Meet the Veterinarians & Team of Heights Veterinary Clinic-Northwest in Houston, Texas! We’re pleased to provide exceptional vet care for your pets!
Please call us at 832-982-2365 to speak to one of our caring veterinary staff members!
Dr. Serene Yu is a Houston native who has lived all over our diverse city. She is a double Aggie, earning a Bachelors of Science in 2017 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2021 from Texas A&M University. She is excited to start her veterinary career as part of the Heights Veterinary Clinic team. Dr. Yu has a special interest in internal medicine, exotic medicine, and giving all her patients lots of love and kisses. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, baking, trying new restaurants and cuisines, hiking/backpacking, and reading. She somehow graduated veterinary school without adopting an animal, but she is currently looking to adopt a dog as her outdoor adventure companion.
Dr. Emerald Rodriguez was born in California, but grew up in Houston and lived here most of her life. She completed her undergraduate studies at Texas A&M University and received her degree in Biomedical Sciences in 2017. She continued her time at Texas A&M and graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2021. Dr. Rodriguez is very excited to return to her roots in Houston! She lives with two lovable cats, Rose and Tilly. Dr. Rodriguez has a special interest in feline medicine, dentistry, dermatology, and internal medicine. During her free time, Dr. Rodriguez likes to read, hike, cook, and go indoor rock-climbing. Additionally, she enjoys to visit with her family in Houston and getting to spend time with her family dogs, Tator Tot and Olive.
I knew I wanted to be a vet since I was 6 years old and got my first pet cat, Princess. I was raised in Houston and went to Colorado State University for undergraduate, then attended Texas A&M for veterinary school. I graduated from A&M Summa Cum Laude in 2020, and have been practicing in Houston since then. My professional interests include client education, preventative medicine, and soft tissue surgery. I also have an interest in serving internationally on veterinary mission trips. I spend my free time training for my next half marathon, cuddling with my cat (Mallow) and dog (Ace), and traveling to see new places with my husband, Dan.
Dr. Sarah Mai was born in Fort Worth, Texas but was raised in southeast Houston. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Houston. Go Coogs! She graduated from the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine cum laude in 2023 and is excited to be back in Houston. Her professional interests include emergency medicine, ophthalmology, cardiology, and exotic medicine. Outside of work, Dr. Mai likes to spend time with her pets, Bubba and Suki. She also enjoys hiking, reading, and cooking.
I started my veterinary career at the age of 13 by volunteering at my local vet. I worked there for about 3 years in the kennel and just anywhere that I could watch and learn. At the time, I was interested in going to vet school. At 16, I joined First Colony Veterinary as a CSR and within a year, I was promoted to manager and ran that clinic for 24 years as the lead surgery technician and practice manager. I learned that my passion was really in leading and helping my team be the best at what they did. When my doctor was ready to retire, I joined a practice in the Beaumont area as their hospital administrator for about a year and half, but Houston is my home. I am now in my 30th year in vet med and joined Heights in April of 2024 and I couldn’t be happier with this team! As a leader, I strive to make sure my staff is comfortable and has access to any and all tools needed to complete their jobs competently and efficiently. I want my staff, the clients and their pets to feel at ease while within these walls.
I’m a lover of all living things! Big or small, 2 legs or 4. Bring them on. My favorite parts of the day are kissing and loving all of the babies that come through the doors. Whether they’re furry, feathered or scaled, I want to love on them and give them hugs and kisses!
Veterinary medicine runs in Tori’s blood. Born to a practice manager extraordinaire, Tori joined Heights in June of 2018 as a technician. Since then, Tori has shown the same drive and determination instilled in her at an age when she was cleaning kennels next to her mom. Now Tori is one of our lead surgery technicians and gravitates toward every. single. one. of our small dog visitors to either console or cajole them into enjoying their visit. She has her own meeble at home named Lizah and is enjoying being newly married.
Joined our team in 2020 ready to make the final transition from human medicine to veterinary. Toni has over 20 years of nursing experience, but took a break from that for about 2 years to pursue her other passion in animal care.
Kimberly has been with HVC for over one decade. During the week Kimberly spends her time advocating for human patients and their families at MD Anderson. On Saturdays, Kimberly continues to serve her community by advocating for furry patients and allowing our technicians to take some time off. In case you couldn’t already tell, she has a huge heart and smile. Kimberly has several of her own furbabies: Cinnamon the beagle, Conan the poodle, and Bansky the chihuahua who Kimberly rescued and nursed through heartworm treatment. In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys good food, good music, and running.
Melissa began her career at Heights Veterinary Clinic as an extern from VTI in October 2020 and was hired immediately after graduation as a technician with us. She has become fascinated with surgery and dental procedures and has been growing her skills in this area of our hospital. Melissa’s philosophy every day is to treat each pet like her own, which is probably why we were such a perfect fit for her! She has a red heeler named Max, a whippet/chihuahua named Penny, and an orange tabby named Galaxy.
Tarin was born and raised in Spring, Texas. She graduated from Klein Cain High School in 2021 and received her Veterinary Technician Certification during her senior year. She took EVERY animal course available, and was also involved with FFA, STUCO, and the Vet Med CDE Competition Team. Tarin started working at Heights Veterinary Clinic in October 2021, and has grown so much in the years she has been here. Tarin has a Holland Lop bunny named Nutmeg, a black kitty named Mavis, and a Tuxedo kitty names Allister. In her free time, you can find Tarin cuddling her fur babies, playing with her niece, or socializing her feral foster kittens to get them ready for their forever homes.
John joined HVC in 2021. He has been caring for animals for over 20 years and has been a veterinary technician for 11 years. John is one of our surgery technicians too. He is a proud Native Houstonian and a Huge Texans Fan. John is father to two young men, Aiden (11 years old), and Leonidas (9 years old). He is a PS5 kind of guy and is also quite partial to cats.
Shiloh started her veterinary journey with trap, neuter, return work in 2019, helping Houston’s feral cat colonies. She joined the HVC-NW team in 2022 after graduating from Pima Medical Institute’s Veterinary Technician Program. Through her training she has learned how to provide better care to pets. Her furry family includes her dog, Abigail, and three cats: Geordi, Mycroft, and Oreo. She is committed to always learning more to provide the best patient care she can to your furry family members.
Rachel joined our team as a veterinary technician student on externship in 2022. She knew in her first few weeks she wanted to be a part of our team and has remained at HVC-NW since graduating from the Vet Tech Institute of Houston Program. Her greatest accomplishments are her 3 kids and completing her Associate’s Degree in Animal Science. Her menagerie of pets is too long to list her but include, cats, a dog, 4 Ball Pythons, a Bearded Dragon and a Russian Legless Lizard. Rachel, with her knowledge of exotics, assists the veterinarians who treat exotics and also is part of the surgery team.
Tung joined our team first as a student from the Lone Star College Vet Tech Program. Since graduating in May 2024, he chose to remain with our veterinary technician team. He is from Vietnam and has been in Houston since 2007. He has a beautiful canine companion Leina who is 4 years old. Tung’s hobbies include video games and drawing – some of his drawings are seen on the clinic treatment boards. Tung’s favorite thing about HVC-NW is how his team members here put the care for their patients first and foremost
Gracie joined HVC-NW in 2023 and has been a veterinary technician since 2015. Originally from Virginia she moved to Houston in 2003. Gracie enjoys time outside with her kids and dogs, parks are trails are there go to. Of all her achievements, being the greatest mom to her kids is her greatest accomplishment. Although Gracie has only been a part of the HVC-NW Team for less than a year here is what she has to say – “ My favorite thing at HVC – we all can have fun and enjoy what we do. The doctors and team are very nice and willing to jump in to help get the job done. HVC is a true family and I can call this my second home.”
Bio coming soon
Lauren B. aka LB has been a technician for 10 years and with HVC-NW since 2019. In her free time, she loves to eat at new restaurants, exercise, and go birdwatching around town. Her love of birds is unparalleled so come to her if you have any bird related trivia, want to talk about her pet parrot, or just wanna show her photos of birds you’ve seen!
Emory joined our team as a student from the Lone Star College Vet Tech Program, and was student president of the Vet Tech Student Organization. Since graduating in May of 2024, she chose to remain with our veterinary technician team. She was born and raised in Houston Texas. She loves her two rescue mutts, Mr. Wilbur and Ms. Magnolia. Emory has always known she wanted to work with animals, and found that being a technician was the right path for her. In her spare time she enjoys writing, painting and spending time with her close friends, going to the gym, and playing Minecraft to relax.
Emory joined our team as a student from the Lone Star College Vet Tech Program, and was student president of the Vet Tech Student Organization. Since graduating in May of 2024, she chose to remain with our veterinary technician team. She was born and raised in Houston Texas. She loves her two rescue mutts, Mr. Wilbur and Ms. Magnolia. Emory has always known she wanted to work with animals, and found that being a technician was the right path for her. In her spare time she enjoys writing, painting and spending time with her close friends, going to the gym, and playing Minecraft to relax.
Bio coming soon
Bio coming soon
Bio coming soon
In loving memory of Joni Carroll who dedicated over 20 years of her life to helping Heights Veterinary Clinic provide excellent patient care and client service to the surrounding Heights community. Known as “mother” to our team, she was someone we all leaned on at one time or another. Her presence is still felt by those that had the privilege of working alongside her. She will be missed by many.
Dr. Kenneth H. Williams, former owner and Medical Director of Heights Veterinary Clinic is a 1971 graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University. Immediately after graduation, Dr. Williams served 2½ years in the military before coming to work at Heights Veterinary Clinic in March of 1974. He purchased the clinic in January of 1975 and has guided the clinic’s growth since that time. Dr. Williams is a native of the Heights and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the area. He has even been known to conduct tours of historic Heights landmarks on weekends (for a nominal fee).
Dr. Williams retired in 2013. Although he retired physically, his legacy of HVC lives on. Our practice was built on the strong foundation of medicine and family which has continued on just as Dr. Williams left it. He now enjoys his full-time job as Grandpa.
