Research Summary

Dr. Jasleen Kukreja is a cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the Lung Transplant Program at UCSF Medical Center. She is also director of the adult respiratory mechanical circulatory support program. She performs lung transplant surgery and lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema, and treats patients with tumors of the chest, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors and mesothelioma.

Kukreja is the associate director of UCSF's lung transplant research division of cardiothoracic surgery.

Kukreja earned a medical degree at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed residencies in general surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and in cardiothoracic surgery at UCSF. She completed fellowships in general surgery and thoracic surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and also completed extensive training in designing clinical trials, studies that evaluate potential treatments' safety and efficacy. She has a master's degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Kukreja has received many professional honors, including the Pharmacia/Upjohn Trauma Research Competition Award, John A. Mannick Research Award and an excellence in teaching award from Harvard Medical School.

Education

2018 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
M.D., 1994 - School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles
Postdoctoral Studies, - Graduate Division, University of California, San Francisco

Selected Publications

  1. Mladinov D, Isaza E, Gosling AF, Clark AL, Kukreja J, Brzezinski M. Perioperative Fluid Management. Clin Geriatr Med. 2025 Feb; 41(1):83-99.  View on PubMed
  2. Kukreja J, Campo-Canaveral de la Cruz JL, Van Raemdonck D, Cantu E, Date H, D'Ovidio F, Hartwig M, Klapper JA, Kelly RF, Lindstedt S, Rosso L, Schaheen L, Smith M, Whitson B, Saddoughi SA, Cypel M. The 2024 American Association for Thoracic Surgery expert consensus document: Current standards in donor lung procurement and preservation. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2025 Feb; 169(2):484-504.  View on PubMed
  3. Krumm IR, Malcolm K, Vella M, Oates A, Hays S, Kukreja J, Gesthalter YB. Characterizing Risk Factors Associated With Recurrent Pleural Effusions in the Lung Transplant Recipients. J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2025 Jan 01; 32(1).  View on PubMed
  4. Gordon R, Yen B, Dewey K, Jariwala R, Kukreja J, Hays S, Singer JP, Florez R. Evaluation of Crushed Posaconazole Delayed Release Tablets in Lung Transplant Recipients. Transpl Infect Dis. 2025 Jan-Feb; 27(1):e14402.  View on PubMed
  5. Martin AK, Mercier O, Fritz AV, Gelzinis TA, Hoetzenecker K, Lindstedt S, Marczin N, Wilkey BJ, Schecter M, Lyster H, Sanchez M, Walsh J, Morrissey O, Levvey B, Landry C, Saatee S, Kotecha S, Behr J, Kukreja J, Dellgren G, Fessler J, Bottiger B, Wille K, Dave K, Nasir BS, Gomez-De-Antonio D, Cypel M, Reed AK. ISHLT consensus statement on the perioperative use of ECLS in lung transplantation: Part II: Intraoperative considerations. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2024 Oct 09.  View on PubMed
  6. Tsao T, Qiu L, Bharti R, Shemesh A, Hernandez AM, Cleary SJ, Greenland NY, Santos J, Shi R, Bai L, Richardson J, Dilley K, Will M, Tomasevic N, Sputova T, Salles A, Kang J, Zhang D, Hays SR, Kukreja J, Singer JP, Lanier LL, Looney MR, Greenland JR, Calabrese DR. CD94+ natural killer cells potentiate pulmonary ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Eur Respir J. 2024 Sep; 64(3).  View on PubMed
  7. Seijo L, Gao Y, Betancourt L, Venado A, Hays SR, Kukreja J, Calabrese DR, Greenland JR, Singer JP. Improvements in Patient-Reported Functioning after Lung Transplant is Associated with Improved Quality of Life and Survival. medRxiv. 2024 Aug 06.  View on PubMed
  8. Prather AA, Gao Y, Betancourt L, Kordahl RC, Sriram A, Huang CY, Hays SR, Kukreja J, Calabrese DR, Venado A, Kapse B, Greenland JR, Singer JP. Disturbed sleep after lung transplantation is associated with worse patient-reported outcomes and chronic lung allograft dysfunction. medRxiv. 2024 Jan 23.  View on PubMed
  9. Aguilar OA, Qualls AE, Gonzalez-Hinojosa MDR, Obeidalla S, Kerchberger VE, Tsao T, Singer JP, Looney MR, Raymond W, Hays SR, Golden JA, Kukreja J, Shaver CM, Ware LB, Christie J, Diamond JM, Lanier LL, Greenland JR, Calabrese DR. MICB Genomic Variant Is Associated with NKG2D-mediated Acute Lung Injury and Death. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2024 01 01; 209(1):70-82.  View on PubMed
  10. Santos J, Wang P, Shemesh A, Liu F, Tsao T, Aguilar OA, Cleary SJ, Singer JP, Gao Y, Hays SR, Golden JA, Leard L, Kleinhenz ME, Kolaitis NA, Shah R, Venado A, Kukreja J, Weigt SS, Belperio JA, Lanier LL, Looney MR, Greenland JR, Calabrese DR. CCR5 drives NK cell-associated airway damage in pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury. JCI Insight. 2023 11 08; 8(21).  View on PubMed
  11. Bromberger B, Brzezinski M, Kukreja J. Outcomes of Lung Transplantation for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Glass Half Full or Still Half Empty? Ann Thorac Surg. 2024 04; 117(4):827-828.  View on PubMed
  12. Greenland JR, Guo R, Lee S, Tran L, Kapse B, Kukreja J, Hays SR, Golden JA, Calabrese DR, Singer JP, Wolters PJ. Short airway telomeres are associated with primary graft dysfunction and chronic lung allograft dysfunction. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2023 12; 42(12):1700-1709.  View on PubMed
  13. Santos J, Hays SR, Golden JA, Calabrese DR, Kolaitis N, Kleinhenz ME, Shah R, Estrada AV, Leard LE, Kukreja J, Singer JP, Greenland JR. Decreased Lymphocytic Bronchitis Severity in the Era of Azithromycin Prophylaxis. Transplant Direct. 2023 Sep; 9(9):e1495.  View on PubMed
  14. Bromberger B, Brzezinski M, Kukreja J. Prone Positioning After Lung Transplantation Remains Prone to Debate. Ann Thorac Surg. 2024 05; 117(5):1051-1052.  View on PubMed
  15. Luu HY, Santos J, Isaza E, Brzezinski M, Kukreja J. Management of primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation with extracorporeal life support: an evidence-based review. J Thorac Dis. 2023 Jul 31; 15(7):4090-4100.  View on PubMed
  16. Nguyen A, Chen J, Isaza E, Panchal N, Deiter F, Hoover J, Trinh B, Hays SR, Golden JA, Singer JP, Brzezinski M, Greenland JR, Kukreja J. Biofire pneumonia panel in lung donors: faster detection but limited pathogens. Transpl Infect Dis. 2023 Aug; 25(4):e14091.  View on PubMed
  17. Singer JP, Gao Y, Huang CY, Kordahl RC, Sriram A, Hays SR, Kukreja J, Venado A, Calabrese DR, Greenland JR. The Association Between Frailty and Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction After Lung Transplantation. Transplantation. 2023 10 01; 107(10):2255-2261.  View on PubMed
  18. Bromberger B, Calabrese DR, Brzezinski M, Kukreja J. Regadenoson Is All the RAGE: Targeting the Inflammatory Cascade in Primary Graft Dysfunction. Ann Thorac Surg. 2023 12; 116(6):1159-1160.  View on PubMed
  19. Mladinov D, Isaza E, Gosling AF, Clark AL, Kukreja J, Brzezinski M. Perioperative Fluid Management. Anesthesiol Clin. 2023 Sep; 41(3):613-629.  View on PubMed
  20. Bromberger B, Brzezinski M, Kukreja J. Lung preservation: from perfusion to temperature. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2023 06 01; 28(3):168-173.  View on PubMed

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