Biography
Zoabe Hafeez, M.D., is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Health and Biosciences and an associate professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. He practices pediatric hospital medicine at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.
Hafeez utilizes a combination of geospatial and conventional statistical methodologies to investigate public health and economic issues involving the effects of transportation safety, pedestrian injury, gun violence, and food insecurity. He is currently studying the effects of local level demographics, environmental factors, and neighborhood characteristics on pediatric mental health, as well as the geospatial distribution of social determinants of health in the pediatric population. His work has been published in Injury Epidemiology, Pediatrics In Review and Contemporary Pediatrics.
Hafeez earned his medical degree from the The University of Texas Medical Branch and completed his residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Previously, he led the institution of a novel pediatric hospital medicine curriculum within McGovern Medical School’s Pediatric Residency Program. He has also been involved in the writing and publication of a global health guideline for school health services and has taught the curriculum in children’s hospitals and community centers throughout Bangladesh.
Contact at [email protected] or 713-500-6482.
Recent Publications
In Click2Houston: Study identifies 'hot spots' for child pedestrian danger
“While we focused on the most dangerous areas for our data in this study, the big picture is that the areas of Houston where children were injured by motor vehicles over the last five years are as diverse as the city itself,” Hafeez said. “If we know where the worst areas for kids to walk and bike are, we can improve sidewalks, shared-use paths and crosswalks to create a better environment for all road users.”
In Houston Public Media: Houston streets threaten health and lives of children
"In the Houston area, one of the biggest limiting factors to children using active transportation is the risk of motor vehicle injury," Hafeez wrote. Hazardous road conditions prevent walking and biking and contribute to national rise in childhood obesity and mental health problems.
In Axios: Report shows Houston areas where kids get hit by cars
According to the study, between 2018-2023 there were 629 incidents of children being injured or killed while using the Houston streets. "Most young people's active transportation is on foot or via bicycle," Hafeez wrote. "This means that widening sidewalks into shared-use pathways, minimizing unsignalized conflict points, and creating pedestrian friendly intersections can have outsized benefits."