Carolyn Hendrickson, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Dr. Hendrickson is a pulmonary and critical care medicine subspecialist with an expertise and research focus in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the most common life-threatening manifestation of COVID-19 disease in the earliest years of the pandemic. She is the medical director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

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In recent years there have been several retrospective studies published showing an association between race and differences in pulse oximeter performance. Dr. Hendrickson and the EquiOx Team are leading an FDA-sponsored study to measure pulse oximeter bias across a range of skin pigmentation among hospitalized patients. This research program aims to better understand how pulse oximeter performance might be improved to ensure these critical devices perform equally well for all patients regardless of skin pigmentation.

During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, ZSFG, a safety-net hospital for our county cared for approximately half of all ICU patients with COVID-19 disease in San Francisco and Dr. Hendrickson served as the physician lead to establish and run the COVID ICU. Dr. Hendrickson served as a site investigator to offer participation in clinical research studies and access to potential therapeutic agents for patients hospitalized at ZSFG.

COVID-19 Related Research Efforts: As an ARDS translational researcher and the Medical Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG), Dr. Hendrickson pivoted her research endeavors to study COVID-19 disease with a specific interest in pneumonia and ARDS. She is the site principal investigator for two important COVID-19- related studies: 1. STAT Trial - a randomized clinical trial sponsored by the Department of Defense testing mesenchymal stromal cells for ARDS that primarily enrolls critically ill patients with ARDS from COVID-19 2. COMET Study- a longitudinal cohort study of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 disease with biospecimen collection sponsored by the National Institute of Health (https://www.comet-study.org). She is also the Clinical Operations Lead and a member of the Executive Committee for the COMET study.

Additionally, Dr. Hendrickson has leadership and site director roles in three other COVID-19-related randomized controlled clinical trials studying anticoagulation strategies, anti-inflammatory medications, and novel cell-based therapy for patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Education & Training

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  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California 06/2021
  • Certificate Clinical Research University of California, San Francisco 2014
  • MPH Epidemiology University of California, Berkeley 2008
  • M.D. Medicine University of California, San Francisco 2007
  • MA Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology University of California, Santa Barbara 2003
  • BA English Literature University of California, Santa Barbara 2001
  • BS Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology University of California, Santa Barbara 2001

Interests

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  • Endothelial Biology
  • COVID-19 Disease
  • Trauma
  • ARDS
  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
  • Platelet Biology

Grants and Projects

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Publications (60)

Top publication keywords:
OximetryLung InjuryBronchoalveolar Lavage FluidSepsisVentilators, MechanicalCystatin CLife Change EventsPulmonary FibrosisSevere Acute Respiratory SyndromePlatelet AggregationCritical IllnessAcute Lung InjuryRespiration, ArtificialBlood PlateletsOxygen

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