Dr. Maria Carolina Gazzaneo M.D

Expert Publications

• Fed levels of amino acids are required for the somatotropin-induced increase in muscle protein synthesis.
• Feeding rapidly stimulates protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs by enhancing translation initiation.
• Stimulation of muscle protein synthesis by prolonged parenteral infusion of leucine is dependent on amino acid availability in neonatal pigs.
• Leucine supplementation of a low-protein meal increases skeletal muscle and visceral tissue protein synthesis in neonatal pigs by stimulating mTOR-dependent translation initiation.
• Anabolic signaling and protein deposition are enhanced by intermittent compared with continuous feeding in skeletal muscle of neonates.
• Enteral leucine supplementation increases protein synthesis in skeletal and cardiac muscles and visceral tissues of neonatal pigs through mTORC1-dependent pathways.

Media Releases

Get to know Pediatric Critical Care and Lung Transplant Specialist Dr. Maria Carolina Gazzaneo, who serves patients in Houston, Texas.

A highly trained physician, Dr. Gazzaneo is a pediatric critical care and lung transplant specialist with Texas Children’s Hospital. Her primary clinical interests are pediatric lung transplantation and pediatric critical care conditions. Her research interests include VV-ECMO as a bridge to lung transplant, nutritional support after lung transplantation, and acute and chronic kidney disease post-lung transplant. 

Developing a clinical guideline to improve immediate post-op management of lung transplant patients in the Intensive Care Unit, her goal is to improve the immediate post-op care, nutritional support of children after lung transplant and to decrease incidence of acute and chronic kidney disease through implementation of standardized protocols, and education of the medical team.

Texas Children’s Hospital, located in Houston, Texas, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to create a healthier future for children and women throughout our global community by leading in patient care, education and research. It is proud to be consistently ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation.

A Venezuelan native, Dr. Gazzaneo started her career in medicine by earning her medical degree from Universidad de Oriente. After relocating to the United States, she went on to complete her observership, residency in pediatrics, and fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in 2007, 2011, and 2013, respectively. 

In good standing with a number of professional organizations, she is a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the International Heart and Lung Transplant Society, the Harris County Medical Society, the American Thoracic Society, and the American Society of Nutrition.

With a passion for teaching, Dr. Gazzaneo is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Critical Care at Baylor College of Medicine.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends individuals be under pediatric care up to the age of 21. Pediatric critical care specialists treat children from birth through the teen years. They choose to make caring for children who are very sick the core of their medical practice. Their advanced training and experience prepare them to give children in PICUs the unique medical care that they need.

As a testament of her success, Dr. Gazzaneo has been the recipient of the FASEB MARC Travel Award by the American Society of Nutrition in 2011. In addition, she was the winner of Postdoctoral Abstract Competitions by the American Society of Nutrition, on the topics of Energy and Macronutrient Metabolism and Experimental Animal Nutrition.

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