Katherine Hisert, MD, PhD, Joins National Jewish Health Cystic Fibrosis Program

Katherine Hisert, MD, PhD, has joined the faculty at National Jewish Health in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. Her clinical practice and research efforts are focused in the National Jewish Health Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, which is the largest adult cystic fibrosis (CF) center in the United States. Dr. Hisert comes to National Jewish Health from the University of Washington in Seattle. She will see patients clinically at the National Jewish Health main campus, as well as provide inpatient services at Saint Joseph Hospital.

Dr. Hisert received her medical degree from Weill Medical College of Cornell University and her PhD in Bacterial Pathogenesis from Rockefeller University in New York. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and her fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Washington.

In addition to seeing patients, Dr. Hisert will conduct translational research at National Jewish Health, investigating the cellular dynamics and molecular mechanisms of lung inflammation in CF. Her research focuses on the role of the immune cells monocytes and macrophages in modulating non-resolving CF airway inflammation, and how these cells interact with different bacterial species that infect people with CF. Dr. Hisert’s studies dovetail with ongoing research at National Jewish Health into the pathogenesis of non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections in people with CF, the cellular basis of CF pulmonary exacerbations, and the role of macrophages in initiating and resolving inflammation during acute and chronic lung disease. She has co-authored a number of peer-reviewed publications.