Natalie Villafranco, MD

Personal Statement

It is a privilege and honor to care for children and their families. I enjoy partnering with families to provide excellent medical care that works for their homes and lives. Collaboration and strong relationships are the foundations that I build my practice on.

Clinical Interests:

I am primarily interested in caring for patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and pulmonary hypertension, especially those patients who are ventilator dependent with severe lung disease.

Research Interests:

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

Neonatal Microbiome

Home Ventilator Management 

Pulmonary Hypertension

Education

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Organizations

* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Pulmonary Hypertension in Children Part 1: Causes and Symptoms.  Villafranco N, Varghese N, Sockrider M, Ely E, Neptune E. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021 Nov 15;204(10):P17-P18. doi: 10.1164/rccm.20410P16.PMID: 34779750 No abstract available.

Palliative Care in Pediatric Pulmonology.  Baumann T, Das S, Jarrell JA, Nakashima-Paniagua Y, Benitez EA, Gazzaneo MC, Villafranco N.  Children (Basel). 2021 Sep 13;8(9):802. doi: 10.3390/children8090802.PMID: 34572234 Free PMC article. Review.

Outcomes of COVID-19 infection in pediatric pulmonary hypertension: A single-center experience.  Morales-Demori R, Mallory GB, Chartan C, Coleman R, Ruiz F, Villafranco N, Whalen E, Varghese N. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2021 Dec;56(12):3960-3965. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25650. Epub 2021 Sep 10.PMID: 34460150 Free PMC article.

Characteristics of infants or children presenting to outpatient bronchopulmonary dysplasia clinics in the United States.  Collaco JM, Agarwal A, Austin ED, Hayden LP, Lai K, Levin J, Manimtim WM, Moore PE, Sheils CA, Tracy MC, Alexiou S, Baker CD, Cristea AI, Fierro JL, Rhein LM, Villafranco N, Nelin LD, McGrath-Morrow SA.  Pediatr Pulmonol. 2021 Jun;56(6):1617-1625. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25332. Epub 2021 Mar 13.PMID: 33713587

A 16-Year-Old Boy With Cough and Fever in the Era of COVID-19.  Anderson KR, Villafranco N, Hatzenbuehler Cameron L, Schallert EK, Joshi-Patel A, Arrington A, Dean A. Pediatrics. 2021 Jan;147(1):e2020008235. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-008235. Epub 2020 Aug 12.PMID: 32788269

Multiple mitochondrial dysfunctions syndrome 1: An unusual cause of developmental pulmonary hypertension.  Birjiniuk A, Glinton KE, Villafranco N, Boyer S, Laufman J, Mizerik E, Scott D, Elsea SH, Galambos C, Varghese NP, Scaglia F.  Am J Med Genet A. 2020 Apr;182(4):755-761. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.61491. Epub 2020 Jan 22.PMID: 31970900

Development of a Spanish version of the parent attitudes about childhood vaccines survey.  Cunningham RM, Kerr GB, Orobio J, Munoz FM, Correa A, Villafranco N, Monterrey AC, Opel DJ, Boom JA.  Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2019;15(5):1106-1110. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2019.1578599. Epub 2019 Mar 27.PMID: 30735475 Free PMC article.