Division of Medical, Behavioral & Community Health

Elizabeth Kern, MD, Division Chief

What do we do? Our Division practice is based in the outpatient clinics at National Jewish Health and communities across Colorado. We include medical doctors, psychologists, neuropsychologists, family therapists, psychiatrists, and nurses.

Our neuropsychologists evaluate cognitive (thinking) function in patients with brain disorders such as dementia, traumatic brain injury, and epilepsy. They evaluate cognitive function in patients with medical disorders such as lung, heart, and immune diseases.

Our psychologists, family therapists, and psychiatrists focus on helping patients and their family members live well with chronic conditions. We help patients improve diet, sleep, exercise, and other health behaviors. Our medical doctors treat conditions that often accompany respiratory disease, including type 2 diabetes, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes and other hormone disorders that accompany cystic fibrosis, chronic kidney disease, obesity, and high blood pressure.

Our research is diverse. Some of it focuses on how to best promote healthy behaviors. We investigate how the health care community can best assist in school-based care of children with asthma. In addition, we look at ways to help patients, doctors and hospitals promote the early diagnosis of lung cancer. Our neuropsychologists study cognitive disorders in patients with lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and sarcoidosis) and autoimmune disease (such as systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome).

In our Center for Health Promotion we study factors influencing treatment adherence and outcomes in patients and families dealing with chronic heart and lung disease. We study health disparities in disadvantaged groups, or isolated rural communities. We also study how to best deliver care in healthcare systems, and how public health policy affects how we deliver care.

Why National Jewish Health? Our Division highlights the approach at National Jewish Health to treat the whole person, not just the disease. We recognize that individuals with chronic disease do better if they have the knowledge and coping skills to manage their own condition. We also recognize that most chronic disease management is in the hands of the patient rather than medical professionals.