Leadership Roles

Director, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit; AAP Council on Environmental Health

Clinical, Research and/or Teaching Responsibilities

Catherine Karr is an academic pediatrician and environmental health specialist. She directs the UW Northwest Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU), a consultation and outreach service for Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State. Her research interests include the effects of environmental factors such as air pollutants and agricultural exposures on child respiratory health including asthma. Her projects focus on underserved populations including U.S. farmworker children and children in less resourced countries (e.g. Vietnam, Thailand). She is involved in primary care pediatrics and teaching at the University of Washington Pediatric Care Center, where she also sees specialty pediatric environmental medicine patients. She serves as a National Environmental Education Foundation/US EPA faculty champion on environmental management of asthma, is a co-investigator of the Pacific Northwest National Children's Study Center and is an appointed member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health.