Dr. La Barba earned her medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) in 2002 and completed her pediatric residency in 2006 at University Hospital and The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio (formerly CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital). Dr. Julie La Barba is passionate about children and nutrition. Having grown up in an Italian produce family, Dr. La Barba learned to appreciate real food at an early age. This fostered her professional commitment to children’s nutrition and resulted in her extensive professional training and targeted advocacy for public health education and research. Now the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Medical Director of CHEF (Culinary Health Education for Families) and mother of four, her special interests include breastfeeding promotion, pediatric obesity prevention, culinary medicine, urban farming and nutrition education for the underserved. Earning national certification from the American Board of Pediatrics in 2011, she is an active Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.