Keila N. Lopez, MD

Professional Titles

• Director, Health Policy and Faculty Development, Heart Institute
• Child Health Policy Scholar, Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center

Recognitions

• Jack Cooper Millisor Chair in Pediatric Heart Disease, Children's Hospital Foundation (2025)
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award, American Academy of Pediatrics (2024)
• Top Doctor, Pediatric Cardiology, Houstonian Magazine (2024)
  2016-2017, 2020-2024
• 2023 Class of Extraordinary Women Leaders, Children's Heart Foundation (2023)
• National Latino Leader Award, Council for Latino Workplace Equity, National Diversity Council (2023)
• Top Hispanic & Latino Doctor Award, Castle Connolly (2023)
• Top Doctor Award, Castle Connolly (2023)
  Given to 7% of all U.S. board-certified physicians

Publications

• Agopian AJ, Benjamin RH, Oluwafemi OO, Sheriff FR, Lopez KN, Findley TO, Kim Y, Emery ST. Maternal Race and Ethnicity and Mortality Differences Among Infants with Birth Defects: A Statewide Cohort Analysis in Texas. J Pediatr. 2026 Feb;289:114877. PubMed PMID: 41173348
• O'Sullivan D, Samimi S, Anjewierdan S, Wi CI, Lopez KN, Egbe A, Watson D, Jain CC, Juhn YJ, Miranda WR, Connolly HM, Madhavan M, Burchill LJ. Sociodemographic and Clinical Predictors of Mortality in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026 Apr 7;15(7):e045411. PubMed PMID: 41878868
• Burns J, Heims-Waldron DA, Angelino AC, Lopez KN, Zachariah JP, Deen JF. Environmental Justice in Vulnerable Populations: Climate Change and Congenital Heart Disease in American Indian/Alaska Native Children. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2026 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 41524863
• 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. 2025 Dec;12(6):4262-4270. PubMed PMID: 39422831
• Burns J, Lloyd WR, Lopez KN, Reese JA, Deen JF. Improving American Indian Adolescent and Young Adult Cardiovascular Health: The Importance of the Strong Heart Family Study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Oct 7;14(19):e042895. PubMed PMID: 41025491
• Lawson NR, Achuff BJ, Ankola A, Guffey D, Lopez K, Afonso N. Sedation and analgesia doses do not differ across demographic factors in pediatric cardiac surgery patients. Front Pediatr. 2025;13:1577461. PubMed PMID: 40740825
• Lopez KN, Truong D, Anderson BR, Baker-Smith CM, Bradford TT, Dionne A, Dummer K, Forsha DE, Franklin WJ, Handler S, Harahsheh AS, Hasbani K, Liu I, Jone PN, Lang SM, McHugh KE, Oster M, Portman MA, Preminger T, Russell M, Sanil Y, Sexson Tejtel KS, Shakti D, Shea R, Trachtenberg F, Wang S, Wong JPP, Newburger JW. Sociodemographic Disparities in Severity of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children: The National Cross-Sectional MUltisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (MUSIC) Study. J Pediatr. 2025 Oct;285:114670. PubMed PMID: 40447131
• Powell-Wiley TM, Brewer LC, Burke LE, Hernandez R, Landsbaugh Kaar J, Kepper M, Kline CE, Lopez KN, Roberson S, Spees CK, Jerome GJ. Role of Technology in Promoting Heart Healthy Behavior Change to Increase Equity in Optimal Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2025 May 6;151(18):e972-e985. PubMed PMID: 40190270
• Agopian AJ, Benjamin RH, Oluwafemi OO, Sheriff FR, Lopez KN, Findley TO, Kim Y, Tortolero Emery S. Maternal race and ethnicity and mortality differences among infants with birth defects: A statewide cohort analysis in Texas. Journal of Pediatrics.
• Wallace MC, Minich LL, Shekerdemian LS, Bauser-Heaton H, Chowdhury SM, Czosek RJ, Freud LR, Goldberg DJ, Gurvitz M, Lopez L, Schumacher KR, Scott J, Slayton B, Lopez KN. Elevating diversity, inclusion, and health equity in Pediatric Heart Network Scholars grant funding: unique opportunities and lessons learned. Cardiol Young. 2024 Oct;34(10):2164-2169. PubMed PMID: 39575467
• Chowdhury D, Bansal N, Ansong A, Baker Smith C, Bauser-Heaton H, Choueiter N, Co-Vu J, Elliott P BS, Fuller S, Jain SS, Jone PN, Johnson JN, Karamlou T, Kipps AK, Laraja K, Lopez KN, Rasheed M, Ronai C, Sachdeva R, Saidi A, Snyder C, Sutton N, Stiver C, Taggart NW, Shaffer K, Williams R. Mind the Gap! Working Toward Gender Equity in Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease: Present and Future. J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 May 7;13(9):e032837. PubMed PMID: 38639355
• Opotowsky AR, Khairy P, Diller G, Kasparian NA, Brophy J, Jenkins K, Lopez KN, McCoy A, Moons P, Ollberding NJ, Rathod RH, Rychik J, Thanassoulis G, Vasan RS, Marelli A. Clinical Risk Assessment and Prediction in Congenital Heart Disease Across the Lifespan: JACC Scientific Statement. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2024 May 28;83(21):2092-2111. PubMed PMID: 38777512
• Sood E, Newburger JW, Anixt JS, Cassidy AR, Jackson JL, Jonas RA, Lisanti AJ, Lopez KN, Peyvandi S, Marino BS. Neurodevelopmental Outcomes for Individuals With Congenital Heart Disease: Updates in Neuroprotection, Risk-Stratification, Evaluation, and Management: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2024 Mar 26;149(13):e997-e1022. PubMed PMID: 38385268
• Cabrera Fernandez DL, Lopez KN, Bravo-Jaimes K, Mackie AS. The Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Transition From Pediatric to Adult Cardiology Care. Can J Cardiol. 2024 Jun;40(6):1043-1055. PubMed PMID: 38583706
• Byrne RD, Lopez KN, Broda CR, Dolgner SJ. Outcomes in infective endocarditis among adults with CHD: a comparative national study. Cardiol Young. 2024 Dec;34(12):2596-2605. PubMed PMID: 39385510
• 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. PubMed PMID: 39169811
• Backer CL, Overman DM, Dearani JA, Romano JC, Tweddell JS, Ram Kumar S, Marino BS, Bacha EA, Jaquiss RDB, Zaidi AN, Gurvitz M, Costello JM, Pierick TA, Ravekes WJ, Reagor JA, St Louis JD, Spaeth J, Mahle WT, Shin AY, Lopez KN, Karamlou T, Welke KF, Bryant R, Adil Husain S, Chen JM, Kaza A, Wells WJ, Glatz AC, Cohen MI, McElhinney DB, Parra DA, Pasquali SK. Recommendations for Centers Performing Pediatric Heart Surgery in the United States. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2023 Sep;14(5):642-679. PubMed PMID: 37737602
• Backer CL, Overman DM, Dearani JA, Romano JC, Tweddell JS, Kumar SR, Marino BS, Bacha EA, Jaquiss RDB, Zaidi AN, Gurvitz M, Costello JM, Pierick TA, Ravekes WJ, Reagor JA, St Louis JD, Spaeth J, Mahle WT, Shin AY, Lopez KN, Karamlou T, Welke KF, Bryant R, Husain SA, Chen JM, Kaza A, Wells WJ, Glatz AC, Cohen MI, McElhinney DB, Parra DA, Pasquali SK. Recommendations for Centers Performing Pediatric Heart Surgery in the United States. Ann Thorac Surg. 2023 Nov;116(5):871-907. PubMed PMID: 37777933
• Lopez KN, Morris SA, Krishnan A, Jacobs MB, Bhat AH, Chelliah A, Chiu JS, Cuneo BF, Freire G, Hornberger LK, Howley L, Husain N, Ikemba C, Kavanaugh-McHugh A, Kutty S, Lee C, McBrien A, Michelfelder EC, Pinto NM, Schwartz R, Stern KWD, Taylor C, Thakur V, Tworetzky W, Wittlieb-Weber C, Woldu K, Donofrio MT, Peyvandi S. Associations Between Maternal Sociodemographics and Hospital Mortality in Newborns With Prenatally Diagnosed Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Circulation. 2023 Jul 18;148(3):283-285. PubMed PMID: 37459407
• Kovacs AH, Vervoort D, Lopez KN. Moving beyond lifestyle: the case for childhood adversity, social determinants of health, and psychosocial factors in cardiovascular risk prediction. Eur Heart J. 2023 Feb 14;44(7):594-597. PubMed PMID: 36480299
• Vaughan RM, Moore JA, Moreno JS, Dyer KJ, Oluyomi AO, Lopez KN. Remote Care Adoption in Underserved Congenital Heart Disease Patients During the COVID-19 Era. Pediatr Cardiol. 2023 Feb;44(2):404-412. PubMed PMID: 36562781
• Lopez KN, Jordan CAL, Moreno J. Sociodemographic indices in pediatric heart failure: Maximizing data to influence future social determinants of health interventions. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2023 Feb;42(2):156-159. PubMed PMID: 36428204
• Pulcini CD, Raphael JL, Lopez KN. Translating Research into Child Health Policy: Aligning Incentives and Building a New Discourse. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2023 Feb;70(1):151-164. PubMed PMID: 36402465
• Backer CL, Overman DM, Dearani JA, Romano JC, Tweddell JS, Kumar SR, Marino BS, Bacha EA, Jaquiss RDB, Zaidi AN, Gurvitz M, Costello JM, Pierick TA, Ravekes WJ, Reagor JA, St Louis JD, Spaeth J, Mahle WT, Shin AY, Lopez KN, Karamlou T, Welke KF, Bryant R, Husain SA, Chen JM, Kaza A, Wells WJ, Glatz AC, Cohen MI, McElhinney DB, Parra DA, Pasquali SK. Recommendations for centers performing pediatric heart surgery in the United States. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2023 Dec;166(6):1782-1820. PubMed PMID: 37777958
• Zheleva B, Verstappen A, Overman DM, Ahmad F, Ali SKM, Al Halees ZY, Atallah JG, Badhwar IE, Baker-Smith C, Balestrini M, Basken A, Bassuk JS, Benson L, Capelli H, Carollo S, Chowdhury D, Çiçek MS, Cohen MI, Cooper DS, Deanfield JE, Dearani J, Del Valle B, Dodds KM, Du J, Edwin F, Ekure E, Fatema NN, Gomanju A, Hasan B, Henry L, Hugo-Hamman C, Iyer KS, Jatene MB, Jenkins KJ, Karamlou T, Karl TR, Kirklin JK, Kreutzer C, Kumar RK, Lopez KN, Macedo AP, Marino BS, Marwali EM, Meijboom FJ, Mattos SS, Najm H, Newlin D, Novick WM, Qureshi SSA, Rahmat B, Raylman R, Saltik IL, Sable C, Sandoval N, Saxena A, Scanlan E, Sholler GF, Smith J, St Louis JD, Tchervenkov CI, Tiong KG, Vida V, Vosloo S, Weinstein DJD, Wilkinson JL, Zuhlke L, Jacobs JP. Advocacy at the Eighth World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Cardiol Young. 2023 Aug;33(8):1277-1287. PubMed PMID: 37615116
• Jordan CAL, Alizadeh F, Ramirez LS, Kimbro R, Lopez KN. Obesity in Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease: The Role of Age, Complexity, and Sociodemographics. Pediatr Cardiol. 2023 Aug;44(6):1251-1261. PubMed PMID: 36964218
• Lopez KN, Fuentes-Afflick E. Engaging Pediatric Subspecialists in Pursuit of Health Equity-Breaking Out of the Silo. JAMA Pediatr. 2022 Sep 1;176(9):841-842. PubMed PMID: 35849417
• Lynn MM, Salemi JL, Kostelyna SP, Morris SA, Tejtel SKS, Lopez KN. Lesion-Specific Congenital Heart Disease Mortality Trends in Children: 1999 to 2017. Pediatrics. 2022 Oct 1;150(4). PubMed PMID: 36047307
• Gallegos FN, Woo JL, Anderson BR, Lopez KN. Disparities in surgical outcomes of neonates with congenital heart disease across regions, centers, and populations. Semin Perinatol. 2022 Jun;46(4):151581. PubMed PMID: 35396037
• Moore JA, Sheth SS, Lam WW, Alexander AJ, Shabosky JC, Espaillat A, Lovick DK, Broussard NS, Dyer KJ, Lopez KN. Hope is No Plan: Uncovering Actively Missing Transition-Aged Youth with Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatr Cardiol. 2022 Jun;43(5):1046-1053. PubMed PMID: 35064277
• Lopez KN, Morris SA. Cracking the Administrative Database Code to Risk Stratify Congenital Heart Disease Surgery. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Feb 8;79(5):479-481. PubMed PMID: 35115104
• Opotowsky AR, Allen KY, Bucholz EM, Burns KM, Del Nido P, Fenton KN, Gelb BD, Kirkpatrick JN, Kutty S, Lambert LM, Lopez KN, Olivieri LJ, Pajor NM, Pasquali SK, Petit CJ, Sood E, VanBuren JM, Pearson GD, Miyamoto SD. Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease Research Challenges and Opportunities: JACC Review Topic of the Week. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Dec 6;80(23):2239-2250. PubMed PMID: 36456054
• Lynn MM, Salemi JL, Meath CJ, Dolgner SJ, Morris SA, Sexson Tejtel SK, Lopez KN. Lesion-specific mortality due to congenital heart disease in U.S. adults from 1999 to 2017. Birth Defects Res. 2022 Aug 1;114(13):725-745. PubMed PMID: 35593518
• John AS, Jackson JL, Moons P, Uzark K, Mackie AS, Timmins S, Lopez KN, Kovacs AH, Gurvitz M. Advances in Managing Transition to Adulthood for Adolescents With Congenital Heart Disease: A Practical Approach to Transition Program Design: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Apr 5;11(7):e025278. PubMed PMID: 35297271
• Lopez KN, Baker-Smith C, Flores G, Gurvitz M, Karamlou T, Nunez Gallegos F, Pasquali S, Patel A, Peterson JK, Salemi JL, Yancy C, Peyvandi S. Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Mitigating Health Disparities Across the Lifespan in Congenital Heart Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Apr 19;11(8):e025358. PubMed PMID: 35389228
• Chowdhury D, Johnson JN, Baker-Smith CM, Jaquiss RDB, Mahendran AK, Curren V, Bhat A, Patel A, Marshall AC, Fuller S, Marino BS, Fink CM, Lopez KN, Frank LH, Ather M, Torentinos N, Kranz O, Thorne V, Davies RR, Berger S, Snyder C, Saidi A, Shaffer K. Health Care Policy and Congenital Heart Disease: 2020 Focus on Our 2030 Future. J Am Heart Assoc. 2021 Oct 19;10(20):e020605. PubMed PMID: 34622676
• Krishnan A, Jacobs MB, Morris SA, Peyvandi S, Bhat AH, Chelliah A, Chiu JS, Cuneo BF, Freire G, Hornberger LK, Howley L, Husain N, Ikemba C, Kavanaugh-McHugh A, Kutty S, Lee C, Lopez KN, McBrien A, Michelfelder EC, Pinto NM, Schwartz R, Stern KWD, Taylor C, Thakur V, Tworetzky W, Wittlieb-Weber C, Woldu K, Donofrio MT. Impact of Socioeconomic Status, Race and Ethnicity, and Geography on Prenatal Detection of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Transposition of the Great Arteries. Circulation. 2021 May 25;143(21):2049-2060. PubMed PMID: 33993718
• Morris SA, Lopez KN. Deep learning for detecting congenital heart disease in the fetus. Nat Med. 2021 May;27(5):764-765. PubMed PMID: 33990805
• Salciccioli KB, Salemi JL, Broda CR, Lopez KN. Disparities in insurance coverage among hospitalized adult congenital heart disease patients before and after the Affordable Care Act. Birth Defects Res. 2021 May;113(8):644-659. PubMed PMID: 33590705
• Sood E, Lisanti AJ, Woolf-King SE, Wray J, Kasparian N, Jackson E, Gregory MR, Lopez KN, Marino BS, Neely T, Randall A, Zyblewski SC, Brosig CL. Parent mental health and family functioning following diagnosis of CHD: a research agenda and recommendations from the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative. Cardiol Young. 2021 Jun;31(6):900-914. PubMed PMID: 34082841
• Gonzalez VJ, Kimbro RT, Cutitta KE, Shabosky JC, Bilal MF, Penny DJ, Lopez KN. Mental Health Disorders in Children With Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatrics. 2021 Feb;147(2). PubMed PMID: 33397689
• Lopez KN, Morris SA, Sexson Tejtel SK, Espaillat A, Salemi JL. US Mortality Attributable to Congenital Heart Disease Across the Lifespan From 1999 Through 2017 Exposes Persistent Racial/Ethnic Disparities. Circulation. 2020 Sep 22;142(12):1132-1147. PubMed PMID: 32795094
• Castellanos DA, Lopez KN, Salemi JL, Shamshirsaz AA, Wang Y, Morris SA. Trends in Preterm Delivery among Singleton Gestations with Critical Congenital Heart Disease. J Pediatr. 2020 Jul;222:28-34.e4. PubMed PMID: 32586534

Practice Locations

Children's Hospital Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
13123 East 16th Ave
Aurora, CO 80045
720-777-1234

Denver Health
777 Bannock St
Denver, CO 80204
303-436-6000

Children's Colorado Outpatient Care at Uptown - Denver
1830 Franklin St
Denver, CO 80218
720-777-1360

Children's Hospital Colorado - Colorado Fetal Care Center
13123 E 16th Ave, B735
Aurora, CO 80045
720-777-4463

Specialty Information

Specialties

• Pediatric Cardiology, Board Certification (2014)
• Pediatrics, Board Certification (2010)