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine (1986), pulmonary medicine (1988), and critical care medicine (2010). He joined UT Southwestern in 1999.Dr. Terada’s research focuses on several areas of cellular signaling which control basic mechanical and cell fate decision programs.

He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Federation for Medical Research, American Psychological Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Thoracic Society.

Dr. Terada’s awards and honors include an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, an Individual Investigator Award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, membership in the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society, and the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award from UTSW’s Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship. He has been named a Texas Super Doctor by Texas Monthly every year since 2012.

Diana K. and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology

Steven Kliewer earned his BS in biochemistry from Brown University in 1985 and his PhD in molecular biology from UCLA in 1990. From 1990-1993, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute, and from 1993-2002 he was a scientist at GlaxoSmithKline, rising to Director of Nuclear Receptor Research.  In 2002, he joined UT Southwestern, where he is currently Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology and holds the Diana K. and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology.  He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Kliewer runs a joint laboratory with Dr. David Mangelsdorf.  Their research focuses on the roles of nuclear receptors and endocrine FGFs in regulating diverse aspects of physiology and pathophysiology, including metabolism and related diseases.  Among their ongoing projects, they are studying how FGF19 and FGF21 regulate bile acid and energy homeostasis, respectively, and how the dafachronic acid receptor, DAF-12, regulates the infectious lifecycle of parasitic nematodes.

Venkatesh Aiyagari, M.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. 

A specialist in the neurocritical care of inpatients, Dr. Aiyagari serves as Chief of the Division of Neurocritical Care.

He is certified in neurocritical care by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties and in neurology and vascular neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Aiyagari’s research interests include blood pressure management in stroke, quality improvement in neurocritical care, and sodium management in neurological disorders. He has published scores of journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters.

He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association Stroke Council and a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Prior to joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2012, Dr. Aiyagari served as a tenured Associate Professor of neurology and Co-Director of neurocritical care in the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation at the University of Illinois.

Dr. Aiyagari earned his medical degree at Calcutta Medical College and Hospitals. He completed two neurology residencies, one at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India and another at New York University Medical Center – serving as chief resident his final year – and a fellowship in neurology/neurosurgery intensive care at Washington University School of Medicine.

He serves on the editorial board of Frontiers in Hospitalist Neurology and as an ad hoc reviewer for journals that include JAMA Neurology, Journal of Critical Care, Neurology, Neurocritical Care, Stroke, and Critical Care Medicine.

He is a member of professional organizations that include the American Academy of Neurology, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and Neurocritical Care Society.

W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D., an international leader in hand transplantation, joined UT Southwestern as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean, UT Southwestern Medical School in February 2019. Dr. Lee is responsible for advancing the academic mission of UT Southwestern’s four degree-granting schools, while leading a faculty of approximately 3,400. He also oversees the more than $640 million in annual biomedical research funding awarded to faculty.

Prior to joining UTSW, Dr. Lee served as Director (Chair) of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research has focused on tolerance strategy for vascularized composite allo-transplantation (VCA) to ameliorate the need for long-term systemic immunosuppression. Dr. Lee established multidisciplinary programs for hand transplantation at Johns Hopkins and University of Pittsburgh using an immunomodulatory protocol based upon his laboratory investigation, and led surgical teams that performed the first double hand transplant (2009) and first above-elbow arm transplant (2010) in the United States, as well as the world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant (2018).

He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and completed medical school and a general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins, followed by plastic surgery training at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Lee was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has served as the President of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Chair of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, President of the American Society for Reconstructive Transplantation, President of the American Association for Hand Surgery, and President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons.