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James Colbert, M.D.

James Colbert, M.D.

Titles and Appointments

Assistant Professor

School
Medical School
Department
Internal Medicine

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For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile.

  • Biography

    James Colbert, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of its Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine.

    Dr. Colbert holds a bachelor's degree with a double major in biology and psychology from the University of Iowa, where he also obtained his medical degree. He then completed internal medicine residency training and a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Colorado.

    Prior to joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2025, Dr. Colbert served on the faculty of the University of Colorado. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine and in infectious diseases.

    Dr. Colbert's research interests include how aging-associated alterations in the gut microbiome influence sepsis pathophysiology, with an emphasis on microbial genetic diversity, host-microbe interactions, and the application of explainable AI to uncover mechanisms driving immunosuppression and organ injury.

    Dr. Colbert is an active member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

  • Education
    Medical School
    University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (2010)
    Residency
    University of Colorado at Anschutz Medical Center (2013), Internal Medicine
    Fellowship
    University of Colorado School of Medicine (2016), Infectious Diseases
  • Publications

    Star Featured Publications

    Inflammation and aging-related disease: A transdisciplinary inflammaging framework.
    Andonian BJ, Hippensteel JA, Abuabara K, Boyle EM, Colbert JF, Devinney MJ, Faye AS, Kochar B, Lee J, Litke R, Nair D, Sattui SE, Sheshadri A, Sherman AN, Singh N, Zhang Y, LaHue SC, Geroscience 2025 Feb 47 1 515-542
    Cystatin C and Kidney Function Recovery in Patients Requiring Continuous KRT for Acute Kidney Injury.
    Haeger SM, Okamura K, Li AS, He Z, Park BD, Budnick IM, Foulon N, Kennis M, Blaine RE, Miyazaki M, Campbell R, Jalal DI, Colbert JF, Brinton JT, Griffin BR, Faubel S, Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2024 Nov 19 11 1395-1404
    Acute and Chronic Kidney Disease Worsen Outcomes in Experimental Sepsis.
    Floyd D, Colbert JF, Feng F, Furgeson SB, Montford JR, Kidney360 2024 May 5 5 654-670
    Bacterial pneumonia-induced shedding of epithelial heparan sulfate inhibits the bactericidal activity of cathelicidin in a murine model.
    Zehr EP, Erzen CL, Oshima K, Langouet-Astrie CJ, LaRiviere WB, Shi D, Zhang F, McCollister BD, Windham SL, Rizzo AN, Bastarache JA, Horswill AR, Schmidt EP, Kwiecinski JM, Colbert JF, Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2024 Feb 326 2 L206-L212
    Hepcidin Removal during Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy.
    Colbert JF, Griffin BR, Rolloff K, Erzen CL, Haeger SM, Altmann C, Okamura K, Campbell R, Teitelbaum I, Faubel S, Blood Purif 2024 53 1 23-29
    Aging-Associated Augmentation of Gut Microbiome Virulence Capability Drives Sepsis Severity.
    Colbert JF, Kirsch JM, Erzen CL, Langouët-Astrié CJ, Thompson GE, McMurtry SA, Kofonow JM, Robertson CE, Kovacs EJ, Sullivan RC, Hippensteel JA, Sawant NV, De Nisco NJ, McCollister BD, Schwartz RS, Horswill AR, Frank DN, Duerkop BA, Schmidt EP, mBio 2023 Jun 14 3 e0005223
    Heparin as a therapy for COVID-19: current evidence and future possibilities.
    Hippensteel JA, LaRiviere WB, Colbert JF, Langouët-Astrié CJ, Schmidt EP, Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2020 Aug 319 2 L211-L217
    Intravenous fluid resuscitation is associated with septic endothelial glycocalyx degradation.
    Hippensteel JA, Uchimido R, Tyler PD, Burke RC, Han X, Zhang F, McMurtry SA, Colbert JF, Lindsell CJ, Angus DC, Kellum JA, Yealy DM, Linhardt RJ, Shapiro NI, Schmidt EP, Crit Care 2019 Jul 23 1 259
    Incident infection following acute kidney injury with recovery to baseline creatinine: A propensity score matched analysis.
    Griffin BR, You Z, Holmen J, SooHoo M, Gist KM, Colbert JF, Chonchol M, Faubel S, Jovanovich A, PLoS One 2019 14 6 e0217935
    A model-specific role of microRNA-223 as a mediator of kidney injury during experimental sepsis.
    Colbert JF, Ford JA, Haeger SM, Yang Y, Dailey KL, Allison KC, Neudecker V, Evans CM, Richardson VL, Brodsky KS, Faubel S, Eltzschig HK, Schmidt EP, Ginde AA, Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 2017 Aug 313 2 F553-F559
  • Honors & Awards
    • Best Short Report
      American Physiological Society (2025)
    • Distinction in Scholarship
      American Physiological Society (2024)
    • Top Doctors in Infectious Diseases
      5280 Magazine (2021)
    • Outstanding Educator Award
      University of Colorado, Division of Infectious Diseases (2020)
    • Susan Mason Fellow Education Award
      Infectious Disease Society of America, Colorado (2016)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • Infectious Diseases Society of America