CATCHING UP WITH KATIE RUSSELL
Where I Am Now: Katie Russell, MD, Almost MBA
Well, I haven’t gone too far.
I first came to Utah from California in 2009 as a general surgery resident. At the time, I thought I would be a trauma surgeon—but I was quickly seduced by the pediatric surgeons. That led me to leave Utah in 2017 to pursue a pediatric surgery fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Fellowship was an incredibly fulfilling chapter in my life.
After training, I returned to the University of Utah to join the same group that inspired me from the start, led by Dr. Eric Scaife. I’ve been fortunate to link my early interest in trauma with my subspecialty in pediatric surgery and have served as the Trauma Medical Director at Primary Children’s Hospital for the past eight years.
Professionally, I’ve been drawn to research, particularly in pediatric surgical and trauma care. I have a strong interest in mentoring medical students and residents, and I’ve found multi-institutional collaboration to be one of the most rewarding aspects of my career. I currently serve as the Secretary of the Western Pediatric Surgery Research Consortium (WPSRC) and am mentoring a research fellow through the organization.
Clinically, I specialize in chest wall reconstruction and helped build the Utah Pectus Program to better serve children in the Intermountain West with chest wall anomalies. One highlight has been teaming up with one of my mentors from residency, Dr. Tom White, to develop a hybrid procedure for complex chest wall deformities—combining pectus excavatum repair with rib plating.
I genuinely love my job and feel deeply grateful for the mentorship I’ve received from so many at the University of Utah.
On the personal side, my husband, Dave, is way cooler than I am. He’s a paramedic and works for the National Park Service doing high-angle rescue in the Tetons. We have a daughter named Wild—because the names Katie and Dave are far too common. She attends outdoor preschool in Summit Park, where we live, and loves to ski. Every summer, my mom (Nona) comes to stay with us while Dave is stationed in Wyoming.
