Core Faculty
Jason Ballengee, DO
Clinical Rotations and the Non-Didactic Curriculum
Dr. Jason Ballengee, a native of West Portsmouth, Oh., attended medical school at the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine (KYCOM). He completed his internal medicine residency at Marshall University and his fellowship at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Ballengee now holds a faculty appointment as an assistant professor and serves the fellowships as the director of the clinical curriculum, a role in which he focuses on enhancing the clinical experiences of the fellows.
Ketan Buch, MD
Faculty Development
Dr. Ketan P. Buch is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician at the Lexington VA Medical Center and holds a voluntary faculty appointment with the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He received his medical degree from Kasturba Medical College Manipal, India, completed his internal medicine residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and served as a chief medical resident before undertaking his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Kentucky. He was told that no one leaves the program until they learn something, so he continues to be involved with the fellowship program, hoping to achieve that milestone someday. Dr. Buch serves as the director of faculty development for the fellowships.
Kristen Catherman, MD
Medical Education Track Director
Dr. Kristen Catherman is originally from central Pennsylvania and completed her medical school and Internal Medicine residency at West Virginia University. She then completed her Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine fellowship at the University of Cincinnati and subsequently joined the University of Kentucky as faculty in the division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine in July 2025. Her clinical interests include asthma and other airways disease as well as critical care. She serves as director of the Medical Education track for the fellowship program.
Sanjay Dhar, MD
Ultrasound Curriculum
Dr. Sanjay Dhar completed his critical care medicine fellowship with advanced training in critical care echocardiography at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. He subsequently completed a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University / Weill Cornell Medical Center. His clinical and research interests include ARDS, Acute Lung Injury, Shock, Critical Care Ultrasound, Echocardiography, and the long-term outcomes of ICU survivors. Dr. Dhar serves the fellowships as co-director of the critical care ultrasound and echocardiography curriculum with Dr. Terren Trott.
Anil Gopinath, MD
Mechanical Ventilation
Dr. Anil Gopinath completed his medical education in India and his internal medicine residency at the University of Connecticut. He pursued his fellowship training in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Cleveland Clinic. His professional interests include mechanical ventilation, hemodynamics, and biostatistics. He serves as co-director of the mechanical ventilation curriculum for the fellowship programs with Dr. Parijat Sen.
Malik Khurram Khan, MD
Chest X-Ray Conferences
Dr. Malik Khurram Khan relocated to the United States from Pakistan after completing medical school. Following his internal medicine residency at Michigan State, he completed his pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Cincinnati before joining the faculty at the University of Kentucky. He serves as the medical director of the UK HealthCare pulmonary rehabilitation program and is the vice chair of the Pulmonary Physiology and Rehabilitation network within ACCP / CHEST. Dr. Khan serves as the director of CHEST conferences, a case-based series supported by pulmonary and radiology faculty.
Dorothy Maes, MD
Pulmonary Curriculum
Dr. DD Maes is originally from New Orleans, La., and has lived in Lexington since 2016. She completed medical school at LSU-NO, her internal medicine-pediatrics residency at UK, and her pulmonology and critical care fellowship at UK, joining the PCCM faculty in August 2023. Her clinical interests include asthma, pediatric to adult transitional pulmonary care, congenital pulmonology, and obstetrical pulmonology and critical care. Dr. Maes serves as a clinical coach for the internal medicine-pediatrics residency and the director of the pulmonary curriculum for the fellowships.
Girish Nair, MD
Diffuse Lung Disease Track Director
Dr. Girish Nair completed his medical degree from University of Kerala and obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Research Design and Biostatistics from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Nair completed his Residency at Beaumont Health, followed by a Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at NYU Long Island. Dr. Nair is Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Program at the University of Kentucky, designated as a Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Care Center Network site. Dr. Nair’s academic focus lies in translational and clinical research in interstitial lung diseases, particularly pulmonary fibrosis, quantitative lung function imaging, metabolomics, and machine learning applications in respiratory medicine. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, multiple book chapters in major pulmonary and critical care texts and serves on editorial boards for several respiratory journals. Dr. Nair serves as the Diffuse Lung Disease Track Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship.
Naureen Narula, MD, FCCP
Director of Development of the Lung Transplant Fellowship
Dr. Naureen Narula, MD, FCCP, completed her medical education in India before pursuing residency and fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Northwell Health in New York, where she held the position of Chief Fellow. She then specialized in Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Narula's clinical and research focus is on managing antibody-mediated and chronic rejection in lung transplant recipients, along with the application of Extracorporeal Photopheresis in transplant care. She is currently the Medical Director of the Transplant Center and Director of the Development of the Lung Transplant Fellowship.
Andrew Smith, MD
Simulations and HALO Curricula
Dr. Andrew Smith is from Hamilton, Ontario. He attended medical school at Medical University of the Americas (Nevis). He completed his internal medicine residency at the University at Buffalo and then fellowship at University of Kentucky. Dr. Smith serves the fellowships as director of simulation and is tasked with improving the fellows' education through high-acuity, low-occurrence clinical scenarios.