Katherine E. Chetta, M.D.

Assistant Professor
Department: Pediatrics
Program: Neonatology

Research Interests:

Katie Chetta is a neonatologist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and the Darby Children’s Research Institute in Charleston, SC. She obtained her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas and completed pediatric residency training at BCM and Texas Children’s Hospital. She joined the faculty at MUSC following her fellowship training at the University of Texas Health and Science center.

She has particular interests in nutrition, the science of breastmilk, nutrition-based quality improvement, and intestinal rehabilitation. These began to take shape in medical school, where she studied the outcomes of a human milk diet for preterm infants under the mentorship of Drs. Amy Hair and Steve Abrams. These interests evolved into basic laboratory investigation when she studied the role of cytokines and the variable effects of pasteurized human milk on gastrointestinal inflammation during fellowship.

Dr. Chetta continues to pursue her primary interest in the role of diet for preterm infants, including the beneficial outcomes of breastmilk. She was inducted into the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation and founded the Lowcountry Milk Club, a multidisciplinary group focused on the promotion of mother’s milk and healthy diets in the NICU. She enjoys collaborating with dietitians, nurses, lactation specialists, other specialty medical teams and the South Carolina Milk Bank to improve the quality of neonatal nutrition for South Carolina babies.

Her current KL2 project will investigate the formation of a bioactive protein-lipid complex called HAMLET, a human alpha-lactalbumin/oleic acid complex characterized by cytotoxicity in both tumor-derived and immature cell lines including non-transformed intestinal cells. Specifically, Dr. Chetta is focused on quantifying the spontaneous formation of this compound and associated free fatty acids in frozen human milk given to preterm infants. Other efforts will characterize the cytokine profiles and inflammation induced by HAMLET on cell models of developing intestine in order to gain insight into its possible role in the neonatal intestinal disease. The overall goal of this research is to improve outcomes by optimizing the protective properties of breastmilk, the “liquid gold” for both well preterm and critically-ill infants.

Publications:

PubMed Collection