Meet the team

 

Amy D. Waterman, PhD, Health Education Innovator

Dr. Amy D. Waterman is a national transplant innovator and the Deborah C. and Clifton B. Phillips Centennial Chair for Clinical Research in Transplant Medicine, a Full Professor, and the Director of Patient Engagement, Diversity, and Education, representing both J.C. Walter Transplant Center at Houston Methodist Hospital and the Houston Methodist Research Institute. In addition to many national transplant leadership positions, Dr. Waterman is a Fellow of the American Society of Transplantation. In 2018, she received the ClearMark Award of Distinction from the Center for Plain Language for her interactive digital application, My Transplant Coach, as well as a National Health Information Merit Award for two educational initiatives developed by Explore Transplant, a nonprofit consortium Dr. Waterman founded.

Dr. Waterman’s research has been supported by more than $28 million dollars in federal grants, and she has authored approximately 100 research articles and book chapters. She has designed 13 educational programs to help patients and potential living donors make informed transplant decisions. These programs have been disseminated to patients in hundreds of dialysis and transplant settings in the United States, Canada, and South Africa, in multiple languages. Dr. Waterman received her PhD in Social Psychology with an emphasis on patient education and behavior change from Washington University in St. Louis, MO and worked for 12 years at the University of California Los Angeles as a Professor in Residence. Learn more about Dr. Waterman

Catherine Pulicken, MHA, Senior Program Manager

Dr. Catherine Pulicken is the Senior Program Manager of the Patient Engagement Research Lab at Houston Methodist. She leads the coordination of large-scale clinical trials and educational interventions in transplant care. Catherine recently earned her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), adding to her Master’s in Health Administration from the University of Houston. Her work focuses on chronic disease prevention, health education, and program development. She oversees multi-site research initiatives and operational strategy, ensuring successful implementation of federally funded projects that advance patient care and decision-making in transplant settings.

 

 

Mayra Almendarez, Project and Community Engagement Manager

Mayra Almendarez serves as the Project and Community Engagement Manager in the Patient Engagement Research Lab at Houston Methodist. With over 17 years of experience in patient education and transplant program coordination, she oversees outreach activities, recruitment, community partnerships, clinical trial engagement efforts, and the development of transplant education. She also leads the lab’s Digital Storytelling project, which captures real-life patient experience stories to enhance education and promote more informed decision-making. Mayra holds a Bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration and an MBA with a focus in Healthcare Management and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Public Health with an emphasis on Health Promotion & Health Education.

 

 

Patient Engagement Research Lab

The Patient Engagement Research Lab is an interdisciplinary research and education center directed by Dr. Amy Waterman and located at the Houston Methodist Research Institute. The lab leads the field in conducting state of the art clinical research to understand and improve important issues affecting transplant outcomes, intervenes to reduce disparities in access to transplantation for diverse patient and donor populations and tests the effectiveness of interventions to increase transplant referrals and living donation rates. Through collaboration with healthcare providers, national transplant leaders, and healthcare policymakers, the lab translates findings from effective clinical trials into practice to ensure that patients can live longer and enjoy the best possible quality of life. Learn more about the lab

Health Literacy Media (HLM)

Health Literacy Media’s Explore Transplant (ET) and Explore Living Donation (ELD) programs help kidney patients in the USA and Canada make informed treatment choices about transplant and living donation. Through trainings, partnerships, research, and educational materials, ET and ELD have educated more than 4,000 providers, leading to better transplant education for over 28,000 kidney patients. ET and ELD are programs of Health Literacy Media, or HLM, a communications nonprofit that partners with health organizations to make health information easier for people to understand and use. Learn more about HLM»

501creative

501creative is a strategic communications firm that designs and develops educational, recruitment, and fundraising tools for nonprofit organizations throughout the country. 501 has been working with Dr. Waterman and her lab since 2005 when they helped her name and brand the first set of educational materials about exploring transplant and living donation. Learn more about 501creative»

Goal Productions

GOAL Productions, Inc. (GOAL) is a full-service digital storytelling production company and creative agency located in Glendale, CA. “Digital Storytelling” is not just in GOAL’s name or email signature—rather, it’s the essence of who they are at GOAL Productions—Digital Storytellers. With a mission to tell stories that change and affect lives positively, GOAL provides all necessary pre-production planning services, field production services, field equipment, and all post-production editorial to deliver the best and most engaging content. GOAL has created hundreds of videos showcasing inspiring stories of organ, eye, and tissue recipients and donor families over the last 15 years. Learn more about Goal Productions»