About Dr. Nawas

Zeena Y. Nawas, MD, FAAD, FACMS

Triple board-certified dermatologic and cosmetic surgeon. Fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon. Founder of ZN Dermatology.

Every patient at ZN Dermatology is seen, planned and treated by Dr. Nawas herself. This is who she is, and how she came to practice medicine on her own terms.

Read her story

Board certified

Dermatology, Mohs surgery, internal medicine

Fellowship

Mohs surgery and dermatologic oncology, MD Anderson

Faculty

Six years at Baylor College of Medicine, Director of the Cosmetic and Laser Center

Research

25+ publications and chapters, investigator on 30+ clinical trials

Recognition

Houstonia Top Doctor 2024 and 2026, Alpha Omega Alpha

Her story

Internal medicine first, then dermatology, then surgery.

Dr. Nawas came to dermatology by way of research and internal medicine, and finished her training as a Mohs surgeon. Each stage shaped how she sees the person in front of her.

She earned her medical degree at the University of Jordan in Amman, then came to the United States for research at Emory University, where she helped run studies on pulmonary embolism and the outcomes of critically ill patients. It was serious, unglamorous medicine, and it shaped her: before she ever held a laser, she had learned to read a whole person, not a single complaint.

In Houston she completed her residency in internal medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, served as chief resident, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. Then she turned toward the skin. A research fellowship at the Center for Clinical Studies put her at the center of more than thirty clinical trials, followed by a dermatology residency in the joint UTHealth Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center program, with training at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Hermann and LBJ Hospital.

The final piece was surgery. Dr. Nawas completed an ACGME-accredited fellowship in Mohs micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology at MD Anderson, the discipline of removing skin cancer one thin layer at a time while examining every edge under the microscope. It is work that demands an exact knowledge of anatomy and the judgment to take only what must go. She brings that same precision to everything she does, whether she is closing a surgical wound or placing an injectable.

2008

University of JordanDoctor of Medicine, Amman

2008 to 2011

Emory UniversityClinical research in pulmonary and critical care medicine

2011 to 2015

UTHealth HoustonInternal medicine residency, chief resident, Alpha Omega Alpha

2015 to 2016

Center for Clinical StudiesDermatology research fellow, investigator on 30+ trials

2016 to 2019

UTHealth Houston and MD Anderson Cancer CenterDermatology residency, joint program

2019 to 2020

MD Anderson Cancer CenterFellowship in Mohs micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology

2020 to 2026

Baylor College of MedicineAssistant Professor of Dermatology, Director of the Cosmetic and Laser Center

2026

ZN DermatologyFounder and Medical Director, Houston

Six years at Baylor

Cosmetic director, Mohs surgeon and teacher, all at once.

From 2020 to 2026 Dr. Nawas was an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine, a Mohs surgeon and Director of its Cosmetic and Laser Center. The cosmetic title was one part of the job. She directed dermatology services for the college's transplant patients and sat on the Melanoma and Sarcoma Tumor Board, where specialists from several fields review difficult cancer cases together. The doctor planning a cosmetic treatment at ZN Dermatology spent those years on the medical and surgical side of the specialty too.

She expanded the center across injectables, lasers and energy-based skin treatments, and founded a monthly clinic where residents learned injectables, lasers, PRP and peels hands-on. Those years of teaching still show in her practice: she walks every patient through what she is doing and why, in plain language, the way she once did for her residents.

Houstonia Magazine named her a Top Doctor in dermatology for 2024, while she was at Baylor, and again for 2026, the year she opened ZN Dermatology.

Advising the companies that make the tools

A key opinion leader for Allergan, Candela and Solta.

The makers of the technology Dr. Nawas uses every day ask her what she sees. As a key opinion leader for Allergan (Botox and the Juvederm fillers), Candela (the Vbeam Pro and GentleMax Pro lasers) and Solta Medical (the maker of Fraxel), she provides expert clinical opinion on new technology and the evidence behind it, on patient safety and standards of care and on how new devices and injectables should be trained and introduced into practice. She shares that experience with other dermatologists at national meetings and in peer forums, so that best practice spreads beyond one clinic.

For a patient, the practical meaning is simple: the doctor treating you is one of the physicians the manufacturers themselves consult, and she has usually worked with a device or product for years before it reaches most practices.

Faculty at national meetings of the American Academy of Dermatology and the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants, on topics from cosmetic complications to surgical technique
Chair and co-chair of the Advocacy Committee of the Association of Academic Cosmetic Dermatology
Member of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery

Teacher, researcher, colleague

The doctors of tomorrow still learn in her clinic.

Fellows from Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center come to ZN Dermatology to learn from Dr. Nawas. It is an unusual arrangement for a private practice, and it rests on three things: a subspecialty skill set that is rare even in the Texas Medical Center, a habit of collaboration formed over years of teaching there, and a clinic where the physician performing every procedure is the one explaining it.

Research and writing

More than 25 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, including chapters in Fitzpatrick's Dermatology and Clinical Virology, and papers in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology on emerging infections, cosmetic education and Mohs surgery. She has served as an investigator on more than 30 clinical trials in psoriasis, eczema, acne, skin cancer and viral disease, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha.

Mentorship and outreach

She mentors a dermatology resident each year, has helped international medical graduates find their way into American dermatology, and takes the specialty into the community: free skin cancer screenings at the Texas State Capitol, healthy-skin classes for schoolchildren, and career days that have introduced hundreds of fifth-graders to what a dermatologist does.

Leading in an emergency

In March 2022 Dr. Nawas was flying to a dermatology meeting with a group of Baylor residents when a passenger had a heart attack. A resident noticed him first. Dr. Nawas and a colleague led the care, with the residents helping, and she spoke with the man in Arabic, his only language, until the plane could land in Atlanta. He made a full recovery. The story was told by KHOU 11, Baylor College of Medicine and the American Academy of Dermatology.

In the media

Quoted, interviewed and heard.

KHOU 11Houston doctors save a man's life on a plane
ForbesWhat skin experts actually recommend for aging skin
InsiderBotox side effects, explained by a dermatologist
Medical XpressSocial media skin myths, debunked
AAD Dialogues podcastDermatologic surgery pearls: safety, satisfaction, efficiency
American Academy of DermatologyDermatologists provide lifesaving care at 10,000 feet

Credentials

At a glance.

Board certifications: American Board of Dermatology, Dermatology, 2019
American Board of Dermatology, Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery, 2022
American Board of Internal Medicine, 2015
Fellowship: Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Residencies: Dermatology, joint UTHealth Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center program
Internal Medicine, chief resident, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston
Research fellowship: Dermatology clinical research, Center for Clinical Studies
Medical degree: University of Jordan, Amman
Professional societies: Fellow, American Academy of Dermatology
Fellow, American College of Mohs Surgery
Fellow, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery
Member, Association of Academic Cosmetic Dermatology
Member, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery
Member, Texas Dermatological Society
Member, Houston Dermatological Society
Honors: Houstonia Magazine Top Doctor, 2024 and 2026
Alpha Omega Alpha
Faculty Advancement Council, Baylor College of Medicine

Why ZN Dermatology

Medicine on her own terms.

In 2026 Dr. Nawas left academic medicine to open a practice she owns and runs herself: no hospital system, no chain, no investors. The reasons are the things her patients notice first.

Time.

Every visit is thirty unhurried minutes with the doctor, and the schedule is built so patients rarely overlap. The quiet is deliberate.

Restraint.

Treatments are recommended on medical grounds, and only when they will help. Cosmetic care is held to a surgical standard, and the result should look like you: rested, not different.

Continuity.

She examines you, plans your care, performs every procedure, and answers your portal messages herself. Nothing is handed off, so the doctor who knows your history is the one who treats you at every visit and the one who follows up afterward.

Certified by the American Board of Dermatology: Zeena Y. Nawas, MD. Look up her certification on the board's website.

Certified by the American Board of Dermatology in Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery: Zeena Y. Nawas, MD. Look up her certification on the board's website.