Welcome

Jerome Yaklic On behalf of all my colleagues, welcome to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. We are excited about your interest in our department. As an academic Ob/Gyn department, we are committed to excellence in patient care, education, and research.

Our faculty are specialists and subspecialists across the spectrum of Obstetrics & Gynecology. They can provide comprehensive patient care and training in Ob/Gyn and its subspecialties, including Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Gynecologic Oncology, Pediatric/Adolescent Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology/Infertility, Urogynecology, and Minimal Invasive and Robotic Gynecologic Surgery. We strive to provide compassionate, patient-centered care that is evidence-based and utilizes both new and proven surgical techniques and technologies. We specialize in the care of low-risk and high-risk pregnant women during all stages of their pregnancy. We deliver approximately 5,500 babies per year. Our doctors, nurses, midwives, and staff provide care to women at more than 40 sites in Galveston, on the mainland Gulf Coast, and in communities spread across the eastern part of Texas from McAllen to Nacogdoches.

Our faculty's participation in clinical, basic, and translational science research provides our patients access to the most current and evidence-based diagnostics and treatments available. On average, the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology is involved with 70 or more research grants each year. Our active research program has ongoing collaborations among physicians and scientists in areas of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Behavioral Health. We have two research centers. One is devoted to Interdisciplinary Research for Women's Health and the other to Violence Prevention. Many of our discoveries impact not only the clinical care we provide but the standards of care performed by physicians across the country and around the world. We continue to be at the forefront of innovative breakthroughs in healthcare and be at the top of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding lists for Obstetrics & Gynecology departments. In addition to the NIH, our investigators receive funding from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), other states/federal agencies, and numerous industry and foundation partners.

UTMB's School of Medicine boasts the ninth largest medical enrollment in the country and graduates approximately 230 physicians per year. We are training the next generation of physician leaders in Medicine. We offer a brand new, state-of-the-art Medical Education Center with a 77-bed simulated hospital. As one of the original departments at UTMB, our department has provided over 100 years of training in our specialty and subspecialties. We are proud of our UTMB students, residents, and fellows who have gone on to care for populations around the world and to make significant contributions to the world's medical knowledge and innovation. Welcome again, and thank you for visiting our website. We hope you will enjoy learning more about our department and its faculty as you explore its pages.

NEWS

Meet Joey Hernandez

Jun 26, 2026, 16:56 PM by CPRIT

The ASG-IV team is pleased to introduce our newest team member, Jose Hernandez Jr. (Joey). We are excited to officially welcome Joey to ASG IV and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Pediatrics!

Joey joins us as a Financial Analyst II, dedicated to supporting the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Pediatrics. In his role, Joey will collaborate closely with our Senior Financial Analyst, Cris Copado and Financial Analyst I, Sneha Gande, to ensure accuracy in accounting and financial reporting, RWSP grant management, account reconciliation, and budget and forecast preparation.

We are thrilled to have Joey on board and look forward to his contributions to our team. Joey’s primary office is in John McCullough on the third floor within the ASG-IV Business Office East, Suite 3.120. Please take a moment to stop by and say hello!

“My name is Jose Hernandez Jr., but everyone calls me Joey. I was born and raised in Galveston, Texas. I graduated from Ball High School, earned my Associate’s degree in Business Administration from Galveston College, and later received my Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Houston–Clear Lake. I am currently studying and plan to sit for the CPA exam.

I have four years of experience in tax, accounting, and finance. In my previous role, I worked closely with a nonprofit organization, the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP). Through that experience, I gained valuable exposure to the financial side of healthcare, which sparked my interest in joining the UTMB team.

Outside of work, I enjoy watching movies and TV shows, going to the gym, and following sports. My favorite movie is The Dark Knight, and I root for the Astros, Rockets, and Texans. I have a pet dog and my favorite place to eat is Whataburger.”

I’m excited to be part of the team and look forward to getting to know and working with everyone.

Patient Care

VictoryLakes The Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology offers a full range of services related to pregnancy and other areas of women's health, including fertility, child health, family planning, gynecologic surgery, and breast and cervical cancer screening. In 2012, the department completed a full renovation of the Labor & Delivery area, which now includes 35,000 square feet of state-of-the-art patient rooms, nurseries, operating rooms, nursing work areas, and offices. Our doctors, nurses, midwives, and staff provide care to women at more than 40 sites in Galveston, on the mainland Gulf Coast, and in communities spread across the eastern part of Texas from McAllen to Nacogdoches.

In addition to general obstetrics and gynecology, UTMB provides a number of specialty patient services:

Our Maternal and Fetal Medicine division is recognized nationally as a top provider for women with high-risk pregnancies and prenatal diagnoses.
The Pelvic Health & Continence Center provides specialty multidisciplinary care focused on diagnosing and treating pelvic floor disorders in both women and men.
The University Fertility Center houses an on-site operating suite, a state-of-the-art IVF laboratory, andrology and hormone labs, and facilities for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.
We offer access to subspecialists in the fields of Gynecologic Oncology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Pediatric/Adolescent Gynecology, Reproductive Infertility Endocrinology, and Certified Nurse Midwifery.
Our Gynecology Division’s robotic surgery program has been recognized and certified as a Center of Excellence by the AAGL.

Research Overview

Our faculty’s participation in clinical, basic, and translational science research provides our patients access to the most current and effective evidence-based diagnostics and available treatment. On average, the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology is involved with 70 or more research grants each year.

The department has earned spots in 2 current national collaborative research networks, the Obstetric-Fetal Pharmacology Research Center (OPRC) Network and the Multicenter Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network (MFMU). Our Maternal-Fetal Pharmacology and Bio-development Laboratories are perhaps unequaled in their range of specialties for investigating the interaction between therapeutic drugs and pregnancy. Of particular note, UTMB is home to three University Centers: The Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health, a university-wide organization funded by the National Institutes of Health to promote, stimulate, and support interdisciplinary research related to women’s health across the life span. The Obstetric-fetal Pharmacology Research Center funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to support specialized research to improve the safety and efficacy of medication use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. The most recent addition is the Center for Violence Prevention, which was established to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, couples, families, communities, and societies through the prevention of violence.

Education

UTMB’s School of Medicine boasts the ninth largest medical enrollment in the country and graduates approximately 230 physicians per year. Obstetrics & Gynecology is one of the original departments of the Medical Branch, providing over 100 years of specialty training. The department’s 4-year residency program offers training in obstetrics and gynecology via didactic teaching, simulation and surgical training, clinical experience, and research opportunities. Our graduates pass the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology examinations and successfully match into subspecialty fellowship programs at a high rate. UTMB’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship program provides additional clinical training in high-risk obstetrics and clinical and basic science research, with the option of earning a PhD.

Our medical doctors and scientists extend their learning on a continual basis through participation in national and international professional organizations, collaboration with colleagues, and research. The department also holds grants to support 2 formal training programs for faculty, the Women’s Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) and Building Interdisciplinary Research in Women’s Health (BIRWCH) programs.