Maria del Mar Romero Lopez, MD, MS, PhD

Dr. Maria del Mar Romero Lopez is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and a member of the Institute for Clinical Research and Learning Health Care. She is a board-certified neonatologist, holding an MD from the University of Valencia (Spain), an MS in Child Psychology, and a PhD in Physiology and Metabolism (Cum Laude) from Universidad Autónoma Madrid (Spain). Dr. Romero Lopez completed her pediatric residency training in Spain and Michigan, followed by a fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Dr. Romero Lopez has established herself as an independent investigator focused on improving evidence-based care and outcomes for extremely preterm infants, with particular expertise in vitamin D metabolism, bone health assessment, and nutritional interventions. As Principal Investigator, she has secured extramural funding, including a KL2 Career Development Award, an R03 from NIH NCATs, a Gerber Foundation National Research Grant, and a grant from the Bone Disease Program of Texas. Her ViDES trial (NCT05459298) represents the largest randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in extremely preterm infants to date, completing the enrollment of 180 participants in June 2025. She employs innovative methodologies, including quantitative ultrasound speed of sound measurements for bone health evaluation, as well as state-of-the-art liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for vitamin D metabolite analysis. Her work has been published and presented at major national and international conferences, and she serves as site Principal Investigator for multiple multicenter trials.