Dr. Michael Root joins the Department of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine as an Assistant Professor as of August 2026 and Associate Medical Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program.
Dr. Root is a pulmonary and critical care physician whose work focuses on the care of patients with complex lung disease, including interstitial lung disease, and on the care of critically ill patients in the ICU. He earned his BA in Biology from Dartmouth College, his MD from New York University School of Medicine, and his MBA from NYU Stern School of Business with a specialization in leadership and change management. He completed his internal medicine residency at UCSF and his pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at the University of Colorado, where he also completed a Leaders in Informatics, Quality and Systems fellowship.
His academic interests include quality improvement, patient safety, medical education, informatics, and implementation science. At the University of Colorado, he developed an airway management curriculum for pulmonary and critical care fellows and led multiple initiatives using the electronic health record to improve care delivery, including projects related to tobacco cessation, vaccination, and difficult airway management.
Dr. Root has contributed to scholarly work in pulmonary and critical care medicine, with publications, invited chapters, abstracts, and presentations on topics such as interstitial lung disease, airway management, vaccination, and ICU care. He is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and critical care medicine.