Jasleen Kukreja

MD MPH

Thoracic and transplant surgeon
Program and Surgical Director, Lung Transplantation Program
Loves cooking with her husband

Dr. Jasleen Kukreja is a cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the Lung Transplant Program at UCSF Medical Center. She is also director of the adult respiratory mechanical circulatory support program. She performs lung transplant surgery and lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema, and treats patients with tumors of the chest, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors and mesothelioma.

Kukreja is the associate director of UCSF's lung transplant research division of cardiothoracic surgery.

Kukreja earned a medical degree at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed residencies in general surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and in cardiothoracic surgery at UCSF. She completed fellowships in general surgery and thoracic surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and also completed extensive training in designing clinical trials, studies that evaluate potential treatments' safety and efficacy. She has a master's degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Kukreja has received many professional honors, including the Pharmacia/Upjohn Trauma Research Competition Award, John A. Mannick Research Award and an excellence in teaching award from Harvard Medical School.

  • Education

    UCLA School of Medicine, 1994

  • Residencies

    UCLA Hospital, Surgery, 1996

    Brigham and Women's Hospital, Surgery, 2004

    UCSF Medical Center, Cardiothoracic Surgery, 2006

  • Board Certifications

    Surgery, American Board of Surgery

  • Academic Title

    Professor

  • Languages

    Hindi

    Punjabi

    Urdu

"When I'm putting organs in, I'm holding my breath until the patient takes their first breath."

Meet Dr. Kukreja

Conditions I specialize in

Where I see patients (2)

    My work

    Q&A: Giving the sickest patients a second chance

    UCSF is known for its excellent lung transplant outcomes, despite taking high-risk cases. Dr. Kukreja reveals how it feels to take someone from "hanging on for dear life" to living life to the fullest.

    Read the story

    A cystic fibrosis patient who was out of options

    Bradley was so severely ill that no other hospital would approve him for the treatment that might save his life: a lung transplant. Dr. Kukreja accepted the challenge.

    Back from the brink, thanks to a lung transplant

    Before developing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Russell taught 12 exercise classes a week; at his sickest, he could barely climb the stairs to his front door. Since his double lung transplant at UCSF, Russell has reclaimed his active life.

    I feel a maternal urge to protect my patients – and joy to see them breathe again after a lung transplant.

    Selected research

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