Dr. Jennings graduated from Mayo Medical School in 1985 and completed her internal medicine and pulmonary/critical care training at Georgetown University Hospital, then went to the NIH as a research fellow. Her career has focused on specialty pulmonary clinical care with her most recent faculty position at the Cleveland Clinic where she treated pulmonary hypertension.  

Clinical Interests

Dr. Jennings was recently recruited to join the faculty at UPMC to develop a comprehensive clinical program in COPD and Emphysema.   She will apply her broad clinical expertise and extensive experience to advance the care of patients with COPD and Emphysema with specific focus on management of pulmonary hypertension and lung transplantation in patients with COPD/Emphysema. 

Academic and Research Interests

Dr. Jennings has participated in clinical research and collaborated with basic research throughout her career. Her current interests include patient outcomes of treatment of pulmonary hypertension in chronic lung disease and biomarkers of disease activity in COPD and Emphysema.

She also has a longstanding interest in the medical humanities related to the impact of the quality of caregiver relationships and the medical environment on the illness experience.

Key Publications

Rigelsky C, Jennings C, Lehtonen R, Minai O, Eng C, Aldred M.  BMPR2 Mutation in a Patient with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Suspected Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, 2008; American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part A. 146A(190: 2551-6.

Xu W, Koeck T, Neumann D, DiFilippo F,  Koo M,  Janocha A, Jennings C,  Dweik R, Stuehr D, Erzurum S. Alterations of Cellular Bioenergetics in Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells from Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. PNAS, 2007; 104(4): 1342-7.

Prieto LR, Latson LA, Jennings CA. Atrial Septostomy using a Butterfly Stent in a Patient with Severe Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, 2006; 68(4): 642-7.