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Lucas R. Pitts, M.D.

Lucas Pitts portrait
Associate Professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

Director - TUKHS Medical ICU APP Program, Director - TUKHS Medical ICU APP Program, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

lpitts@kumc.edu

Professional Background

Dr. Lucas Pitts is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Pitts received his MD at The University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. After residency, he completed his fellowship training at The University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2016, he became the Medical Director of the Medical ICU Advanced Practice Provider Program. In this role, Dr. Pitts leads APP training, coordinates operational aspects of the program and serves as a physician liaison for the APPs to the health system. He is passionate about APP autonomy and education, facilitating the highest quality of patient care possible in the Medical ICU.

Dr. Pitts is board certified in Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine. His professional affiliations include memberships in the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Thoracic Society, and the American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology. He is a skilled proceduralist with extensive experience in all aspects of advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy as well as therapeutic and interventional pulmonology, including rigid bronchoscopy, stent placement, foreign body removal, bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, bronchial thermoplasty, tunneled pleural catheter placement, and percutaneous tracheostomy.

His clinical interests include lung cancer diagnosis and palliation as well as management of end-stage COPD via bronchoscopic lung volume reduction. His academic interests include quality improvement for the interventional pulmonary service, the use of electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy to guide cryobiopsy of diffuse parenchymal lung disease, as well as lung masses and focal infiltrates.

Education and Training
  • BS, Cellular Biology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
  • MD, Medicine, The University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita, Wichita, Kansas
  • Residency, Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
  • Clinical Fellowship, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
Licensure, Accreditations & Certifications
  • Critical Care Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine
  • Doctor of Medicine, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
  • Pulmonary Disease, American Board of Internal Medicine
Professional Affiliations
  • American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology, Member, 2018 - Present
  • American College of Chest Physicians, Member, 2009 - Present
  • American Thoracic Society, Member, 2009 - Present

Publications
  • Pitts, Lucas., R, Simpson, Steven., Q. 2010. From mice to men: systematic reviews of animal data could make sepsis trials safer and more productive. Critical Care Medicine, 38 (12), 2420-2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21088514/
  • Brownback, Kyle., R, Pitts, Lucas., R, Simpson, Steven., Q. 2013. Utility of galactomannan antigen detection in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in immunocompromised patients. Mycoses, 56 (5), 552-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23496321/
  • Brownback, Kyle., R, Simpson, Steven., Q, Pitts, Lucas., R, Polenini, Deepika, McGuirk, Joseph., P, Ganguly, Siddhartha, Aljitawi, Omar., S, Lin, Tara., L, Singh, Anurag, Abhyankar, Sunil. 2016. Effect of extracorporeal photopheresis on lung function decline for severe bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Journal of Clinical Apheresis, 31 (4), 347-52. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26031713/
  • Brownback, Kyle., R, Pitts, Lucas., R, Abhyankar, Sunil. 2018. Safety of nintedanib for treatment of fibrotic lung disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplantation, 53 (9), 1218-1220