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Elise Peterson Lu, MD, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Elise Lu joined the Paul C. Gaffney Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine in 2018 as the inaugural fellow in Pediatric Hospital Medicine following completion of her pediatrics residency at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She joined as faculty in 2020. She practices full-time as a clinician-educator through the division’s traditional hospitalist model, the evening hospitalist program, as well as the limited teaching service. Her academic interests include clinical research studying failure to thrive and trainee education through the Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellowship program. She serves as chair of the Fellowship Selection Committee and heads the fellowship's clinical simulation course.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Academy of Pediatrics, 2015-Present
  • Pennsylvania Medical Society, 2015-Present

Education & Training

  • BA, History, University of Rochester, 2007
  • BS, Molecular Genetics, University of Rochester, 2007
  • MD/PhD, Molecular Genetics and Genomics, Washington University in St. Louis, 2015
  • Residency in Pediatrics, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2015-2018
  • Fellow in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2018-2020

Selected Publications

Peterson EB, Mastrangelo MA, Federoff HJ, Bowers WJ.  Neuronal specificity of HSV/sleeping beauty amplicon transduction in utero is driven primarily by tropism and cell type composition. Mol Ther. 2007 Oct;15(10):1848-55.

Lu EP, McLellan M, Ding L, Fulton R, Mardis ER, Wilson RK, Miller CA, Westervelt P, DiPersio JF, Link DC, Walter MJ, Ley TJ, Graubert TA.  Caspase-9 is required for normal hematopoietic development and protection from alkylator-induced DNA damage in mice. Blood. 2014 Dec 18;124(26):3887-95.

Lu EP, Leyens K, Tarchichi T, Choi S, Mcintire S, McCormick A. Work Engagement as a Measure of Wellness in Pediatric Hospital Medicine. International Journal of Clinical Pediatrics [Online]. 2020 Aug. 

Academic and Research Interests

  • Failure to thrive
  • High value care