James Colbert, M.D.

Internal Medicine - Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine
Infectious Diseases
Sepsis

Biography

James Colbert, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in infectious diseases, sepsis, and antimicrobial resistance.

Dr. Colbert earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine and received advanced training through a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in infectious diseases and internal medicine, he joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2025.

Dr. Colbert’s research interests include host-pathogen interactions that determine sepsis severity. He has delivered presentations and published peer-reviewed academic articles related to his areas of expertise.

Personal Note

When he’s not at work, Dr. Colbert enjoys hiking, skiing, watching sports, and spending time with his family.

Education & Training

Medical School - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (2006-2010)
Residency - University of Colorado at Anschutz Medical Center (2010-2013), Internal Medicine
Fellowship - University of Colorado School of Medicine (2013-2016), Infectious Diseases

Honors & Awards

“Best Short Report” Award 2025, American Physiological Society
Top Doctor List – Infectious Diseases 2021, 5280 Magazine
Outstanding Educator Award 2020, University of Colorado Division of Infectious Diseases

Books & Publications

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, Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN 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, American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 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 purification 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, American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 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, Critical care (London, England) 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, American journal of physiology. Renal physiology 2017 Aug 313 2 F553-F559
- Fibroblast Growth Factor Signaling Mediates Pulmonary Endothelial Glycocalyx Reconstitution.
  Yang Y, Haeger SM, Suflita MA, Zhang F, Dailey KL, Colbert JF, Ford JA, Picon MA, Stearman RS, Lin L, Liu X, Han X, Linhardt RJ, Schmidt EP, American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2017 Jun 56 6 727-737
- Severe Sepsis Outcomes Among Hospitalizations With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
  Colbert JF, Schmidt EP, Faubel S, Ginde AA, Shock (Augusta, Ga.) 2017 Feb 47 2 128-131
- Sex-Related Differences in the Risk of Hospital-Acquired Sepsis and Pneumonia Post Acute Ischemic Stroke.
  Colbert JF, Traystman RJ, Poisson SN, Herson PS, Ginde AA, Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association 2016 Oct 25 10 2399-404
- Endothelial and Microcirculatory Function and Dysfunction in Sepsis.
  Colbert JF, Schmidt EP, Clinics in chest medicine 2016 Jun 37 2 263-75

Research

Pathogen determinants of sepsis heterogeneity

Clinical Focus

Infectious Diseases
Sepsis
Antimicrobial Resistance

New Patient Appointment or 214-645-2800