Katherine E. Chetta M.D.
Biography
Dr. Katie Chetta is a physician-scientist whose research program is focused on the science of breast milk, nutrition, and intestinal rehabilitation. She has developed extensive expertise in the study of necrotizing enterocolitis. Her interest in these areas began to take shape in medical school, where she studied the outcomes of a human milk diet for preterm infants under the mentorship of Drs. Amy Hair and Steve Abrams. These interests evolved into basic laboratory investigation during her fellowship, when she studied the role of cytokines and the variable effects of pasteurized human milk on gastrointestinal inflammation.
Her current research is focused on investigating lipid stability and cytotoxicity of human milk-free fatty acids in tumor-derived lines and immature cell lines, including non-transformed intestinal cells. Dr. Chetta is specifically quantifying various protein-lipid complexes and free fatty acid levels in frozen human milk given to preterm infants. She is also pursuing lipidomic analysis of free fatty acids in the diets of preterm infants that are cared for in the neonatal intensive care setting. By using knowledge gained in this project, she expect to improve outcomes through the protection of breastmilk, the “liquid gold” for both well, preterm, and critically ill infants.
Dr. Chetta was inducted into the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation and founded the Lowcountry Milk Club, a multidisciplinary group focused on the promotion of mother’s milk and healthy diets in the MUSC NICU. She has been extremely active in collaborating with dietitians, nurses, lactation specialists, other specialty medical teams, and the South Carolina Milk Bank to improve the quality of neonatal nutrition for South Carolina babies.
Education & Training
- University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, B.S. in Chemistry, Honors
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 2009, M.D, AOA and High Honors
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 2013, Residency in Pediatrics
- University of Texas Health & Science Center, Houston, TX, 2016, Clinical Fellowship in Neonatology
My area of expertise includes preterm nutrition and necrotizing enterocolitis. My research pursuits include collaborations in multiple disciplines, including scientists in the Digestive Disease Research Center Core and Darby Children's Research Institute at MUSC. I am honored to serve the critically ill babies of South Carolina.
Recent Publications
- Chetta KE, Forconi M, Newton DA, Wagner CL, and Baatz JE. HAMLET in human milk is resistant to digestion and carries essential free long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and oleic acid. Food Chemistry 2023 Nov 30:427:136752. PMC10527475
- Boone N, Bohara B, Rohrer A, Gros M, Gregoski M, Lee K, Wagner C, and Chetta KE. Multi-prong quality improvement approach for increasing mother’s milk use for very low birth weight infants. Journal of Perinatology. December 20, 2023.
- Newton DA, Baatz JE, Chetta KE, Walker PW, Washington RO, Shary JR, and Wagner CL, (2022), Maternal Vitamin D Status Correlates to Leukocyte Antigenic Responses in Breastfeeding Infants. Nutrients, 14(6):1266.
- Chetta KE, Newton DA, Wagner CL, Baatz JE. Free fatty acid and α-lactalbumin-oleic acid complexes in preterm human milk are cytotoxic to fetal intestinal cells in vitro. Frontiers in Nutrition. July 5, 2022. PMC9294382. PMID: 35866080