Dr. Katherine (Katie) Goodenberger joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine in July 2024. Katie grew up in Clayton, Missouri and attended Washington University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree before moving to New York for her graduate degree in Biological Anthropology. In her first career, she studied the fossil record of early primate evolution and when she was not conducting paleontological fieldwork in Kenya and Wyoming she was teaching Human Gross Anatomy to medical and dental students. After changing course and choosing to pursue a career in medicine, she returned to Washington University to obtain her post-baccalaureate premedical certificate and work as a research assistant in the Division of Infectious Diseases before attending Washington University School of Medicine as a Distinguished Student Scholar and Danforth Scholar.
As a medical student, she continued her interest in education as a member of the Preclinical Curriculum Committee, the Clinical Curriculum Committee, and the Committee on the Oversight of Medical Education. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 2024. While in residency, her research efforts were focused on understanding socioeconomic determinants of chronic lung disease outcomes and she was recognized with an award from the American Thoracic Society’s Assembly for Behavioral and Health Services Research for her work. In her free time, she enjoys exploring all of St. Louis’s wonderful restaurants, hiking in the nearby parks, and watching Michigan Football (Go Blue!) with her son, husband, and their dog.