Juliette Howes Owens, MD, FAAP

Dr. Owens was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, while her father, also a pediatrician, was in residency there. She subsequently grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and moved to Texas in high school where she attended the Texas Academy of Math and Science at the University of North Texas. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Owens received her M.D. from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans.

Dr. Owens then moved to San Diego, California where she completed her pediatric residency at the University of California at San Diego and served as chief resident in 2003-2004. She finally got to Austin in 2004 and began working with the Seton Medical Center neonatology group. During that time, Dr. Owens enjoyed taking care of well and sick newborns (and their worried parents!).

She began her private practice career in 2007, where she worked for 7 years for an existing practice. She then formed GROW Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, along with Dr. Leigh Grady, in 2014.

Natalie Rusk, MD, FAAP

Dr. Rusk grew up just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University and medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. She then completed pediatric residency training at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she met her husband who was one of her residency classmates. After two years of working in Urgent Care at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Rusk and her Longhorn husband moved to Austin in 2006. She worked as a primary care pediatrician in Austin until 2016, when she and her family decided to relocate back to Philadelphia to be near her family. She returned to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a primary care pediatrician and took care of children in West Philadelphia. However, after two brutal winters digging out of the snow, she has happily returned to her adopted hometown (and the heat!) to join GROW in 2018. Dr. Rusk has been board-certified in pediatrics since 2004 and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She has special interests in travel medicine, obesity, and asthma. She was recognized in Austin Monthly as a ‘Best of Austin’ pediatrician in 2013. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, walking her two dogs, traveling, camping, and trying new restaurants with friends. She also stays busy being mom to two very active children!

 Laura Wise, MD, FAAP

Dr. Wise was born and raised in San Antonio and fell in love with Austin while obtaining her Bachelor of Science at the University of Texas. During that time, she cultivated a passion for global health during a semester abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, where she volunteered with pediatric patients at a tuberculosis hospital. She also developed a love for newborns while working as a midwife assistant during her last year of college. 

She received her Medical Degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, where she further explored her interests in border health, learned medical Spanish and worked with underserved populations. She was nominated by her peers to the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which recognizes excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service. 

Dr. Wise was thrilled to return to Austin to complete her residency at UT Austin Dell Medical School. During her intern year, she met and trained with Dr. Grady during her newborn rotation. She first came to GROW as a resident in 2016 and joined as a staff physician in 2017. 

In her spare time, Dr. Wise is an avid reader, plays piano and drums with Austin Samba. Newly married, she and her husband Eric (also a pediatrician!) cherish any opportunity to travel, enjoy the outdoors, dote on their two cats, and spend time with family. 

Dr. Wise is Board Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2020, she was named one of Texas Super Doctors Rising Stars.

Lidiya

Lidiya is a third-year student majoring in Public Health and minoring in African and African Diasporas Studies (on the pre-med track) at the University of Texas at Austin. She loves working with children, and has been doing so for the past 5 years. Extensively involved in community and volunteer endeavors, she is a member of Black Health Professions Organization, and has worked with UT Health both for Covid-19 contact tracing, and as a student assistant at UT Nursing School. Originally from Ethiopia, Lidiya speaks fluent Amharic. She enjoys reading books, meeting people, visiting new places, trying new things, and is super excited to be joining us at GROW!

Isabella, CNA

Isabella is a student at the University of Texas pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology on the Pre-Med track. She is a Certified Nurse’s Assistant and Electrocardiography Technician, and obtained multiple clinical certifications through a technical career partnership program while still in high school in Frisco, Texas. She’s had the pleasure of teaching dance to young children, and outside of work, you can find her dancing, studying, or cheering on the Longhorns! Isabella is fluent in Spanish, is excited to be a part of the GROW family as a Medical Assistant, and looks forward to getting to know our patients.

E. Elizabeth Howard, MD, MPH, FAAP. Physician PRN

Dr. Howard grew up in New Orleans and stayed in the city to complete her undergraduate studies at Tulane University. She received her medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN and completed pediatric residency training here in Austin at Dell Children’s Medical Center in 2012. She worked in primary care in Austin for several years, then relocated for her husband’s job. She has recently returned after completing a Masters in Public Health and training in Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC. She hopes to use her experience to better address the health challenges in the Austin community. As primary pediatrics is her passion, she is thrilled that she has the opportunity to care for the families at GROW!

She and her husband are also happy to be back in the warmer weather where their free days are spent taking their two young children to eat breakfast tacos, walk the trail, sit on the porch at the downtown library and play at the Children’s Alliance playground.

Dr. Howard is Board Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. She is currently working at GROW part-time, and we are absolutely thrilled to have her.

Gina H Duong, MD

Dr. Duong (pronounced “Yoong”) was born and raised in Houston, TX and dreamed of being a community pediatrician from a young age. She attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston and solidified her love for pediatrics while volunteering as a baby holder at Texas Children’s Hospital. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and was named “Most Outstanding Biology graduate” at St. Thomas in 2015. She received her medical degree from the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center, where her mentors and peers awarded her with the “Excellence in Ethics and Professionalism” award in 2019.

She moved to Austin in 2019 to complete her pediatrics residency at Dell Medical School, where she worked at Dell Children’s Medical Center, the Seton Medical Center nursery and NICU, and multiple subspecialty and general pediatric clinics in the greater Austin area.

Dr. Duong has a sweet baby boy (and two little dogs!) with her husband Luke, whose career is in biomedical research. In her spare time, she enjoys creating watercolor paintings, watching movies, seeing her best friends, and spending time with her family. She is bilingual and fluent in Vietnamese. She is elated to join GROW pediatrics in August 2022 and has special interests in preventative medicine, breastfeeding medicine, atopic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema), and teen mental health.

Dr. Duong will soon be Board Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is also an Internationally Board-Certified Lactation Consultant.

Dr. Carrie Danner, MD, FAAP

Dr. Danner was born in Taipei, Taiwan while her parents were living there for her father’s career. After moving around a bit during her early childhood, her family settled in Houston, where she was raised. Dr. Danner received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, outside of Boston. While there, she played the carillon; the ringing of the bells in Wellesley’s beautiful stone bell tower. She then attended medical school at the University of Texas McGovern School of Medicine in Houston, graduating in 2006. She was active in many organizations there, and was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society. She completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in 2009, and soon after relocated to Austin with her husband and young daughter, while expecting their son. In the years since, Dr. Danner has had the privilege of working on a part time and/or temporary basis at many local Austin pediatric practices, a structure that she prefers because of the flexibility for her family and the opportunity to work with a wide array of patients and colleagues.

We were lucky enough to have Dr. Danner join us in 2021 as a part time pediatrician, oftentimes filling in when our regular docs are away. She’s loved being a part of the GROW family and enjoys being able to put patients at ease with her friendly disposition, making a “scary” doctor visit something fun. Outside of work, her daughter and son, now 14 and 12, keep her very busy. In her spare time, Dr. Danner loves to craft; mainly doing pottery and knitting/crocheting.

Nisreen Feroz Ali, MD, FAAP

Update; As of March 31st, 2025 Dr. Ali is unfortunately no longer with GROW Pediatrics. Please see our additional blog post and social media posts detailing her departure, which she found necessary to enable her to care for extended family. We miss her and wish her well. All of our remaining GROW MDs are available to care for Dr. Ali’s patients. 

Born in India, raised in Pakistan, and now working in the United States, Dr. Nisreen Ali comes from a family of entrepreneurs who have a zest for travel and adventure.

She graduated with distinction from Ziauddin Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. During her education there, she completed electives at Northwestern Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, as well as Philadelphia’s U Penn. Before completing her residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Dr. Ali spent a year as a cardiology research scholar for Loyola University Hospital in Chicago. She has been featured internationally in numerous pediatric and general medicine journals and publications.

Dr. Ali’s love of pediatrics started early on, when she was first able to connect with families and receive inspiration from the resilience of her littlest patients. She believes in creating a tailored care plan for each family she cares for, providing preventive care and counseling to children while watching them grow into healthy and informed adults. Previously, she practiced at Austin Diagnostic Clinic, where she had the opportunity to build lasting relationships with local children and families.

She and her husband Mehdy became proud parents in 2020. They enjoy travelling, hiking and spending time outdoors. On hot summer days (or freezing winter days), Dr. Ali also enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, cooking traditional delicacies.

A Board Certified Pediatrician and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Ali is excited to join the GROW family in September 2023. She is fluent in English, Urdu, Hindi and medical Spanish and her special areas of interest include newborn care, eczema, constipation and weight management. She is accepting new patients, and looks forward to familiarizing herself with our very special GROW community.

Kaitlyn Bergeron Lloyd, MD

Growing up in southern Maine and attending Northeastern University in Boston, Dr. Lloyd fell in love with pediatrics while working as a newborn hearing screener. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2015, she spent a gap year in clinical research before attending Tufts University School of Medicine. As part of the Maine Track at Tufts, she spent the majority of her clinical time in a small Maine town, where she discovered her niche in community pediatrics.

After graduating with her MD from Tufts in 2020, Dr. Lloyd made the big cross-country move to Texas. During her pediatrics residency at Dell Medical School at UT Austin , she trained at Dell Children’s Medical Center, Seton Medical Center’s nursery and NICU, and subspecialty and general pediatric clinics in the Austin region.

Currently Dr. Lloyd lives in Georgetown with her fiance, Sam (an Army emergency physician), and their two dogs. As a family, they’ve grown to love central Texas and enjoy exploring the outdoors, hiking with their dogs, trying new restaurants, and traveling.

Dr. Lloyd is thrilled to join GROW Pediatrics in September 2023 and can’t wait to meet her new patients and their families. She is particularly interested in preventive health, newborn and breastfeeding medicine, mental & behavioral health, and child advocacy. As a practice, GROW is so pleased to welcome her to our family. She will soon be board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and is also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.