Gov. Perry Appoints Varma and Hootkins to Texas Medical Board District Review Committees

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Surendra Varma of Lubbock and Robert Hootkins of Austin to the Texas Medical Board District Review Committees Three and Four. Committee members evaluate medical practice or professional competency and make recommendations on investigations conducted by the board.

Varma is associate dean of Graduate Medical Education and Resident Affairs at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). He is also the Ted Hartman Endowed Chair in Medical Education and vice-chair of Pediatrics at TTUHSC School of Medicine. He is a board member of the Texas Medical Foundation Health Quality Institute, past president of the Texas Pediatric Society, and the Lubbock, Crosby and Garza County Medical societies, and a past member of the U.S. Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Training in Medicine and Dentistry. He is a member of the American Pediatrics Society, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, American and Texas Medical associations, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Pediatric Research, The Endocrine Society, American Diabetes Association, and the Academic Pediatric Association. Varma served in the U.S. Army Reserve. He received a medical degree from King George's Medical College, and completed his Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology fellowships at Harvard University Medical School. He is appointed to the District Three Review Committee for a term to expire Jan. 15, 2018.

Hootkins is a physician and section chief of the Nephrology and Hypertension Division at Austin Diagnostic Clinic. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, American Heart Association, the American Society of Nephrology, and past chair of the Texas Department of Health Kidney Advisory Committee. He is a member of the American Medical Association, American Society of Artificial Internal Organs, American Society of Hypertension, American Society of Internal Medicine, Renal Physicians Association, Texas Medical Association, Texas Society of Hypertension, Travis County Medical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Biophysical Society, the International Society of Nephrology, and the New York Academy of Sciences. Hootkins received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas, a master's degree and Doctorate of Biophysics from the University of California at Berkley, a medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and completed his Nephrology fellowship at Baylor University Medical Center. He is appointed to the District Four Review Committee for a term to expire Jan. 15, 2014.