Learn about the staff and executive management team

Executive & Medical Staff

Meet the team of executive and medical staff at the Texas Center for Drug Development in Houston, TX. Biographies and information about the team behind the science and clinical trials at TCDD.

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Executive Management

CEO: Mohammad Millwala, MBA, CPA

Mohammad picture

Mohammad Millwalla is the CEO of The Texas Center for Drug Development in Houston, TX and founder and CEO of DM Clinical Research in Tomball, TX. He has an MBA from Northeastern Illinois University and is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP). Extremely active in the healthcare business since 2002, he founded DM Clinical Research in 2006 and has grown it to be the largest privately owned investigative network in the Houston area. DM Clinical Research is a network of investigator sites in Texas, Louisiana,  and Illinois, providing the pharmaceutical industry a large and experienced group of physicians conducting well-orchestrated clinical trials.
Mohammad is an entrepreneur with energy and creative ideas who is extremely patient centric and lives by his personal priority and motto "to provide a business class experience to all the volunteers in clinical research." He loves to surround himself with positive influences and strongly believes in a master network of professionals that contribute to his knowledge of how one thing can be done in several different ways. His passion is business and helping others to do business.
In the past Mohammad has been nominated onto the planning committee of the Site Solutions Summit 2014 and as the Vice Chair for the Mentorship committee for the Society for Clinical Research Sites. He is an active member of the Society for Clinical Research Sites and frequently accepts invitations to speak at industry conferences.

 

Physicians

Principle Investigators

Dr. Tayfun Karakoc, MD

Dr. Tayfun Karakoc went to medical school at Istanbul University and did residency in Psychiatry at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. In the past he has held positions in Houston, TX at MedLabs Research of Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and Methodist Hospital, and is a former Eli Lilly teaching fellow. Currently he practices as a principle investigator at the Texas Center for Drug Development and as Clinical Medical Director and Senior Consulting Psychiatrist at Senior Psychcare in Houston. Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology since 2005.

Dr. Teresa Becker, MD

Dr. Teresa Becker went to medical school at Medical College of Ohio and did residency in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine followed by Diagnostic Radiology at University of Texas and Baylor Affiliated Hospitals in Houston, TX. In the past she has held positions as Medical Director of Galveston County Jail in Galveston, TX, Emergency Room Director at the Houston VA Medical Center in Houston, TX, and numerous additional private practice groups across Ohio state and Friendswood, TX, and is a former recipient of the American Medical Women’s Association Award of Excellence in Academic Achievement. Currently she practices as a principle investigator at the Texas Center for Drug Development in Houston.

Dr. Vicki Miller, MD, MPH

Board Certified by the American Board of Family Medicine since 1998.

Dr. Shonna Piegari, MD

Board Certified by The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology since 2007.

Dr. Veronica Fragoso, MD

Dr. Veronica Fragoso went to medical school at the University of Texas in Houston, TX and specializes in family medicine.