Elena Joerns, M.D.

Elena Joerns, M.D., is an Instructor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of its Division of Rheumatic Diseases. She specializes in interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) and rheumatic disease-related interstitial lung disease (RD-ILD).

Dr. Joerns holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she graduated with honors. She earned her medical degree at the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago. She completed an internal medicine internship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, followed by internal medicine residency training at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. She then obtained advanced training through a fellowship in rheumatology at UT Southwestern, and a research fellowship in rheumatology studying IPAF, also at UT Southwestern. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology degree at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and rheumatology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2022.

Her research interests include IPAF, RD-ILD, biomarker analysis, and clinical outcomes. She has delivered numerous presentations, contributed to the book Netter’s Integrated Review of Medicine: Pathogenesis to Treatment, and published several academic articles related to her areas of expertise.

Dr. Joerns is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology and the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions.

Medical School

Chicago Medical School-Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science (2014)

Internship

Washington University Barnes Jewish Hospital/ St. Louis Children's Hospital Consortium Program (2015), Internal Medicine

Residency

Yale New Haven Medical Center (2017), Internal Medicine

Fellowship

UT Southwestern Medical Center (2020), Rheumatology

Fellowship

UT Southwestern Medical Center (2022), Research

• Biomarkers
• Clinical Outcomes
• Interstitial Pneumonia with Autoimmune Features
• Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates in Immunosuppressed Patients
• Rheumatic Disease-related Interstitial Lung Disease

Featured Publications

Interstitial Pneumonia with Autoimmune Features: What the Rheumatologist Needs to Know.

Joerns EK, Adams TN, Sparks JA, Newton CA, Bermas B, Karp D, Makris UE, Curr Rheumatol Rep 2022 06 24 6 213-226

Variables Associated With Response to Therapy in Patients With Interstitial Pneumonia With Autoimmune Features.

Joerns EK, Adams TN, Newton CA, Bermas B, Karp D, Batra K, Torrealba J, Davila L, Reisch J, Glazer C, Makris UE, J Clin Rheumatol 2022 03 28 2 84-88

Utility of Bronchoalveolar Lavage and Transbronchial Biopsy in Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease.

Adams TN, Batra K, Silhan L, Anand V, Joerns EK, Moore S, Butt YM, Torrealba J, Newton CA, Glazer CS, Lung 2020 10 198 5 803-810

Myositis-specific Antibodies Identify A Distinct Interstitial Pneumonia with Autoimmune Features Phenotype.

Graham J, Bauer Ventura I, Newton CA, Lee C, Boctor N, Pugashetti JV, Cutting C, Joerns E, Sandhu H, Chung JH, Garcia CK, Kadoch M, Noth I, Adegunsoye A, Strek ME, Oldham JM, Eur. Respir. J. 2020 Jul

Myopathy in a 61-year-old Hispanic man.

Parizher G, Brown TJ, Hon M, Joerns EK, Zuo Y, BMJ Case Rep 2019 Apr 12 4

• Fellow-in-Training
  American College of Rheumatology (2019)
• Dean's Award
  Chicago Medical School (2014)
• Outstanding Senior
  University of Missouri-Columbia (2009)

• Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (2019)
• American College of Rheumatology (2016)