Lilianna (Lily) Suarez, MD, MPH, is a Research Fellow in the Division of General Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she joined the fellowship in 2026. She is a physician-scientist with a passion for improving child health through innovative, family-centered approaches to obesity treatment and chronic disease prevention. Her research focuses on pediatric weight management, medical weight-loss interventions, clinical trials, implementation science, and the ways social and environmental factors influence health outcomes for children and families. Dr. Suarez earned her bachelor of science degree in biomedical science with a minor in global public health from The Ohio State University. She subsequently completed her master of public health degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and doctor of medicine at Duke University before completing combined internal medicine-pediatrics residency at Duke University. A central theme in Dr. Suarez's scholarship is the importance of caregivers and families in supporting healthy behaviors and sustainable lifestyle change. By combining rigorous clinical research with implementation science, she seeks to develop interventions that are not only effective, but also practical and scalable across health care settings.

Alexandra was born and raised in Pennsylvania, in the Allentown area. She graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and then went on to receive her medical degree from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

In her free time, Alexandra enjoys weightlifting, reading, trying new recipes and spending time with her husband and one-year-old son.

Alex grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Texas. She went on to receive her medical degree from McGovern Medical School in Houston. She completed her pediatric residency at Vanderbilt.

Outside of work, she enjoys hot yoga and playing soccer. She loves exploring new hiking trials with her miniature dachshund, Millie and attending country concerts around Nashville.