Leighton Ellis, MD

Vice President

Dr. Leighton Ellis was born in New York City, but lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for 14 years as a child. She eventually moved back to the U.S. and completed her undergraduate training at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. There she received a bachelor of arts in Chemistry with honors. She went on to complete medical school and her pediatric residency at the University of South Florida, College of Medicine in Tampa.

Dr. Ellis has been practicing pediatrics since 1991 in three different settings community/public health in rural Florida, academia as an assistant professor in general pediatrics in The University of South Florida in Tampa, and now in private practice in Austin.

Dr. Ellis is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition to serving as vice president of the Alliance, Dr. Ellis also is a member of the Dell Children's Ethics Committee. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Her hobbies include traveling, cooking and eating. Most of her spare time is spent with the three men in her life: her sons, Kenny and Michael, and her husband, Ken.