THE FINALISTS

ALL FINALISTS AND SEMI-FINALISTS
WERE NOMINATED BY OTHER INDIVIDUALS AND FORWARDED TO THE
SELECTION COMMITTEE

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BUSINESS INNOVATION

LONG TERM CARE

PUBLIC HEALTH LEADER

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH LEADER

DIRECT PATIENT CARE

HEALTH CARE INNOVATOR

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

BUSINESS INNOVATION

Patrick is a Past Chairman of Entreprenuers of North Texas and Current Chairman of One Day.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

I'm currently the President and Co-Founder of Shiftsmart, a labor management platform that connects workers with companies to find shifts, manage their schedule and work across multiple employers. When the pandemic hit in mid-March, companies utilizing our platform began to quickly reduce their workforce; and my Get Shift Done co-founder, Anurag Jain (at the time, was the Chairman of the Board of North Texas Food Bank), reported a sudden increase in the food insecurity population and newfound shortage of volunteers due to health concerns and restrictions.

Anurag and I came up with the idea of the Get Shift Done initiative, where recently unemployed hospitality workers could use the Shiftsmart platform to work and be paid for volunteer shifts in food banks, food pantries, and schools packing and delivering food. We created a temporary relief fund to raise outside capital through private donations in order to provide workers with a wage of $15/hour to provide them with supplemental income. The initiative has now provided over 500,000 hours of skilled shifts to over 110 non-profits across the country with more than 25,000 workers registered, and in total over 50 million meals provided to the tables of those in need.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

At Shiftsmart, we are worker centric. So, when the pandemic impacted so many workers, especially in hard hit industries like hospitality and restaurants, we felt the right thing to do was to leverage our resources to provide an opportunity to make a difference.

Everyday, we are inspired to keep going because we have felt the incredible generosity of our communities, heard the testimonials from the workers appreciating supplemental income, observed the countless people in line to get food, and watched the incredible heroes that work in hunger relief organizations year after year - not just during this pandemic.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

While Get Shift Done has been exceptionally rewarding and fulfilling because of the tremendous impact we have made, it has also been humbling given the magnitude of the need. The initiative began as a 10-12 week relief effort focused on North Texas and has now extended to a total of 8 months across 11 different regions, with little end in sight.

To continue, more donations are needed. How we have dealt with that challenge is to recognize the impact we have made — and just keep pushing forward, which for me has also meant to continue soliciting donations from an already very generous community.

As a venture capitalist, Dr. Marathi was involved in the founding and launch of several biotechnology companies. He has helped raise over $50 million in equity financing.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

The real Healthcare Heroes in this pandemic are the front-line health care workers: nurses, physicians and primary caregivers. It’s their compassion that’s inspiring. We at 7 Hills are aspiring to support their work on three fronts:

Developing a novel drug to improve vaccine effectiveness. While emerging vaccines may provide protection for the general population, our senior citizens with multiple risk factors for COVID-19 have the highest mortality. We have developed a simple oral drug that boosts the current vaccine immune responses in these vulnerable people and hope to start human testing in the spring of 2021. BARDA and Johnson & Johnson recognized us as a Blue Knight for developing this countermeasure for preventing not only COVID-19 but also other pandemic and endemic infections as influenza and tuberculosis.
Patient Advocacy: When we saw the initial COVID-19 vaccine studies were excluding African Americans and Latinos, who have the highest rate of infections, we were one of first groups raise public awareness of such racial disparities (https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Opinion-Prioritize-at-risk-people-for-COVID-19-15454854.php)
Public policy: There are a number of commonly available, low cost generic drugs that hold promise for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. However, commercial investment to test these promising therapies has been limited because of a lack of financial incentives. 7 Hills along with numerous industry and academic thought leaders have proposed the expansion of laws that would encourage the exploration of using currently available generics for treatment of COVID-19 and other pandemic infections. Similar laws have delivered lifesaving treatments to rare diseases in the past.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

The tireless and compassionate work of frontline healthcare workers that put their lives at risk for the care of others.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Vaccines work! Yet nearly 40% of American are unwilling to take COVID-19 vaccine. I fear such unwillingness will limit the control of the current pandemic and limit the clinical evaluation of future medical countermeasures. To overcome this substantive challenge to global public health, we have been active in-patient advocacy and public policy efforts, and of course, the development of novel, safe, simple to use, low cost drugs and vaccines.

Prior to incubating Babson Diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers, Eric was Siemens’ VP, Portfolio & Product Management, responsible for its $3 billion global product portfolio of central laboratory technologies.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

The most pressing open questions regarding the novel coronavirus—true prevalence, extent and duration of immune response, and efficacy of vaccines—are likely to be assessed with accurate antibody testing. Babson Diagnostics, a medical technology company dedicated to improving the human experience of diagnostic blood testing, developed one of the nation’s first COVID-19 antibody tests in April and received FDA EUA approval in June. Babson’s IgG antibody test is a valuable tool for epidemiological research. Babson has added COVID-19 research to its existing range of clinical research studies, and is now partnering with UT Dell Medical School to conduct longitudinal research on the COVID-19 antibody response.

To support the local community, Babson Diagnostics donates its antibody tests to Austin-area frontline employees, such as grocery, health care, and social service workers. Babson also now offers COVID-19 rapid antigen testing through our pharmacy partners in the Austin area.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I think most of us in health care are here because we want to make a difference. Babson’s core business is enabling accurate diagnostic blood testing at retail pharmacies to make routine diagnostics more convenient, accessible, and human. By removing obstacles that prevent people from getting the preventive care they need, we are directly improving people’s long-term health and wellbeing.

Our mission is also very closely tied to our company’s core cultural values. Every decision we make is driven by Science, Integrity, Kindness, and Humility, and these values motivate and inspire us. We aim to become the new gold standard in diagnostic blood testing: never compromising scientific rigor, putting the customer first, and always improving.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Keeping Babson’s core business on track while contributing where we can in the pandemic is a major balancing act. We have a small but passionate team that makes the balancing act work. At the start of the pandemic, we decided unanimously that because we were positioned with the technology and expertise to help, we absolutely needed to do so—and all stepped up together. Without changing the pace of our core research and development or our series of clinical studies, we also successfully deployed an accurate antibody test and launched an additional series of clinical studies that will contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of the virus. We dealt with this challenge through strong teamwork, singular dedication, and a deep collective feeling of gratitude that we were equipped to contribute during a time when so many have felt helpless.

LONG TERM CARE

Dr. Blalock strives to make sure her patients are up to date on their preventative health screenings and controlling their chronic medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. She has expertise in weight loss, family planning, and immunizations.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

I practice outpatient family medicine in Navasota, Tx, inpatient adult hospital medicine in Bryan, Tx and coordinate the geriatric care among all of our skilled nursing facilities for the Texas A&M Family Medicine Residency. Prior to the pandemic, I helped oversee family medicine residents as they took care of patients in skilled nursing facilities in the Bryan/College Station area. I also had my own patients at two facilities in Navasota and serve as a medical director at a facility in B/CS.

Once the pandemic started I took over the care of every nursing home patient for our practice both in Navasota and Bryan/College Station. This allowed one provider to provide care and helped limit multiple people from entering facilities, thus limiting potential COVID-19 spread. I continue to see all of these patients monthly and our skilled rehabilitation patients multiple times a week as needed. Early in the pandemic we were coordinating weekly with our local health department in an effort to prevent and limit the spread of Covid-19 in our long term care facilities.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

Geriatric care is one of my main focuses and passions. This population is often forgotten. I treasure the relationships that I have developed with my patients throughout the many years that I have taken care of them. I take care of patients in 6 skilled nursing facilities and 4 assisted living facilities. I am privileged to walk with my patients during the later stages of their lives. My goal is to ensure that the later stages of life are no less meaningful than their early years. I love to celebrate the many many milestones of my patients; whether it is a new grandchild, an anniversary or a 100th birthday. Each celebration is special.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, family members were unable to come into the facilities. At the beginning of the pandemic even physicians were discouraged from coming into the facilities because they were desperately trying to prevent coronavirus from entering. I live to see the smiles on the faces of the patients when they receive a visitor. Even during telehealth visits I would incorporate conversations about my patient's interests. One of my patients was able to witness her son getting married outside the window of her room. Another patient lives to cheer on her Aggies and Astros and she is always decked out in her sports gear on game day. We would commiserate about the lack of baseball early on the pandemic. I always try to schedule extra time so that I am able to sit with the patients and just hear stories of their lives. Their gratitude is humbling.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

The pandemic has brought many challenges to patient care in general but specifically in long term care, however I also think it has opened many additional avenues of care. We incorporated telehealth into nursing home rounds at the start of the pandemic. This was a protective measure for the facilities. At first, I was skeptical about the ability of the patients to participate in telehealth but their resilience is astounding. They were able to quickly learn how to zoom as many of us have had to do. Adaptation and creativity is the name of the game. I worked closely with nurses at all of my facilities and developed a rapport that allowed us to efficiently round on the patients so that we could then focus on the emotional needs of the patients, not just their physical needs.

Communication with families has always been important but it took on an even more important role when they were not able to see their loved ones in person. The nursing staff and myself took on the role of family member and champion for each patient. I tried to make a point to call the families frequently with updates, even if it was just to tell them about a story their loved one shared with me. This built trust between the family and myself which ultimately improved patient care. The challenges to providing care and the flexibility that is required during a pandemic could be seen as a hurdle but I really think it has only served to reinforce my love for family medicine and geriatric care.

Mary was inspired to create Texas Caregivers for Compromise due to a 6-month plus delay in being able to see her Mother in a long term care facility

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

When the pandemic began, the response from our government was to shut down visitation in long-term care facilities in an attempt to protect them from the spread of COVID-19. The unintended consequence was the life threatening and life ending rapid cognitive decline, despondency, and weight loss from the isolation protocol. Texas Caregivers for Compromise was formed to promote safe and reasonable visitation in long-term care facilities in an attempt to slow the numbers of deaths by isolation and to restore those rights removed from long-term care residents when outside visitors were no longer allowed inside to advocate on their behalf.

Much of the essential caregiver and expanded visitation guidelines put in place by Texas Health and Human Services reflect the proposal we sent to Governor Abbott, Texas HHSC, CMS, and our legislators. We seek to take back those daily family caregiving duties that have been shifted to an already overburdened facility staff and we support infection control, testing and facility policy to regulate visitation. We have lobbied via letters, publications, a rally at the Capitol, media interviews, a 25,000 name petition and a program of 300 traveling signs and are convinced our efforts are helping affect positive change in long-term care visitation in Texas.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

Right now, today, somebody in long-term care is dying alone. People living both inside long-term care and their loved ones living outside are enduring a mental health crisis as families cope the with depression and guilt that accompanies the knowledge that their loved one is not safe living at home but declining from the COVID-19 protocols put in place where they are.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Death. Death by isolation. Death by COVID-19. But we honor these loved ones by working for others like them and for those who cared for them in their final days.

PUBLIC HEALTH LEADER

Venus has served on many national boards, appointed to the Blue Ribbon Panel of NCI Health Disparities Progress Review Group in Washington, DC/chairing the Trans HHS Cultural Competence in Education & Training Roundtable.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 1997, Dia de la Mujer Latina, Inc. (DML) has been focusing on promoting Latina women’s health with our signature annual health fiestas, in 39 major US Cities, Puerto Rico and Mexico via its trained and certified Promotores/Community Health Workers (P/CHWs). Since being the first Latino CBO approved by the State of Texas as a Sponsored Training Program in 2009, we have 12 statewide bilingual instructors who train over 4000 P/CHWs. Our P/CHWs were prepared for Hurricane Harvey and now COVID 19. On February 12th, I submitted my training program, Dispelling Myths and Rumors about Coronavirus and upon certification, have trained over 3000 P/CHWs in both Spanish and English on steps to combat the misinformation.

We also provide navigation for those who seeks local resources, testing sites and verifying information they are receiving each day. We are documenting their concerns in our newly developed and TX approved Telehealth Community Navigation Program, manned by P/CHWs in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Brownsville, McAllen, and Dallas/Ft Worth, in addition to Chicago, San Diego and Atlanta. We have a total of 10 Hotlines. Our latest approved training is on Dispelling Myths about Clinical Trials, Vaccines and COVID 19 and will provide our P/CHWs - an opportunity to become Clinical Trial Community Navigators.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

As a two-time cancer survivor, who lost a sister to cervical cancer and a brother to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I am committed to developing culturally and linguistically appropriate health awareness information and educational programs to meet the health literacy level of our vulnerable populations. Every year, as I train more and more Promotores/Community Health Workers, I’m encouraged by their labor of love, since they are our best resources. I’ve learn cultural humility by them and they inspire me to provide more educational opportunities so they can empower their communities by motivating these folks to early detection screening, informing them about available resources, navigating then through their care, and educating them about health and wellness.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Last year, our organization sponsored 15 P/CHWs, representing major cities in TX to become Mental Health First Aid Instructors. This training was timely and instrumental in helping so many deal with the El Paso Walmart Shooting tragedy. They are now helping those who have lost loved ones due to COVID 19. Likewise, in many of our Black and Brown Communities impacted severely with COVID, there are limited resources for these P/CHWs, who are trusted members of our community as well as, essential workers, who rarely get the recognition they deserve. Over 600 have been trained as Behavioral Health Community Navigators and many more as Telehealth Community Navigators but we still don’t have Mental Health facilities with Spanish-speaking providers.

It breaks my heart when we receive calls on our Hotline that someone is depressed, suffering from domestic violence, stressed, stigmatized and worst yet, overwhelmed by Infodemic. Much of the misinformation and the miscommunication is leading to more mistrust of government or local programs. We try to navigate them to the proper channels but many lack transportation, childcare, in addition to suffering from cultural and system barriers. Our organization is committed to reducing health inequities in our at-risk communities, one city at a time.

Precision Vax, LLC. is an international publisher of research-based vaccine news that is vetted for commercial bias, clinical relevance, and ‘main-street’ comprehension by doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

We launched CoronavirusToday.com in January 2020, which is a worldwide information portal focused on the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which is causing COVID-19. Our vaccine, lab test, and therapeutic information now reaches over 250,000 people each month, with over 40% of our website visitors coming from abroad.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

We believe the lack of trustworthy information regarding the new virus and related disease has created unnecessary fear and confusion throughout the world. As we publish research-based information, we can see how people are reading and sharing the breaking news with their communities. We hope our fact-check news is actionable, empowering more thoughtful conversations between healthcare providers and their patients, to make better decisions tomorrow.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Our research team reviews tens of clinical studies each day searching for information that is relevant, peer-reviewed, and adds value to the COVID-19 discussion. We focus on eliminating industry-influences and researcher bias when converting science into an understandable language by those living on ‘main-street’. Our ‘special-sauce’ comes from a network of healthcare provider fact-checkers who ensure the COVID-19 information we publish enables people to live life to the fullest, each and every day.

Lynn and the staff of the Public Defender’s Office have been instrumental in helping to plan, initiate and operate several Dallas County Diversion and Specialty Court/Re-entry Programs including Mental Health Jail Diversion, ATLAS, the PRIDE and STAR Courts, South Dallas Drug Court, Outpatient Competency Restoration Court, STAC, DDC, 4C, AIM, SET and the SCCIP Court program.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic?

The attorneys in the Dallas County Public Defender’s Office led by Chief Public Defender, Lynn Pride Richardson have risked their own personal health and safety during the Covid – 19 Pandemic by interacting with and representing indigent defendants detained in the Dallas County Jail. Often these interactions were conducted in the courtroom in close proximity with the inmates at the beginning of the pandemic before the protocols for masks and social distancing were mandated.

The Office has made it our priority to facilitate the release of as many low-level inmates who have been charged with non-violent offenses, including those with compromised immune systems and underlying health conditions to protect them from exposure to the coronavirus in the county jail. Chief Richardson has also partnered with advocacy groups and bail funds to get those inmates who cannot afford to post even a minimal bond out of jail to work with their attorney in a community setting with efforts to resolve their criminal case, while maintaining employment and providing support for their family.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I made the decision to go to law school because I wanted put to use the skills, training and experience I acquired as a competitive debater in high school and college. I was also motivated by a desire to help those who were marginalized, mistreated and disenfranchised by an oppressive criminal justice system with policies that facilitated the imprisonment and punishment of Black and Brown People at an alarmingly disproportionate rate compared to the rest of the population. I witnessed the disparities, unfairness, mistreatment and inequities in the system firsthand when I became an Assistant States Attorney after graduating from law school. I decided then I did not want to be a part of the problem as a prosecutor who was responsible for sending an overwhelming number of African Americans to prison. I made up my mind quickly that I wanted to devote my career to ensuring poor people of color received effective legal representation from lawyers that cared about them as human beings and would work hard to provide the same quality of representation that those who could afford to pay for a lawyer would receive.

My mission as the Chief of the Dallas County Public Defender’s Office which is the second oldest and largest public defender’s office of its’ kind in the state of Texas, is to hire brilliant, committed lawyers who are willing to practice and provide client centered participatory representation that rivals what any other lawyer in private practice would provide. Our mission, vision and values inspire us to change lives and to transform impoverished dysfunctional communities of color into thriving, productive and healthy neighborhoods. Our ultimate goal is to prevent people from reoffending over and over again which can ruin their future, negatively impact families and can even destroy lives.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

The hardest part of the job is trying to prevent employee burnout and to ensure we maintain a safe and desirable work environment for all employees. I often work twelve hour days and the attorneys under my supervision and management work long hours under extremely stressful conditions. Knowing you are responsible for keeping someone out of jail or prison and from having a person’s future negatively impacted by a criminal conviction can be daunting and sometimes traumatic.

I am always fighting to ensure that we have the tools, funding and resources necessary to provide the attorneys, investigators, social workers and staff what they need to provide the kind of representation our clients are entitled to and that they can work in an environment that is fulfilling and rewarding. I don’t want to risk losing smart, skilled lawyers and staff who are committed to doing this type of work so I focus a lot of time, energy and attention to getting them what they need. This can be very challenging in an environment and in a system that provides more funding and resources to prosecutors than it does to the defense.

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH LEADER

With over 20 years of experience working to support older adults and their families in Central Texas, she has served in such various positions as director of the Greater Austin Cares respite collaboration, co-director of New Connections, staff social worker at Westminster Manor, the past co-chair of the Aging Services Council, and a facilitator for numerous support groups

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic, we were offering in-person brain exercise and emotional support services for older adults living with early stage memory loss through the Memory Connections program. It met weekly for 5 hours in 5 different locations. We were also offering in-person services through our two Thrive Social & Wellness Centers, 5 days a week with a nurse on staff and fun, engaging activities for older adults to connect with each other. When we stopped our in-person services in March, several of AGE’s programs quickly pivoted to virtual services. Both Memory Connections and the Thrive Centers offered small group video activities for our clients, including components of our in-person services, such as brain boosters, discussion & reminiscence, music, art, creative writing, and support groups for older adults and care partners.

As the virtual services have continued, we wanted to create a structured way for new clients to join us. The Virtual Connections program allows us to do just that – it’s a monthly subscription service and a personalized small group video activity schedule, designed for each client to attend the activities that meet his/her goals and challenges. We are able to provide a space for older adults and care partners to do activities independently, to talk about the challenges they are going through, and to try new and fun activities. It’s been wonderful to hear how we are helping clients connect with others, when they have been at home for months and not able to participate in their usual social activities.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

Being able to connect and have fun with older adults living with changes in memory or cognition and their families, even when we can’t be together in person, has inspired us during this time. We are honored to be a part of their routine each week. We are so grateful for all the AGE staff that have collaborated and contributed to Virtual Connections and the collective knowledge that our staff shares so that we can serve a wide variety of clients. Lauren Duerksen, K.C. Lawrence, Nicole Stackpole, Naomi Dalsbo, Shelley Lewis, Holly Stoever, Madalyn Kistner, Lauren Greenwade, and many other staff have used their experience, skills, and knowledge to translate our in-person services to virtual ones. We have learned so much along the way about how to facilitate groups, how to connect virtually, and how to support each other.

When clients share that our activities have made their week better, or they are noticing positive changes in their lives because of the services we offer, or we see them sharing a laugh during a group - that warms our hearts and keeps us going. One of our clients shared that she missed her volunteering and social groups, and that she was not as talkative as she used to be. Now, she says, she is more social at home with her family, in our virtual activities, and when meeting new people in public. Her family and friends have noticed a positive change in her, that she is more confident and outgoing. I’m amazed that the work that we do extends beyond the times that we meet together.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Technology is a constant challenge! Helping our clients become more comfortable participating in small groups using technology as well as working through challenges when technology doesn’t work the way it should. Also, it’s been a challenge to help clients who don’t have access to or training in using technology for video meetings. We have dealt with this by meeting with clients 1-1 to help them learn about how to join and participate in video meetings, and by learning new skills to support small group activities. We continue to learn and develop new improvements to our services and how we connect virtually, and we look forward to continue serving the community.

Travis Patterson further shares "What they are doing right now in response to this pandemic is the most heroic thing I've ever seen. They are doing whatever it takes to save the lives of complete strangers, even though it means often putting themselves and their own loved ones at risk.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

When Covid hit, we saw story after story about the stress that our frontline heroes are going through. We just wanted to help. As a personal injury law firm, we turn to the medical community all the time to care for our clients, but this was our chance to perhaps take care of the medical community.

We put some partnerships together quickly to mobilize and train licensed counselors across the state, and we’ve been able to provide essential mental health counseling ever since. We’ve been blessed with donations that allow us to provide FREE mental health counseling for any frontline hero in Texas (a doctor, nurse, technician, janitorial staff member, etc) that needs help. All of the counselors are licensed and have been trained in both trauma and in working with the medical community.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

The motivation is easy. Our frontline heroes deserve everything we’ve got. I’m so thankful for what they are doing right now. Forever indebted, actually.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

The hardest part is that the medical community is very good about taking care of others – it’s literally their calling – but not always the best at taking care of themselves. We just want to serve as that boost to keep them in the fight. So many in this community think that if they admit they need help, they aren’t good enough to do what they do. BUT THIS IS A PANDEMIC the likes of which we have never seen. True strength and bravery is admitting that you could use someone to talk to – someone that knows how to support you from a place of mental strength.

Dr. Brenda Tillman – our co-founder – says it best. Our goal is not just to avoid post-traumatic stress. It’s to obtain post-traumatic STRENGTH. Even after COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror, we want to ensure that our medical heroes always have the mental health support they need to continue their beautiful mission.

Dr. Sopchak's work focuses on providing interventions for children and adolescents and developing supports across systems to decrease psychological distress, and she is passionate about child and adolescent safety and wellness and improving mental health care and services for youth across Texas

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

During COVID-19, I have worked at Texas A&M to establish and manage the TCHATT program (Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine), where we provide 2-4 free teletherapy sessions to students in schools while getting them connected with community providers. In the face of COVID, school districts across the Brazos Valley closed, as did our opportunity to meet with them in person to establish relationships and partnerships. Our goal was to have partnered with 25% of schools by August 2020, 50% by November 2020, 75% by January 2021, and 100% of schools in the Brazos Valley by March 2021.

Pre-COVID, we knew we had a challenge before us, and as schools shut down it seemed impossible. Over the past months, we have emailed, called, and zoomed districts to establish relationships. We have created protocols and procedures to work with both in-person and remote learners, and have also virtually established relationships with our community providers. We currently are serving 74% of schools in the Brazos Valley and have increased our coverage area to also include Killeen ISD. This means more than 60,000 students and their families across 100 schools in 18 Texas school districts now have access to mental health care for FREE! Since starting services three months ago, we have been able to provide 65+ students with teletherapy and/or telepsychiatry, when needed.

Many of our students are coming to therapy with depression and anxiety worsened by the pandemic, adjustment difficulties related to remote learning, or, unfortunately, dealing with traumatic grief and loss due to loved ones dying from COVID. While the work is hard, the amazing part in all of this is the reduction we are seeing in students’ reported severity of depression, anxiety, distress, and suicidality, and their increase in school engagement and positive relationships. While we have only just begun, we are well on our way to ensuring students across Texas have access to mental health care and working towards our goal of not losing another child or adolescent in Texas to suicide.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

My parents instilled in me a desire to work hard and serve others. As the child of a hospice chaplain and clinical social worker, I was exposed to psychology and knew it was where my calling would lead. While I have always truly loved working with children and adolescents, especially those who have experienced trauma or are in crisis, coming to Texas A&M Telebehavioral Care has reignited my passion! The director of the TBC, Dr. Carly McCord, has pioneered telehealth services and encourages her team to create, grow, and serve the community. The work environment she has created, fuels the passion of all the clinicians on the team and allows us to thrive in our work.

There have been times in my career when the lack of care seemed overwhelming, but now I see it as a challenge and problem to solve. As we have worked to create and implement the TAMU TCHATT program there have been numerous obstacles, including COVID, but working with the TBC team of innovative clinicians has truly allowed this project to thrive and overcome barriers. Now that we are serving students, families, and schools, my work and our mission to increase access to care for Texas youth has become not just something I want but something I need. It is easy to be motivated and inspired every day when you love the work you do.

Seeing the improvement in our students’ lives and the changes within our community makes working long days and countless nights and weekends more than worth it. It is so exciting to see the progress and know that we are well on our way to changing the climate of mental health care for youth across Texas.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

The hardest part of my job is balance. Because I love it so much, there are times when it is difficult to stop and step away at the end of the day. There is always one more thing that needs to be done, but I also have a husband and two little girls who need my time and attention. Never before have I longed so much for an additional day to be added to the week! There is never enough time, and there never will be. So, I have to find balance and be truly and fully present.

While working, I have to be fully engaged with the task at hand, despite hearing my amazing husband teaching and running academic programs with my daughters in the next room. While being a mom and a wife, I have to put my phone away and not let myself become distracted by my thoughts or ideas related to work and increasing access to care. It takes a lot of self-care, including giving yourself grace, because I do not always get it right. Each day is a new day to be a better than we were yesterday, and I strive to continually improve.

As a retired US Army Colonel, Dr. Hutchinson also serves as Founder/CEO of the Wade Alliance, where he uses his expertise in leadership, communication and education to help organizations address change and resolve conflicts.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

This pandemic has shone a light on the health disparities that exist in our city and nation. The response to COVID and its impact on different communities could not be any more different. I have spoken on the health disparities on The Build-Up: Covid-19 And Minority Communities https://youtu.be/nR0whUM5LHI and as part of the Austin Black Physician Association ongoing web series https://youtu.be/2BgEFDylT4E.

I provide care at People’s Community Clinic a FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) that serves the uninsured and under-insured population in East Austin with the goal of improving community health. In that role our minority population has access to virtual and in-person care. I have also volunteered with my wife to help the Travis County Medical Association deliver PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to health sites in the area. I have also contributed opinions to the National Academy of Medicine’s committee creating a vaccine distribution plan and supported my fellow health care providers in seeing the similarities between a military deployment and this current battle.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I know that the deepest root of health disparities is racism. Every person has the potential to perform racist actions no matter who they are or their history. Conversely, every person has the ability to perform anti-racist acts. I know from my 25 years of taking care of teens, children and young adults that unacknowledged behavior is rarely changed.

I have seen people change their behavior and I am motivated knowing that people change when they see others as part of their team or family. Health depends on more than the time they spend in a clinic and I am motivated to remove as many barriers as possible that lead to disparities.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Coming from the military health system where every person had equal coverage and universal care the reality of civilian medical care is the biggest challenge. Moral injury occurs too often during this pandemic from the inability to provide PPE, the access to treatment and future vaccines and the reality of how the essential workers with higher exposure are more often people of color.

I deal with this challenge by acknowledging the problems I can solve and by debriefing with others in healthcare. I value the axiom that sharing problems lightens the stress and burden. I teach others how our actions impact the lives of others and our bias can contribute to furthering inequality.

Dr. Roseberry, as a Team Captain for a Bike Team for the National MS Society has helped raise over $800K to try to create a world free from MS.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

I am doctorate prepared, advanced practice nurse, and I work in critical care (ICU) and cardiothoracic surgery at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin (ASMCA). My work during the pandemic has evolved over the past several months. Initially, I was involved in assisting in the planning and preparation for the expected surge for the hospital, specifically the ICU. We all knew what Italy, Spain and New York had been facing.

Given that there were far more questions than answers, we spent many hours trying to predict what the needs of our community would be and anticipate how we could maximize our resources to save the most lives. My team assists in the care of patients requiring open heart surgery and extra corporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), to name a couple. Given the anticipated increase in critical care patients, I assisted in organizing the surge staffing for the advanced practice providers covering the intensive care units.

As we came into the surge, we had nurses come to our hospital to provide aid and support from various parts of the country. I reached out to some friends in the community to help to organize welcome gifts for these traveling nurses. I had some very creative friends who put together a thoughtful Austin-themed welcome bag for each of our traveling nurses. Knowing they would be away from their families and doing very difficult work to care for our community, it was wonderful to have these tokens of our appreciation to offer them. They included a number of things: “Keep Austin Weird” themed items, El Arroyo sign books, sunscreen, bug repellant, and even a small houseplant to make the hotel room feel a little more like home.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

In terms of what motivates and inspires me, I have two answers. I am first and foremost motivated by my patients. They are the ones doing the hardest job of anyone I encounter on any given day. My patients push through pain, profound weakness and shortness of breath just to put two feet on the ground and stand up—often requiring the help of two or more people. They are truly motivating, and I cannot be successful in my work if they are not willing to do those difficult things.
I am also very inspired by my colleagues—all of them—from nurses to nurse practitioners to surgeons and physicians and too many more to list. I am honored to work with a number of truly caring individuals who I watched risk their own health, as well as their families, to do the work that we are all called to do.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

The most significant challenge I faced then (and to some extent, now), was the restriction of visitors for patients. If you have ever been hospitalized, or had a loved one hospitalized, you know what an impact this has on the individual and his or her family. Restricting visitors created many challenges for patients. I dealt with this challenge by being a vocal advocate for patients to have family visit by exception when I felt strongly that it was essential to a therapeutic and healing environment for both the patient and the family. Patients rely on their support network (friends and family) to help them to understand and diagnosis, ask important questions, and make important decisions.

The majority of the patients we have in the hospital, particularly the cardiac areas, are elderly. Ill, weak and elderly patients could not be expected to understand complex medical problems, and then explain and/or communicate this to their support network. We needed a healthcare-provider driven process for providing scheduled video conferencing for this important communication with all members of the patient’s network in real time. Through the support of a great physician with a connection to Kendra Scott, I was able to secure a generous donation of iPads from her to start a project for this family video conferencing. During a time of scarce resources, I had the opportunity to provide this conferencing to a select group of patients. I only wish that the time would have allowed me to do more.

After the surge, the visitation restrictions were liberalized to allow one family member per patient per day. While this is markedly better, this restriction continues to have a significant impact. How do you choose which sibling gets to see their mother before a big surgery? Who gets to be at the bedside when the surgeon comes to see the post op patient and give a report? We often rally around our loved ones in an important show of support. For the safety of patients, visitors, and hospital staff, we will need to find alternative ways for that rally.

I have partnered with a doctoral nursing student at UT Austin to continue to facilitate and expand this important work. I am hopeful to see this project grow in the coming months.

HEALTH CARE INNOVATOR

HealthCode works with organizations of all sizes to engage employees and help meet wellness goals, including the city of Austin and other municipalities, school districts and global businesses like Keller Williams and Dun & Bradstreet.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

HealthCode was founded to help empower people to live healthier, happier lives. In March after millions began working from home to slow the spread of COVID-19, HealthCode responded by expanding our free virtual activity events to monthly; available 24/7. Helping to motivate people to stay active, maintain healthy habits, and remain safely socially connected. HealthCode’s programs are designed to be inclusive -- regardless of income, fitness levels, geography or technology skills.

We have expanded our programs on a shoestring budget, as we are a nonprofit and fundraising has been challenging during this pandemic. At the same time, we are continuing to expand partnerships and increase participation in our programs in the greater Austin area, throughout Texas and around the globe -- ranging from Austin organizations to the Dallas Boys and Girls Clubs, to the military and other participants. Supporting 16,000+ people to remain physically active, safely socially connected, and help manage stress.

Teaming with Austin neighborhoods, we invite everyone to join us in "Together We Carol" December 19th at 6 PM. As a way to stay positively connected as a community during these challenging times of social isolation. https://healthcode.org/sing/

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I am motivated hearing the hundreds of stories shared by HealthCode’s participants of how our virtual activity events are helping them cope in these challenging times. People are being more physically active, staying safely connected with colleagues, friends and family and dealing with stress. At the end of a recent call a person signing up their organization to support underprivileged kids, paused and said, “maybe we can help save some of our staff members’ lives, as they are really overweight and not healthy”.

The importance of prevention through healthy lifestyles and addressing society’s health inequities due to factors such as demographics, poverty, insurance status and geography will remain even after we have a vaccine for COVID-19.

I am inspired and humbled by our health care professionals, first responders and members of the military and other essential workers who are putting their lives at risk every day to care and serve others. Thank you all.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

The hardest part of my job is dealing with the stress (just like everyone else) and the wide range of tasks that need to be done, including fundraising. I deal with the challenges by:

Pursuing additional sources of funding so HealthCode can increase its capacity to reach more people and further engage individuals in their overall journey to healthier lives. I work to focus my energies on the top priorities and try not to get distracted. Keeping positive on what we can do and not on what we can’t do.

Applying what we tell members of the HealthCode community to my own life -- getting plenty of sleep, eating smart, drinking more water and making movement part of my daily life. So, I start off the day very early with a brief walk, a stretching routine and a cup of coffee as I reflect and prepare for the day ahead. After my early morning routine is finished, only then do I check emails and news updates.

Keeping the noise positive. I listen to classical music and 89.5 KGSR throughout the day. And I enjoy audio books; even rediscovered the old Hardy Boys series and old classics. A special thank you to the City of Austin Library’s online web site, which I recommend to everyone.

Anika Chebrolu, has just won the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge -- for a discovery that could provide a potential therapy to Covid-19.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic?

I was experimenting with the in-silico methodology for drug discovery for almost two years and with the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to put forward my knowledge of this methodology and use it against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. I worked to find a molecule which can potentially bind to the Spike Protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a very important protein involved in the infectivity of the virus. By binding to Spike Protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the molecule would be able to change the shape of the protein, and thereby potentially change the function of the Spike protein and hinder the infectivity of the SARS-CoV2 virus.

My research involved the use of various software to test the different properties of the chemical molecules that were selected. In the end, I found one molecule that has the best potential to bind to the Spike Protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Further, I tested this molecule to see if it could potentially cause any adverse effects in biological systems. I am working to further to develop this molecule into a potent antiviral drug against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I have been working with the in-silico methodology for some time now and am intrigued by how we can use computational methods to identify potential drugs against deadly infections and diseases and hasten the drug development process. Aside from that, I am inspired by the hard work that is being done by scientists during this pandemic to bring us newer therapies and vaccines, and the efforts that are being put forward from all directions to end this pandemic.

While my work is merely a drop in the ocean of work being done to help ease the pandemic, I am motivated to stand alongside that numerous individuals working to fight this pandemic and put forward my knowledge in whatever way I can, however small the impact may be.

What is the hardest part of being a student and pursuing your science goals/dreams and how do you deal with that challenge?

The hardest part of being a student and pursuing research in science is managing my time. School homework takes up a fair portion of my time after school and I struggled for a long time to fit in time for my extracurricular activities including research and dance. High school and the pandemic only worsened this time crunch further. However, over time, I was able to learn how to manage my time better and schedule my activities so that more work could be done in a given time in an efficient manner. In this way, I am able to fit in time for research, extracurriculars, and school.

He is actively involved in clinical trial research for melanoma, head & neck cancer, renal cell carcinoma and prostate cancer with publications in the areas of melanoma, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. He strives to bring cutting edge treatments and new research to patients.

Tell us about the work you’re doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

In early April, when we were first starting to get our initial wave of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the hospital, I helped initiate the convalescent plasma program at Ascension Seton Medical Center. As part of this initiative, I eventually helped open the nationwide Mayo Clinic Convalescent Plasma Research Trial at our hospital, and worked with We Are Blood and the Travis County Medical Society on a Citywide Convalescent Plasma program. As part of this initiative and with the help of many of my colleagues at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, we were able to enroll and treat over 360 patients on the Mayo Clinic Protocol.

This nationwide trial led to the eventual FDA approval of convalescent plasma as a treatment for COVID-19. The trial ended in August due to the FDA approval. Also, during this pandemic, I have been an active voice on social media with a weekly COVID-19 update and an effort to present the current statistics and data for our local area. Lastly, I have continued to do my primary job as a medical oncologist and hematologist with Texas Oncology with my care for cancer patients.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you’re doing?

I was originally motivated to bring new therapies for COVID-19 to patients when I was consulted on a very young patients with COVID-19 who was critically ill and in the ICU. I learned about the potential for convalescent plasma as a treatment for patients like him which pushed me to apply to the FDA for an emergency treatment for this patient.

That patient ended up being the first patient in Austin to receive convalescent plasma for COVID-19 and pushed me to become involved with getting a full program up and running for these patients. As far as my social media involvement, I have been motivated to try to present facts to people in an unbiased fashion so that people can hear data from a local physician in the community.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

COVID-19 has made it much more difficult to practice medicine and oncology. Due to restrictions on having visitors in the hospital or in clinic, patients are now having to often go through their cancer treatments and appointments alone. This can be very isolating, so, as a doctor I have to work hard to include their family members and friends on any conversations.

Patients continue to be hesitant to come to the doctor as well, and we have to work hard to reassure them and create a safe environment for them to come to.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

At Methodist Charlton Medical Center, Dustin has operational oversight of 15 areas including clinical service lines, ancillary departments and support services.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this Covid-19 pandemic.

Understanding the desperate need for further COVID-19 testing as cases mounted across Dallas, I collaborated with the health system and community leadership to stand up a new drive-through testing site in approximately ten days. In two months, that site grew from processing 25 tests a day to more than 150, delivering results within 48 hours at a time when too many patients wait up to a week. In addition to this, I lead our lab team to bring in a COVID-19 rapid testing instrument and secure a contract with a third-party lab to centralize the high priority and pre-surgical COVID-19 testing efforts for Methodist Health System. Finally, we lead efforts to restructure the facility to keep our patients and staff safe. Limiting visitors, entrances, screening processes, creating socially distanced waiting areas and cues, and converting a large number of our patient rooms to negative pressure to support airflow and staff safety.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I have an abiding commitment to diversity and improving care for at-risk patients in need. This paired with the strong culture of the only full-service hospital in southern Dallas County inspire me to serve black and brown communities and elderly populations, who are disparately impacted by chronic diseases and the new coronavirus.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

You will hear from many leaders, the most complex, but most rewarding part of our role is - people. From seeing the health impacts on our patients due to the social determinants of health, to managing the needs of our employees; all require unique solutions, while optimizing patient care and the needs of the community and organization. Luckily, I have had mentors that have conditioned me to take on this challenge by first, caring and listening. After this, knowing you have the support from your organization to make the decision in the best interest of the patient, which is why we are all here.

As Director of Healthcare at ATI, Dr. McDonald serves as lead advisor to all medical technology companies and is a Physician entrepreneur and technologist with expertise in the commercialization of medical devices, digital health, telemedicine, and emerging technologies.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

Texas Global Health Security Innovation Consortium: In March 2020, I led the creation of the Texas Global Health Security Innovation Consortium (TEXGHS). The idea behind TEXGHS came from the work we have done with PandemicTech to create thematic innovation ecosystems around health security in low to middle income countries. When the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the United States, and the hot zones were now New York City and Houston, we recognized there was the need to pull together resources statewide to support innovators working on the new frontlines of infectious disease.

TEXGHS has been a volunteer-supported organization that has brought together over 50 innovation ecosystem partners and 70 plus individuals who regularly contribute to the growth of the organization as a long-term resource for the State of Texas. We have grown a pipeline of 65 innovative companies who are working across a range of industries and focus areas to develop solutions that both mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and build resiliency into our communities that will remain after COVID-19 has passed, to prevent future infectious disease threats. Over the course of the past eight months, TEXGHS volunteers have built a rapidly growing organization that has launched numerous projects and collaborations that have already had an impact on our communities.

For example, TEXGHS sparked a collaboration between Austin-based building company Panache and College Station-based life sciences startup Industrial Genetics to create and test an ozone disinfection system for commercial buildings that would enable return-to-work scenarios. TEXGHS also held a virtual launch event in October 2020 that highlighted the COVID-19 response efforts of the Texas innovation community on a global scale that featured numerous prominent speakers (including CNN pandemic commentator Peter Hotez and UT Austin President Jay Hartzell) and attracted significant international participation (including from the World Health Organization).

PandemicTech provided seed funding to form the Texas Global Health Security Innovation Consortium, was designated a WHO Non-state donor allowing for direct support of WHO programs, and announced sponsorship of the 2021 Global Health Security Conference. On February 18th, 2020 we announced The PandemicTech Innovation Fellowship 2020 — a US $100,000 initiative to identify and support the most promising global health security innovators leading the fight against pandemic infectious disease threats. We have announced our first 7 fellows.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

I’m motivated by the enormous volunteer effort behind TEXGHS and the spirit of collaboration that I have seen in every aspect of my work as people are coming together to solve big challenges.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

Given the challenges facing my colleagues in healthcare, my job is not hard. I am surrounded by motivated people who want to contribute in some way to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. I am inspired by my colleagues on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone faces fear in their daily lives these days, but our healthcare workers, practitioners and front-line workers dive headfirst into that fear.

Ms. Sims serves on the boards of Cancer Alliance of Texas (CAT) – Chair Elect; L.I.F.E. Houston (Vice-President), and was also instrumental in the creation of the Serenity Room, which is available to employees for meditation, prayer, or pumping for breastfeeding mothers.

Tell us about the work you're doing in this COVID-19 pandemic.

As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our way of life especially in our field of public health. Public health departments have seen an increase in visibility for the past 10 months, visibility increases value, and value gives us validation.

Currently, our COVID-19 response has become much more intense and our Harris County Public Health (HCPH) team has made a lot of sacrifices to keep our community healthy, working day and night to protect the public. Our first health alert went out on January 9th, 2020, and since then we have put together a multilayer response which includes an Incident Command Structure (ICS), multiple testing sites around the county, a robust Epidemiological (EPI) team including around 300 contact tracers, outreach/communications (external/internal), a dashboard we created to share information with the community, a link, and a call center to help persons in the community register for testing, partnerships with the independent school districts in our region offering training to more than 36 Independent School Districts (ISD’s) and of course the use of science to drive our decisions.

These efforts would not be possible without the support of our elected officials, dedicated staff, and the members of our community that trust us because they know we have their best interest at heart to keep Harris County strong and healthy.

What motivates and inspires you in the work you're doing?

What motivates me is the opportunity. The opportunity to support a strong group of staff led by our HCPH Executive Leadership Management team and well-qualified staff at our health department, the opportunity to forge new and strengthen existing partnerships, and the opportunity to make a positive impact on our community, a community that was already riddled with decreased access to services but is now more challenged by increased job loss, the need for virtual education options, mental health resources, and access, etc. Also, family and the “what if it were my mom, friend, etc.” questions continue to serve as an impetus for me to improve all aspects of our COVID-19 response.

What is the hardest part of your job and how do you deal with that challenge?

In a pandemic, all parts of my job are adventurous, but since assuming the interim role as Deputy Director on March 1st and being appointed to the permanent role in October, I've learned more about the position in the midst of our response to COVID-19. However, my new role has not been as challenging as our need to have science prevail to guide and communicate our public health prevention recommendations to the community. This includes encouraging community vigilance in the 3 W’s - wash our hands, wear a mask, and watch our distance.