Catherine Chen, MD

Catherine Chen, MD, FACP, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) with a clinical focus on hospital medicine. Integrating her background in Biomedical Engineering with her expertise as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, she specializes in systems-based improvements that bridge high-value clinical care with environmental stewardship.

Dr. Chen’s academic interests focus on competency-based medical education innovation. She works to empower the next generation of physicians with the tools necessary for modern, climate-aware practice through Quality Improvement and Sustainable Healthcare Education. She is a founding member of Clinicians for Climate Action NJ and has been nationally recognized for her leadership in integrating planetary health into medical curricula. As an avid interprofessional collaborator, she frequently partners with specialists across disciplines to develop multifaceted curricula and has mentored a wide range of trainees, from medical and master’s students to research interns and faculty colleagues.

• Associate Professor of Medicine

• Vice Chair of Quality & Safety for the Department of Medicine

• Director of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Curriculum, Core Faculty, Internal Medicine Residency

• Founding Director, Quality Improvement (QI) Pathway for the Internal Medicine Residency Program

• Designated Content Expert in Climate Health and Sustainability

• Founding Director, Distinction for Climate Health and Environmental Sustainability Program at RWJMS

• B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology (2008)

• Doctor of Medicine (MD), St. George’s University School of Medicine (2012)

• Combined Internal & Family Medicine Residency, Eastern Virginia Medical School (2012–2016)

• Climate Health Organizing Fellowship (2022)

• Healthcare Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Training, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health (2023)

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt & Green Belt Certification, UMass Amherst (2024)

• Society of Hospital Medicine Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Program, Certificate of Completion (2024)

• EPIC Physician Builder (2024)

• Laureate Award, American College of Physicians (ACP) NJ Chapter (2026)

• Inductee, Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honors Medical Society (2025)

• Outstanding Service Award, American College of Physicians NJ Chapter (2023)

• Healthcare Decarbonization: Assessing the environmental impact of clinical practices, including waste audits of IV versus oral antibiotics and the carbon footprint of pharmaceutical prescribing

• Climate Health Curriculum Development: Leading the integration of planetary health and environmental justice into the medical school curriculum

• Quality Improvement Leadership: Directing the longitudinal QI Pathway for residents and applying Lean methodology to optimize hospital throughput and patient safety initiatives

• Bedside POCUS education: Procedural and diagnostic ultrasound education for residents

• Rosen L, Chen C, et al. (2026). The Climate Health Curriculum Tool (CHCT): An Assessment Framework for Integrating Climate Health Education in U.S. Undergraduate Medical Curricula. BMC Medical Education.

• Maganti K, Chen C, et al. (2025). Cardiopulmonary Point-of-Care Ultrasonography for Hospitalist Management of Undifferentiated Dyspnea. JAMA Network Open.

• Cerceo E, Chen C, et al. (2025). Educating for a Climate-Ready Health Workforce: Aligning Medical Education with the Urgency of the Climate Crisis. Health Affairs Forefront.

• Chen C, Kadakia R. (2024). Planetary Health and Sustainable Health Care Education Through Quality Improvement: A Residency Curriculum Integration. Journal of Graduate Medical Education.

• Chen C, Miller G, Setoguchi S. (2024). Climate Change and Excess Length of Stay: A Call to Action for Health Equity and Environmental Sustainability. Journal of Hospital Medicine.