Dr. Lisa L. Piña is a native Houstonian through and through. Raised in Oak Forest, she moved with her family to Sugar Land, Texas. Her grandparents resided in the Heights and it was considered her second home. She completed dual B.A. degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Saint Thomas. She graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 2010 (whoop!). She has had the fortunate opportunity to be part of the Heights Veterinary Clinic Team for over 10 years. Dr. Pina takes great joy in meeting your new kittens and puppies during their first visits as almost all of her four-legged children (Marlena, Scrappy Coco, Stella Hotsauce, and Raylan Givens) are reaching their senior years in life. Dr. Pina and her husband have two boys, Xavier Major (aka Chuy), and Xoaquin Alfonso. You’ll occasionally see Chuy and Xoaquin in the lobby sneaking a quick visit with Dr. Mom after school or greeting your family pets. Dr. Pina and her family reside in the GO/OF neighborhood; work, home and play are very close to each other so be sure to say hi to them. In her spare time she enjoys fishing on the weekends, watching Chuy play baseball at Oaks Dads’ Club, and experiencing the ever-changing Houston Heights area.

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.

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.

Bio coming soon

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.

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.

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.