Speakers

Alexandra T. Wright, MD

Alexandra T. Wright, MD, specializes in pediatric hospital medicine at Ochsner Health. Dr. Wright is a graduate of Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, Louisiana. She completed her combined residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics at Louisiana State University in New Orleans in 2016. Dr. Wright holds the position of Newborn Nursery Medical Director at Ochsner Baptist Hospital. She is also a co-chair for Ochsner's Nursery Integration Council (developed in 2023) whose goal is improving and standardizing the care of our newborns across the system.

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Jonathan Whipple

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Elizabeth Watkins, MD, FAAP

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Raj Warrier, MD, DCH, FAAP, FIAP

In Peds HemOnc for 49 years. Have published, presented more than 500 papers and abstracts and trained many students, residents and fellows. Won teaching awards from LSu, Children's, Tulane, Ochsner, UQ. Won Master Pediatrician and service awards from LAAAP. Student for life!!

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Robert G. Voigt, MD, FAAP

Robert G. Voigt, MD specializes in developmental-behavioral pediatrics (DBP)/neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) and serves as the system medical director of the Michael R. Boh Centers for Child Development at Ochsner Childrens. He was previously the Leopold L. Meyer Endowed Professor and Director of the Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics at Texas Children's Hospital. His research and educational efforts have produced 107 peer-reviewed journal articles, two books edited, one book section edited, and 19 book chapters. Dr. Voigt has previously served as pediatric residency program director for the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and DBP fellowship program director at both the Mayo Clinic and BCM.

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Paul Vanchiere, MBA

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Kirk Thame, MBBS

Dr Thame serves as Division Chief in the Department of Pediatrics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans. His clinical focus is gastrointestinal motility with a special interest in problems of defecation. In addition to his academic roles, he is the Vice Chair of Community Engagement for his department and participates in global health initiatives.

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Jenny Stevens

Dr. Stevens is the current senior Pediatric Surgery fellow at Children's Hospital Colorado (CHCO) in Denver, Co. She completed medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and general surgery residency at Louisiana State University. She completed a two year clinical outcomes research fellowship at Children's Hospital Colorado in the middle of her residency prior to matching into Pediatric Surgery fellowship at CHCO. She will join the Pediatric Surgery team at Ochsner Children's Hospital as faculty in the fall of 2026.

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Katie Queen, MD, FAAP, DABOM, FOMA

Katie Queen, MD, FAAP, DABOM, FOMA is a pediatrician and board-certified obesity medicine specialist who serves in multiple leadership roles within the American Academy of Pediatrics, including on the AAP Executive Committee on Obesity. She is Vice President of the Louisiana Chapter of the AAP and Medical Director of the Our Lady of the Lake Children's Health Weight & Nutrition Center, where she leads multidisciplinary care for children and adolescents. Dr. Queen remains actively engaged in rural primary care and is passionate about translating evidence-based medicine into practical guidance for clinicians and families.

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Michelle Puzdrakiewicz, MD, FAAP

Dr. Puzdrakiewicz has practiced hospital medicine since 2000 and has been with Ochsner since 2018. Her interests include medical student and resident education as well as mentoring.

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Madison Puzdrakiewicz

Madison has served as the Health Communications Specialist for the Louisiana Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for the past two years. In this role, she leads outreach initiatives to promote awareness of childhood lead poisoning and increase blood lead testing rates among children under six. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Manhattan College and a Master of Public Health in social, behavioral and population sciences from Tulane University.

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Jacki Pierce

Jacki Pierce currently serves as the Executive Director of Bayou Land Families Helping Families (BLFHF), one of nine non-profit centers in a statewide network whose ultimate goal is to strengthen, support, and empower individuals with disabilities and assist their families by providing information and referral, education and training, and peer-to-peer support. In her current role, Jacki has written and was awarded several grants and has built partnerships with local and state organizations businesses to better serve her region. Jacki earned her degrees, B.S. in Birth to Five/Early Intervention and A.S. in Child Development/Preschool Management, from Nicholls State University. Since earning her degrees, she has served as a general education teacher, special education teacher, daycare director, and intake coordinator for EarlySteps. Having worked in these various fields, she is passionate about advocating for individuals with disabilities and special needs.

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Paul Offit, MD, FAAP

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Neha Mehta, MD, FAAP

Dr. Neha Mehta leads a group of dedicated medical professionals as the Medical Director of the CARE Center- the child abuse evaluation program- at Manning Family Children's Hospital. Dr. Mehta is a pediatrician who is fellowship-trained and board certified in Child Abuse Pediatrics. Dr. Mehta has been practicing in the field of Child Abuse Pediatrics for over 20 years. Her areas of special interest include: Child Fatality Review, Multidisciplinary Team Education, and Child Abuse Prevention.

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Parvathi S. Kumar, MD

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Dr. Sue Kressly, MD, FAAP

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Dana Hubbard

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Kaylee Hall, MPH

Kaylee Hall is the Grant Coordinator for ECCS (Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems) with the Bureau of Family Health's Family and Community Systems Team at the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health. She supports policy and systems-level strategies to strengthen early childhood developmental screening, referral, and follow-up across pediatric and community settings. Kaylee began her career at the Bureau in 2016 as a practice-based Care Coordinator and brings a strong background in provider and family engagement to her systems improvement work. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Health Education from the University of Florida and a Master of Public Health from LSU Health Sciences Center with a concentration in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences.

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Sara Garcia Shank, MD, FAAP

Dr. Sara Garcia Shank, MD, FAAP, is a developmental behavioral pediatrician at Ochsner Children's Hospital, Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development. She graduated from medical school at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2017. She then finished her residency in pediatrics at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas in 2020. Dr. Shank completed a fellowship in developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine's Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics and Autism in Houston, Texas in 2023. She practiced in southern Alabama as an assistant professor at University South Alabama before starting at Ochsner in October 2025 and currently practices at the Ochsner main Jefferson Hwy. campus in New Orleans and in the Riverchase campus in Covington, LA.

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Nicole Flores

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Ashley Farge, MD, FAAP

Dr. Farge is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. She works with the LSU pediatric residents as their Continuity Clinic director in the Manning Family Children's Academic Clinic, and her work interests include well-child care and breastfeeding medicine. When she has time off work, she enjoys exploring National Parks and hiking with her husband and two children.

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Julie Emory, MS

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Dr. Thiravat Choojitarom, MD

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Mikki Bouquet, MD, FAAP

Dr. Mikki Smith Bouquet was born and raised in Baton Rouge and spent the entirety of her educational career in Louisiana. She earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master's of Science from Louisiana State University A&M and her medical doctorate from LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. She attended her pediatric residency at Our Lady of the Lake (OLOL) in Baton Rouge where she served as Pediatric Chief Resident in her final year. Dr. Bouquet is now an attending physician at the Pediatric Academic Clinic which is the OLOL pediatric residency outpatient clinic where she did her training. Some of her passions include newborn care, fluoride education, medical student & resident teaching, vaccine advocacy and community outreach. Dr. Bouquet is a Board-Certified Physician and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP).

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Joseph Bocchini, Jr., MD, FAAP

Dr. Bocchini is Director of Willis Knighton Children's Health Services and Professor and Vice Chairman of the Tulane University Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Bocchini received his MD from St. Louis University, completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Connecticut, and a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at The Johns Hopkins University. He was a member of the pediatric faculty at Louisiana State University Health, School of Medicine in Shreveport for several years, serving as Pediatric Department Chairman for over 27 years. Dr. Bocchini is currently serving as President of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has been actively involved in children's issues within our state.

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Patti Barovechio, DPN

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Andrew Abreo, MD, FAAP

Andrew Abreo, MD is a Pediatric Allergist and Immunologist at the Children's Hospital New Orleans and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Virginia and completed medical school at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. He completed his residency training in pediatrics at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. prior to pursuing a fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He is an active committee member for the American Board of Allergy and Immunology and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. He has published multiple peer-reviewed research articles and co-authored several book chapters, primarily on allergic disorders. Dr. Abreo has a specific interest in eosinophilic esophagitis and currently co-leads the multidisciplinary Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders Clinic. He serves as the Program Director for the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship Program at LSUHSC.

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