Fabrizia Faustinella, M.D., Ph.D., FACP
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Fabrizia Faustinella, M.D., Ph.D., FACP
Professor
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)
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
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.
- Faustinella F. "Forgotten." Hawaii Pacific Review. 2021 Feb;
- Faustinella F., Jacobs R. "The Decline of Clinical Shills: A Challenge for Medical Schools." IJME. 2018 Jul;9:195-197.
- Faustinella F. "The Life of Others." Penumbra Literary and Art Journal. 2020 May;108-111.
- Faustinella F. "The Power of Observation in Clinical Medicine." IJME. 2020 Nov;11:250-251.
- Faustinella F. "The Ranting of Mr. Schafer: Finding Meaning in Life." Acad Psychiatry. 2018 Mar;42:726–728.
- Faustinella F. "Where Are You From?." Voices de La Luna. 2021 Feb;30-32.
- Faustinella F. "Starfish." COG Literary Journal. 2020 Apr;(17)
- Faustinella F. "Flotsam." Biostories Literary Journal. 2020 Apr;
- Faustinella F. "Homelessness in Western Society: The Dark Side of the Moon." Research Outreach. 2019 May;107:114-117.
- Faustinella F. "Crime Scenes." Atherton Review. Humanities for Humanity.. 2021;
- Faustinella F., Frigini A.L. "Weight Loss, Abdominal Pain and Distension in a 74 years-old Woman.." JUCM. 2021;
- Faustinella F. "The Person at the Center." Medium. Digital Publishing Platform.. 2022 Jun;
- Faustinella F. "The Path Forward: A More Inclusive Healthcare System.." Baylor College of Medicine blog article. Policywise Section.. 2022 Aug;
- Faustinella F. "Healthcare as a Human Right.." Baylor College of Medicine Momentum blog article. Policywise Section.. 2022 Jul;
- Faustinella F. "Synaptic Interferences.." Academy of the Heart and Mind.. 2021 Jul;
Memberships
- TX-ACP HPPC
- 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
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