Dr. Rosa Estrada-Y-Martin a Clinician Who Brings Compassion to Patient Care
For Dr. Rosa Estrada-Y-Martin, caring for people living with LAM is about much more than treating a rare lung disease. It is about listening, building trust, sharing knowledge, and helping patients navigate decisions that can change their lives.
A board-certified, fellowship-trained pulmonologist and professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Dr. Estrada-Y-Martin has been the LAM Clinic Director since 2015 and has become a trusted resource for patients and colleagues across the LAM community.
“Medicine is a vocation, not a career,” she says. “Since I was 6, I always knew that I wanted to be a physician.”
Originally from Spain, Dr. Estrada-Y-Martin grew up moving between countries with her family before living in Guatemala and eventually coming to the United States for her medical training. Her interest in medicine was not inspired by a family tradition; no one in her family was a physician. Instead, she was drawn to the field from an early age and developed a particular interest in caring for people facing complex or life-changing illnesses.
Over the course of her career, she has cared for people with a wide range of challenging diseases, including HIV, and has learned that some of the most important parts of medicine happen beyond the exam room.
“I like to know about how they are doing in general, about their life,” she says. “I like to make a difference.”
That philosophy has shaped the way she cares for people with LAM.
Because LAM is rare, patients often face uncertainty, difficult decisions, and questions that can be hard to answer. Dr. Estrada-Y-Martin believes patients should feel empowered to ask those questions and understand their own disease. This December, Dr. Estrada-Y-Martin is co-hosting a Q&A with LAM Liaison Frances Saldivar-Morales to answer questions for those living with LAM who speak Spanish.
“I love when patients are educated about their own diseases,” she says.