Email

fabrizia.faustinella@bcm.edu

Positions

Professor

FCM-Clinical HCHD/CHP
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Certifications

Board Certified

American Board of Internal Medicine

Honors & Awards

Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Excellence Award.

Baylor College of Medicine

Gold Remi Award in the Social Economic Issues Category for the film-documentary "The Dark Side of the Moon".

WorldFest International Film Festival. Houston, Texas

ACP Texas Chapter Laureate Award

The Laureate Award honors those Fellows and Masters of the College who have demonstrated by their example and conduct an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education, or research and in service to their community, their Chapter, and the American College of Physicians

American College of Physicians

Women of Excellence Award

Baylor College of Medicine

Invited Fellowship- Fellow of the American College of Physicians

Invited Fellowship is achieved by physicians who are recognized by ACP leaders for their personal integrity, superior competence in internal medicine, professional accomplishment, and demonstrated scholarship.

American College of Physicians

Distinguished Teaching Professor

As per Regents Rule, this honorific title is bestowed upon members of The University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education to recognize significant contributions to education

University of Texas Health Science Center. Houston, Texas

Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society

Winner and Jury Special Mention for "Angel of Mercy."

Global Shorts Film Festival. Los Angeles, California

Top Doctor Award

Inclusion in the Top Doctor list is a recognition given to physicians who have upheld the highest standards in patient care and best fulfill the very personal needs of each patient. The Top Doctor award highlights the outstanding accomplishments and significant achievements of individual Internists while recognizing the positive difference they have made in the lives of their patients, colleagues, and the community they serve.

“Editors' Choice Award in Non-Fiction” for the essay "Forgotten."

Waving Hands Review Literary Journal

Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award

The University of Texas Heralth Science Center. Houston, Texas.

The Henry D. McIntosh Award

In recognition of highest degree of academic excellence and clinical service.

Baylor College of Medicine

Silvestrini’s Award for Excellence in Medical Studies

University of Perugia Medical School. Perugia, Italy.

TX-ACP Services Snyder/Chumley Advocate of The Year Award 2022 in Recognition of Leadership in Political, Legislative, and Grass Root Advocacy.

TXACP Services, the advocacy arm of the Texas Chapter of the ACP (American College of Physicians), presents this award to a member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the areas of legislative advocacy and grassroots activism; who has consistently communicated concerns on behalf of TXACP Services to elected officials on issues and unfailingly responded to legislative alerts, as well as served as a community spokesperson on behalf of internal medicine and patients.

American College of Physicians

Best Doctor Award, Houston, TX

Best in Texas Magazine, Doctor Edition.

2023 National Recipient of the Gene A. Copello Health Advocacy Fellowship

The Gene A. Copello fellowship is designed to build strong leadership and advocacy skills in healthcare, action planning, media relations and communication strategy with the public and legislators, with a focus on access to affordable care, community health and prevention, and health justice and equity.

Doctors for America (DFA)

Best Doctor Award, Houston, TX

Dr. Faustinella was selected as Featured Internist representing Houston in the Best in Texas Magazine, Doctor Edition.

Master of the American College of Physicians (MACP)

"Mastership/MACP is conferred only on a select number of worthy candidates who are deemed distinguished through a combination of achievements, including the practice of internal medicine, academic contributions to the specialty, and service to the College. In making decisions about each candidate’s suitability for Mastership/MACP, the Committee considered qualities such as strength of character, integrity, perseverance, leadership, compassion, and devotion, as well as clinical expertise and commitment to advancing the art and science of medicine. Emphasis was placed on service as a teacher and mentor, advocacy for quality in internal medicine, a commitment to social justice, deep interest in people, and the creation of communities of medicine."

American College of Physicians (10/2024)

Power of Professionalism (POP) Award

The Center for Professionalism recognizes the positive actions of students, residents, fellows, post-docs, faculty and any member of our support staff or administration who demonstrate exemplary professionalism: attitudes and behaviors that cultivate competence and connection through positive, respectful and trustworthy relationships.

Center for Professionalism, Baylor College of Medicine (01/2025)

Professional Statement

Dr. Faustinella is Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.
Over the past several years, Dr. Faustinella has worked in the Texas Medical Center as a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center, now John P. McGovern Medical School, in Houston, TX. In both institutions, her career goal has been improving the health of our patient population through service, education, research, and scholarship.
Dr. Faustinella's Baylor career started in Dr. Lawrence Chan's lab, in the Department of Cell Biology, where her research was critical to the elucidation of the structural and functional role of the catalytic triad of the Human Lipoprotein Lipase (hLPL), an essential enzyme in lipoprotein metabolism. She also studied patients affected by familial LPL deficiency (Type I Hyperlipoproteinemia.) Her investigation led to the identification of several nonsense and missense mutations in the DNA sequence, resulting in a nonfunctional LPL and the clinical manifestation of the disease.
Later, her interest in the molecular basis of genetic diseases and in gene therapy brought her to Dr. Tom Caskey's lab in the Department of Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, where she contributed to the isolation of a Miller-Dicker lissencephaly gene and developed a new family of retroviral vectors with multiple cloning sites for gene insertion and transfer.
After completing a residency program in internal medicine at Baylor, where she received The Henry D. McIntosh Award for Highest Degree of Academic Excellence and Service, Dr. Faustinella readdressed her career choices to reflect her commitment to patient care and education.
As a member of the Curriculum Committee, while at UT, Dr. Faustinella has worked extensively on curriculum development focusing on the integration of basic and clinical sciences, courses and clerkships organization, and the teaching of clinical skills. Her didactic and administrative responsibilities have been extensive as director of the Physical Diagnosis Course, co-director of the IV year Required Internal Medicine Clerkship, and associate director of Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine at UT-Houston. Dr. Faustinella’s work and contributions to medical education have been recognized by multiple Dean’s Teaching Excellence Awards and several educational awards.
While working in the Texas Medical Center, Dr. Faustinella has made an effort to seek, develop and foster inter-institutional collaborations in education and research between our two major institutions, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas. Examples are the work done as Chair of the Comprehensive Clinical Competency Exam committee, which allowed both schools to gather data on students' clinical skills and implement curricular and training changes to address students' needs; the participation in the combined BCM/UT Master Teacher Fellowship Program, and a collaborative study on neural injuries and liposome-mediated gene transfer of nerve growth factors in primary septo-hippocampal cell cultures.
A constant element of Dr. Faustinella’s work and career has been and continues to be extensive and direct patient care. She has received the Best Doctors in America Award several times and has been recognized in the Houston Best Doctors List. Dr. Faustinella’s interests include obstacles to health care access, health care disparities, patient advocacy, patient safety, and medical humanities. She has been inspired to write about her personal and professional experiences in a number of patient-centered essays which have been published in academic and literary journals.
Dr. Faustinella is also a film writer, producer and director with an interest in social problems. She has received national and international recognition for her movie productions, including a Gold Remi Award in the Social Economic Issues Category for the film-documentary "The Dark Side of the Moon." The documentary explores the root causes of homelessness and the challenges of street life, as long as societal biases and prejudices towards homeless people, while discussing possible solutions to this widespread and devastating problem. The documentary also discusses how a difficult upbringing, amidst abuse and neglect, can have a devastating impact on the cognitive and physical development of a child.
Dr. Faustinella is currently working on a new project which focuses on the inherent value of human life as a key element to fight bias and prejudice.
Dr. Faustinella is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, a Laureate of the American College of Physicians, a recipient of the Fulbright Faculty Excellence Award and Women of Excellence Award, and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Educators both at UT and Baylor College of Medicine.

Websites

Videos

Selected Publications

• Faustinella F. "A Day at the Walk-in Clinic." The Pharos. 2018 Aug;46-50.
• Faustinella F. "A Very Persistent Cold." Annals of Internal Medicine. 2020 Jan;172(2):155-156.
• Faustinella F., Frigini A.L. "Abdominal Pain in the Younger Adult: Let’s Not Forget Acute Diverticulitis." J Urgent Care Medicine. 2019 Jul;
• Faustinella F. "An Uncommon Clinical Presentation of Ovarian Torsion." J Urgent Care Medicine. 2018;12(8):33-35.

Memberships

TX-ACP HPPC

Member, Co-Chair (06/2022)

AOA Honor Medical Society

Member (06/1994)

American College of Physisicians

Member (06/1994)

Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Member

Languages

Italian, Spanish