Kimberly Avila Edwards

Kimberly Avila Edwards, M.D., serves as Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Advocacy in the Department of Pediatrics at Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin. A Harvard-educated pediatrician and longtime Austin community physician, she is a nationally recognized leader in children's health advocacy with deep ties to Texas institutions.

Her research focuses on the social determinants of child health, particularly the childhood obesity epidemic affecting 14.4 million U.S. children. She challenges the misconception that obesity is a personal choice, emphasizing how weight bias and stigma create treatment barriers. Her advocacy spans vaccine policies, firearm injury prevention, and opioid crisis response through partnerships with entities like Travis County Sheriff's Office.

As leader of Dell Children's Medical Center's Pediatric Advocacy Committee (uniting 100+ experts across five pillars), she integrates advocacy into clinical frameworks to address systemic health drivers. Her congressional testimony on immigrant children's health and presidency of the Texas Pediatric Society (first Latina/o/x woman elected) demonstrate her multi-level impact from family units to federal policy.