FELLOW PROFILE: DR. JERRY KRISHNAN
PARKER B. FRANCIS FELLOW, 2001-2004

The Francis Family Foundation published a history book last year to celebrate 30 years of the Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program. In addition to a historical account about the origins of the program, several profiles were written about the brilliant and successful PBF Fellows. While some of those profiles were unable to fit within the parameters of the history book, we still wanted to share the individual stories with you. Please enjoy the following profile about Dr. Jerry Krishnan, a PBF Fellow from 2001-2004.

Among his research interests, Jerry A. Krishnan is involved in the study of the clinical and social impact of chronic pulmonary diseases, such as acute asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His long-term goal is to improve the treatment outcomes for all patients suffering from these diseases, but he is particularly interested in how these diseases and their treatments affect individual patients.

Krishnan, who currently works at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, studies how patients adhere to medical therapies and the degree to which adherence modifies clinical outcomes. In addition, he is evaluating the efficacy of airway clearance therapy during severe asthma and COPD exacerbations, and evaluating the benefit of initiating maintenance therapy with low-dose macrolide therapy in this population.

He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Texas in Austin and his medical degree at the Baylor University School of Medicine. His medical internship led him to Johns Hopkins University, where he continues his medical practice and research.

He has completed requirements for a Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology in the university’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Krishnan is one of a growing number of Fellows who hold medical and academic doctoral degrees.

Krishnan serves as an attending physician at both Johns Hopkins Hospital and at the Bayview facility affiliated with the university. In addition to these endeavors, he has co-authored 30 articles in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals such as the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, the Journal of Asthma, Chest, and several others. On 11 of these articles Krishnan was primary author or senior author

His journal articles reflect his interest in multicultural medicine. He has examined the impact of exposure to air pollutants and allergens on asthmatic children in urban neighborhoods in Baltimore, how maternal depression influences adherence to therapy among children with asthma living in urban areas, and the frequent use of nebulized B2-agonist use in high-risk inner-city adults with asthma.

This accomplished junior faculty member acknowledges the role the PBF Fellowship played in his transition from Fellow to a tenure-track position on the faculty of one of the most respected medical schools in the nation. Krishnan says the work supported by the PBF Fellowship Program “provided me a rich research experience, new knowledge, skills, collaborative relationships, and the research productivity necessary for me to become an independent investigator.”

Click here to read another Fellow Profile, featured on the Francis Foundation site. >>