SARA STEPHENS

TitleInstructor
InstitutionBaylor College of Medicine
DepartmentDepartment of Pediatrics
Email
ORCID ORCID Icon0000-0002-2180-2198 Additional info
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    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse education and training
    University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TexasPhDEpidemiology
    University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TexasMPHEpidemiology
    Baylor University, Waco, TexasBAMedical Humanities and Biology
    Collapse awards and honors
    2024Alpha Iota Chapter, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health
    2023Young Investigator Competition Finalist, American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery
    2022Dean’s Scholarship, UTHealth School of Public Health
    2022First Place, Best Clinical Poster, Baylor College of Medicine Cardiovascular Research Institute
    2020 Aurelia Murphy Killian Endowment In Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse overview
    As a pediatric epidemiologist, my long-term goal is to advance our understanding of the genetic causes and outcomes associated with congenital heart disease (CHD) to ultimately generate clinically informative prognostication tools and screening strategies for affected children and families. My research focuses on health outcomes among children with cardiovascular and genetic disorders, with a specific focus on structural cardiac defects, hereditary arrhythmia disease, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. I bring expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics, building on prior applications to large-scale studies evaluating the clinical and genetic epidemiology of CHD. My scientific work is grounded in collaborative efforts at the city, state, and national levels, including partnerships with experts the Texas Medical Center, public health agencies, and hospitals across the United States. These collaborations have enabled me to contribute to epidemiologic investigations that may inform both clinical practice and public health guidelines, including both population-based investigations of all CHD and rare diseases.
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    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Salamat B, Stephens SB, Britt JJ, Beecroft-Dawson T, Taylor A, Mosquera LM, Callewaert B, Beyens A, Channing A, Dilorenzo MP, Weigand J, Jacob B, Fontenot E, Morris SA, Mosquera LM. Arterial Tortuosity Syndrome: A Longitudinal Assessment of Cardiovascular Features and Interventions From the Collaborative for Longitudinal Aortic Research in the Young (CLARITY). Am J Med Genet A. 2025 Jul 04; e64159. PMID: 40613586.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    2. Calderon-Martinez E, Velasco WV, Guo D, Hostetler EH, Xun Z, Stephens S, Shalhub S, De Backer J, Ouzounian M, LeMaire SA, Milleron O, Hanna N, Arnaud P, Tchitchinadze M, Prakash SK, Lindsay M, Marcadier J, Jeremy R, Morris SA, Yetman AT, Boileau C, Braverman AC, Jondeau G, Milewicz DM, Milleron O, Hanna N, Arnaud P, Tchitchinadze M, Boileau C, Jondeau G. Differences in Arterial Events in Vascular Ehlers-Danlos, Loeys-Dietz, and Marfan Syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2025 Jun 24; 85(24):2355-2367. PMID: 40533124.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    3. Stephens SB, Morris SA, Benjamin RH, Canfield MA, Shumate CJ, Li R, Cazaban-Ganduglia C, Agopian AJ. Longitudinal Trends in Pediatric Survival by Congenital Heart Defect in Texas, 1999 to 2017. JACC Adv. 2025 Jun; 4(6 Pt 1):101812. PMID: 40393281; PMCID: PMC12149392.
      Citations:    
    4. Stephens SB, Follansbee CW, Novy T, Howard TS, Pham TD, Lang A, Beecroft T, Yesso A, Soludczyk E, Zou W, Fan Y, Kim JJ, Valdes SO, Miyake CY, Stephens SB, Follansbee CW, Novy T, Howard TS, Pham TD, Lang A, Beecroft T, Yesso A, Soludczyk E, Zou W, Fan Y, Kim JJ, Valdes SO, Miyake CY, Lang AM, Beecroft-Dawson T. Clinical and genetic variant re-analysis among pediatric probands undergoing genetic testing for arrhythmia syndromes. Heart Rhythm. 2025 May 16. PMID: 40383177.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    5. Bishop RS, Doan TT, Craik NK, Stephens SB, Chavez AI, Sachdeva S, Weigand JD. Mitral Annular Disjunction Associated with Ventricular Dilation in Pediatric Marfan Syndrome: A Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Study. Pediatr Cardiol. 2024 Oct 27. PMID: 39465402.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    6. Burns J, Lopez KN, Stephens SB, Deen JF. Obesity and Left Ventricular Function in American Indian Adolescents: Strong Heart Family Study. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Oct 18. PMID: 39422831.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    7. Srivatsav A, Thompson ZJ, Bruno MA, Stephens SB, Gutierrez ME, Miyake CY, Morris SA, Dan Pham T, Valdes SO, Kim JJ, Howard TS. Caught in the Act: A Detailed Analysis of Cardiac Event Monitoring in a Cohort of Pediatric and ACHD Patients. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2024 12; 47(12):1593-1603. PMID: 39400370.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    8. Doan TT, Iturralde Chavez A, Valdes SO, Weigand JD, Wilkinson JC, Parthiban A, Stephens SB, Pignatelli RH, Morris SA, Doan TT, Iturralde Chavez A, Valdes SO, Weigand JD, Wilkinson JC, Parthiban A, Stephens SB, Pignatelli RH, Morris SA. Mitral annular disjunction and its progression during childhood in Marfan syndrome. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2024 Aug 26; 25(9):1306-1314. PMID: 38728377; PMCID: PMC11346360.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    9. Stephens SB, Tsang R, Li R, Cazaban-Ganduglia C, Agopian AJ, Morris SA. Congenital Heart Defects and Concurrent Diagnoses in Influenza Hospitalization in the Pediatric Health Information System Study, 2004-2019. Pediatr Cardiol. 2024 Aug 05. PMID: 39103680.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    10. Stephens SB, Benjamin RH, Lopez KN, Anderson BR, Lin AE, Shumate CJ, Nembhard WN, Morris SA, Agopian AJ. Enhancing the Classification of Congenital Heart Defects for Outcome Association Studies in Birth Defects Registries. Birth Defects Res. 2024 Aug; 116(8):e2393. PMID: 39169811; PMCID: PMC11421657.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    11. Xu W, Cao Y, Stephens SB, Arredondo MJ, Chen Y, Perez W, Sun L, Yu AC, Kim JJ, Lalani SR, Li N, Horrigan FT, Altamirano F, Wehrens XH, Miyake CY, Zhang L. Folate as a potential treatment for lethal ventricular arrhythmias in TANGO2-deficiency disorder. JCI Insight. 2024 Jun 10; 9(11). PMID: 38855866; PMCID: PMC11382877.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    12. Stephens SB, Novy T, Spurzem GN, Jacob B, Beecroft T, Soludczyk E, Kozel BA, Weigand J, Morris SA. Genetic Testing for Supravalvar Aortic Stenosis: What to Do When It Is Not Williams Syndrome. J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 Apr 16; 13(8):e034048. PMID: 38591341; PMCID: PMC11262489.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    13. Stephens SB, Shalhub S, Dodd N, Li J, Huang M, Oda S, Kancherla K, Doan TT, Prakash SK, Weigand JD, Asch FM, Beecroft T, Cecchi A, Shittu T, Preiss L, LeMaire SA, Devereux RB, Pyeritz RE, Holmes KW, Roman MJ, Lacro RV, Shohet RV, Krishnamurthy R, Eagle K, Byers P, Milewicz DM, Morris SA. Vertebral Tortuosity Is Associated With Increased Rate of Cardiovascular Events in Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. J Am Heart Assoc. 2023 10 03; 12(19):e029518. PMID: 37776192; PMCID: PMC10727246.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    14. Bar S, Stephens SB, Mathew MS, Messiah SE, Edgar VB. Quality of Life Among Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross Sectional Study. J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Nov; 54(11):4208-4215. PMID: 37751095.
      Citations:    
    15. Bascom JT, Stephens SB, Lupo PJ, Canfield MA, Kirby RS, Salemi JL, Mai CT, Nembhard WN, Forestieri NE, Romitti PA, St Louis AM, Agopian AJ, Nestoridi E. Scientific impact of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network multistate collaborative publications. Birth Defects Res. 2024 Jan; 116(1):e2225. PMID: 37492989; PMCID: PMC10910332.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    16. Miyake CY, Lay EJ, Soler-Alfonso C, Glinton KE, Houck KM, Tosur M, Moran NE, Stephens SB, Scaglia F, Howard TS, Kim JJ, Pham TD, Valdes SO, Li N, Murali CN, Zhang L, Kava M, Yim D, Beach C, Webster G, Liberman L, Janson CM, Kannankeril PJ, Baxter S, Singer-Berk M, Wood J, Mackenzie SJ, Sacher M, Ghaloul-Gonzalez L, Pedroza C, Morris SA, Ehsan SA, Azamian MS, Lalani SR. Natural history of TANGO2 deficiency disorder: Baseline assessment of 73 patients. Genet Med. 2023 04; 25(4):100352. PMID: 36473599; PMCID: PMC10306319.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    17. Moore JA, Stephens SB, Kertesz NJ, Evans DL, Kim JJ, Howard TS, Pham TD, Vald?s SO, de la Uz CM, Raymond TT, Morris SA, Miyake CY. Clinical Predictors of Recurrent Supraventricular Tachycardia in Infancy. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 09 20; 80(12):1159-1172. PMID: 36109110.
      Citations:    
    18. Stephens SB, Russo M, Shalhub S, Beecroft T, Weigand J, Milewicz DM, Morris SA. Evaluating perinatal and neonatal outcomes among children with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Genet Med. 2022 10; 24(10):2134-2143. PMID: 35984436.
      Citations:    
    19. Miyake CY, Lay EJ, Beach CM, Ceresnak SR, Delauz CM, Howard TS, Janson CM, Jardine K, Kannankeril PJ, Kava M, Kim JJ, Liberman L, Macicek SL, Pham TD, Robertson T, Valdes SO, Webster G, Stephens SB, Milewicz DM, Azamian M, Ehsan SA, Houck KM, Soler-Alfonso C, Glinton KE, Tosur M, Li N, Xu W, Lalani SR, Zhang L. Cardiac crises: Cardiac arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy during TANGO2 deficiency related metabolic crises. Heart Rhythm. 2022 10; 19(10):1673-1681. PMID: 35568137; PMCID: PMC10642301.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    20. Olson ND, Wagner J, McDaniel J, Stephens SH, Westreich ST, Prasanna AG, Johanson E, Boja E, Maier EJ, Serang O, Kyriakidis K, Malousi A, Shafin K, Pesout T, Jain M, Paten B, Chang PC, Kolesnikov A, Nattestad M, Baid G, Goel S, Yang H, Carroll A, Li G, Ma C, Tang L, Du Y, Zhang S, Morata J, Brueffer C, Demirkaya-Budak S, Kabakci-Zorlu D, Turgut D, Budak G, Arslan E, Brown R, Johnson IJ, Dolgoborodov A, Semenyuk V, Jain A, Tetikol HS, Jain V, Ruehle M, Lajoie B, Roddey C, Catreux S, Mehio R, Ahsan MU, Liu Q, Wang K, Sahraeian SME, Fang LT, Mohiyuddin M, Hung C, Jain C, Feng H, Li Z, Chen L, Sedlazeck FJ, Zook JM, J?spez D, Lorenzo-Salazar JM, Mu?oz-Barrera A, Rubio-Rodr?guez LA, Flores C, Eveleigh R, Bourgey M, Bourque G, Tonda R, Parra G, Trotta JR, Kalay ?, Narci K. PrecisionFDA Truth Challenge V2: Calling variants from short and long reads in difficult-to-map regions. Cell Genom. 2022 05 11; 2(5). PMID: 35720974; PMCID: PMC9205427.
      Citations: 3     
    21. Lee LM, Carias DC, Gosser R, Hannah A, Stephens S, Templeman WA. ASHP Guidelines on Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring and Reporting. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2022 Jan 01; 79(1):e83-e89. PMID: 34480176.
      Citations:    
    22. Stephens SB, Raphael JL, Zimmerman CT, Garland BH, de Guzman MM, Walsh SM, Hergenroeder AC, Wiemann CM. The Utility of Self-Determination Theory in Predicting Transition Readiness in Adolescents With Special Healthcare Needs. J Adolesc Health. 2021 10; 69(4):653-659. PMID: 34059429.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    23. Stephens SJ, Chino F, Williamson H, Niedzwiecki D, Chino J, Mowery YM. Evaluating for disparities in place of death for head and neck cancer patients in the United States utilizing the CDC WONDER database. Oral Oncol. 2020 03; 102:104555. PMID: 32006782.
      Citations:    
    24. Vernuccio F, Godfrey D, Meyer M, Williamson HV, Salama JK, Niedzwiecki D, Stephens SJ, Ronald J, Palta M, Marin D. Local Tumor Control and Patient Outcome Using Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: iRECIST as a Potential Substitute for Traditional Criteria. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2019 12; 213(6):1232-1239. PMID: 31613663.
      Citations:    
    25. Raheja UK, Fuchs D, Lowry CA, Stephens SH, Pavlovich MA, Mohyuddin H, Yousufi H, Ryan KA, O'Connell J, Brenner LA, Punzalan C, Hoisington AJ, Nijjar GK, Groer M, Shuldiner AR, Pollin TI, Stiller JW, Mitchell BD, Postolache TT. Heritability of plasma neopterin levels in the Old Order Amish. J Neuroimmunol. 2017 06 15; 307:37-41. PMID: 28495136.
      Citations:    
    26. Zhang L, Evans DS, Raheja UK, Stephens SH, Stiller JW, Reeves GM, Johnson M, Ryan KA, Weizel N, Vaswani D, McLain H, Shuldiner AR, Mitchell BD, Hsueh WC, Snitker S, Postolache TT. Chronotype and seasonality: morningness is associated with lower seasonal mood and behavior changes in the Old Order Amish. J Affect Disord. 2015 Mar 15; 174:209-14. PMID: 25527990; PMCID: PMC4356625.
      Citations:    
    27. Nugent KL, Million-Mrkva A, Backman J, Stephens SH, Reed RM, Kochunov P, Pollin TI, Shuldiner AR, Mitchell BD, Hong LE. Familial aggregation of tobacco use behaviors among Amish men. Nicotine Tob Res. 2014 Jul; 16(7):923-30. PMID: 24583363; PMCID: PMC4072896.
      Citations:    
    28. Fisch AS, Perry CG, Stephens SH, Horenstein RB, Shuldiner AR. Pharmacogenomics of anti-platelet and anti-coagulation therapy. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2013 Jul; 15(7):381. PMID: 23797323; PMCID: PMC3809070.
      Citations:    
    29. Dai N, Foldager L, Gallego JA, Hack LM, Ji Y, Lett TA, Liu BC, Loken EK, Mandelli L, Mehta D, Power RA, Sprooten E, Stephens SH, Paska AV, Yan J, Zai CC, Zai G, Zhang-James Y, O'Shea A, Delisi LE. Summaries from the XIX World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, Washington, DC, September 10-14, 2011. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2012 Jan; 159B(1):128-9. PMID: 22180335; PMCID: PMC4416401.
      Citations:    
    30. Saccone NL, Culverhouse RC, Schwantes-An TH, Cannon DS, Chen X, Cichon S, Giegling I, Han S, Han Y, Keskitalo-Vuokko K, Kong X, Landi MT, Ma JZ, Short SE, Stephens SH, Stevens VL, Sun L, Wang Y, Wenzlaff AS, Aggen SH, Breslau N, Broderick P, Chatterjee N, Chen J, Heath AC, Hoft NR, Hunter DJ, Jensen MK, Martin NG, Montgomery GW, Niu T, Payne TJ, Peltonen L, Pergadia ML, Rice JP, Sherva R, Spitz MR, Sun J, Wang JC, Weiss RB, Wheeler W, Witt SH, Yang BZ, Caporaso NE, Ehringer MA, Eisen T, Gapstur SM, Gelernter J, Houlston R, Kaprio J, Kendler KS, Kraft P, Leppert MF, Li MD, Madden PA, Pillai S, Rietschel M, Rujescu D, Schwartz A, Amos CI, Bierut LJ, Heli?vaara M, N?then MM. Multiple independent loci at chromosome 15q25.1 affect smoking quantity: a meta-analysis and comparison with lung cancer and COPD. PLoS Genet. 2010 Aug 05; 6(8). PMID: 20700436; PMCID: PMC2916847.
      Citations: 232     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
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