About

Katherine Barsness, MD, MS, MBA, serves as Chair of the Department of Surgery at CHRISTUS Children's. She completed her undergraduate and medical education at the University of Tennessee and then received her general surgery training at the University of Colorado. She then completed her pediatric surgery specialty training at the University of Pittsburgh. She has a Master of Science in clinical investigation and Master of Business Administration. Dr. Barsness’ clinical areas of focus include foregut anatomic and motilities disorders and the minimally invasive treatment of aerodigestive disorders.

She has devoted her career to surgical education, received multiple local and national teaching and mentoring awards, and is an internationally recognized leader in training pediatric surgeons to master advanced minimally invasive skills for neonatal operations. Dr. Barsness is an inventor of 3-D printed models for neonatal surgery that are now recognized as the gold standard of educational tools for pediatric minimally invasive surgical skills acquisition. She is committed to the necessary advancement of surgeons’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes to ensure maximum safety for every patient in the operating room.