A photo of Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp.

Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD


  • Pulmonary Pathologist, Division of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
  • Director, Pathology Research Core
  • Professor, UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

About

Biography

My love of biology, the need to understand “why”, and an excitement for learning how the body works, drew me to research, medicine and pathology. I’m in awe of the miracle that takes place during the complex, coordinated process of human development, and I strive to understand how disease manifests in human tissues when this orchestrated process goes awry. It is through understanding normal development and the changes that occur during disease that we will be able to reach our goal of continuing to improve the care for each person we treat.

My parents and teachers inspired me to be a clinician, scientist and educator by engraining in me the value of each person and a strong desire to make the world a better place. The positive, inquisitive spirits of children, along with my fascination with human development, brought me to working with pediatric patients.

My mission is to provide optimal care to each patient I touch and to contribute to the future by sharing my knowledge and doing excellent research. The environment at Cincinnati Children’s allows my teammates and I to enjoy what we do and to see the value in working together.

I share what I learn with others by leading the development, execution and evaluation of new training approaches for medical, graduate and physician scientist trainees. I am honored to have received multiple teaching awards for my commitment to excellence in education. These rewarding accomplishments are direct outgrowths of my roots in education and my desire to contribute to the critical need to sustain biomedical research into the future.

Together with my research collaborators, I work to identify critical factors that control lung development and drive lung disease. In clinical care, I specialize in pathology with subspecialty expertise in pulmonary pathology. This combination of interacting with patients in the clinic and doing experiments in the laboratory fuels discovery of key drivers of developmental abnormalities and lung disease. It is these discoveries that then form the basis for development of novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic strategies to improve care for those we serve.

BS: Mathematics/Natural Science, Secondary Education Minor, University of Mary, Bismarck, ND, 1988.

PhD: Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology and Medical Science Scholars Programs, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 1994.

MD: Medical Science Scholars Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 1996.

Residency: Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University-Barnes/Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, MO, 1996-2002.

Clinical Training/Postdoctoral Research: Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1999-2002.

Licensure: State of Ohio, 2003.

Certification: Anatomic Pathology, The American Board of Pathology, 1999.

Interests

Pathology; pulmonary pathology

Services and Specialties

Rare Lung Diseases, Pathology, Lung Transplant Program

Research Areas

Pathology, Pulmonary Biology, Neonatology, Perinatal Biology

Publications

Selected

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) Cell Atlas. Du, Y; Guo, M; Wu, Y; Wagner, A; Perl, AK; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, K; Yu, J; Gupta, N; Kopras, E; Krymskaya, V; Kwiatkowski, D; Henske, EP; McCormack, F; Xu, Y. Thorax. 2023; 78:85-87.

Selected

A census of the lung: CellCards from LungMAP. Sun, X; Perl, AK; Li, R; Bell, SM; Sajti, E; Kalinichenko, VV; Kalin, TV; Misra, RS; Deshmukh, H; Clair, G; Xu, Y; Pryhuber, G; Whitsett, J; Morrisey, EE. Developmental Cell. 2022; 57:112-145.e2.

Selected

Binary pan-cancer classes with distinct vulnerabilities defined by pro- or anti-cancer YAP/TEAD activity. Pearson, JD; Huang, K; Pacal, M; McCurdy, SR; Lu, S; Aubry, A; Yu, T; Wadosky, KM; Zhang, L; Wang, T; Witkiewicz, AK; Wrana, JL; Goodrich, DW; Bremner, R. Cancer Cell. 2021; 39:1115-1134.e12.

Selected

HPV Strain Predicts Severity of Juvenile-Onset Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis with Implications for Disease Screening. Bedard, MC; de Alarcon, A; Kou, YF; Lee, D; Sestito, A; Duggins, AL; Brusadelli, M; Lane, A; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, KA; Wells, SI; Smith, DF. Cancers. 2021; 13:2556.

Selected

Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies a Unique Pulmonary Lymphangioleiomyomatosis Cell. Guo, M; Yu, JJ; Perl, AK; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, KA; Riccetti, M; Zhang, EY; Sudha, P; Adam, M; Potter, A; Kopras, EJ; Kwiatkowski, DJ; Whitsett, JA; McCormack, FX; Xu, Y. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2020; 202:1373-1387.

Selected

Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis-Associated Lung Disease: Characterization and Risk Factors. Schulert, GS; Yasin, S; Carey, B; Chalk, C; Do, T; Schapiro, AH; Husami, A; Watts, A; Brunner, HI; Huggins, J; Trapnell, BC; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, KA; Towe, C; Grom, AA. Arthritis and Rheumatology. 2019; 71:1943-1954.

Selected

The Pediatric Cell Atlas: Defining the Growth Phase of Human Development at Single-Cell Resolution. Taylor, DM; Aronow, BJ; Tan, K; Bernt, K; Salomonis, N; Greene, CS; Frolova, A; Henrickson, SE; Wells, A; Pei, L; Kong, SW; Bonnemann, CG; Mandl, KD; White, PS. Developmental Cell. 2019; 49:10-29.

Selected

Neonatal Lung Disease Associated with TBX4 Mutations. Suhrie, K; Pajor, NM; Ahlfeld, SK; Dawson, DB; Dufendach, KR; Kitzmiller, JA; Leino, D; Lombardo, RC; Smolarek, TA; Rathbun, PA; Whitsett, JA; Towe, C; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, KA. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2019; 206:286-292.e1.

Selected

Smoking-Related Diffuse Cystic Lung Disease. Gupta, N; Colby, TV; Meyer, CA; McCormack, FX; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, KA. Chest. 2018; 154:e31-e35.

Selected

TRP53 Mutants Drive Neuroendocrine Lung Cancer Through Loss-of-Function Mechanisms with Gain-of-Function Effects on Chemotherapy Response. Akeno, N; Reece, AL; Callahan, M; Miller, AL; Kim, RG; He, D; Lane, A; Moulton, JS; Wikenheiser-Brokamp, KA. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 2017; 16:2913-2926.

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4.6
Overall Patient Rating