2022 STAR Educator Recipient: Cynthia Lopez, MD
Cynthia Lopez, MD
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Nomination Submission:
I nominate Dr. Cynthia Lopez as a Star Educator for the LSOM. Dr. Lopez is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Pediatrics and a very well- respected Faculty Attending in the Pediatric Resident’s Continuity and Acute Care Clinics, sharing her expertise at the bedside. She is a constant in the creation and continual updating of our curriculum. She incorporates her passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion into everything she does; they are embedded within her teachings and are so naturally demonstrated as she role models an excellent pediatrician. Perhaps the best way she has demonstrated exemplary teaching service as a mentor, collaborator and consultant to teachers and learners, has been in her response to the mental health crisis we have experienced during this pandemic. As the number and complexity of anxious, depressed, and suicidal pediatric patients outgrew our level of comfort and capability as general pediatricians, Dr. Lopez sprung into action. She collaborated with our pediatric psychiatrists to review best practices for managing behavioral health from a primary care approach, set up opportunities for residents to rotate with child psychiatry, established teaching modules for residents and faculty to learn how to diagnose and manage various mental health conditions, supplied us with evidence-based screening tools and educated us on the guidelines that accompany them. She continues to be our “go to” person for challenging cases.
Dr. Gomez, a fellow colleague, stated, “This woman just keeps going!”, as she embarks on yet another mission, leading us in the “We Care” QI project of the AAP’s COntinuity Research NETwork (CORNET), aimed at identifying and assisting our patients found to have social determinants of health.
Dr. Lopez is a Star Educator, shining brightly for her learners, colleagues, and patients.