Pulmonary Hypertension Specialist Karina Mora Massad, MD, Now on Staff at National Jewish Health


DENVER - National Jewish Health welcomes Karina Mora Massad, MD, to its faculty. Dr. Mora Massad will care for patients with pulmonary hypertension and other complex pulmonary vascular diseases while continuing research aimed at improving the understanding and treatment of these conditions.

Dr. Mora Massad is a pulmonologist and physician-scientist whose clinical and research interests center on pulmonary hypertension, a condition in which increased pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs places strain on the heart. Her research examines the biological differences underlying various forms of pulmonary hypertension, including how changes in pulmonary artery endothelial cells may contribute to disease and affect right heart function.

Dr. Mora Massad’s research includes studying distinct pulmonary artery endothelial cell phenotypes in pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Her work has also explored right ventricular-pulmonary vascular coupling, which examines how effectively the right side of the heart adapts to changes in the blood vessels of the lungs.

Her ongoing research uses advanced approaches, including single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, imaging and predictive analytics to better characterize pulmonary vascular disease. She also is investigating differences in endothelial cells across pulmonary hypertension subtypes with the goal of identifying biological signatures that could help distinguish disease phenotypes and inform more personalized approaches to care.

Dr. Mora Massad completed her pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at the University of Colorado and a research fellowship at National Jewish Health under the mentorship of Tim Lahm, MD. She completed her internal medicine residency and internship at Duke University Hospital and earned her medical degree from the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Mora Massad is board certified in internal medicine, critical care medicine and pulmonary disease. She is a member of the American Thoracic Society, the American Heart Association, the American College of Chest Physicians and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association.
 

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation delivering excellence in multispecialty care and world class research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of children and adults with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit njhealth.org or the media resources page.


We have many faculty members, from bench scientists to clinicians, who can speak on almost any aspect of respiratory, immune, cardiac and gastrointestinal disease as well as lung cancer and basic immunology.

Our team is available to arrange interviews, discuss events and story ideas.

Make an Appointment