Catherine Ifune, MD, PhD, MBA

Catherine Ifune, MD, PhD, MBA, is a professor of anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Caltech, and her PhD (neural science), medical, and MBA degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. She completed residency and served as chief resident in anesthesiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Ifune’s role at WashU Med includes that of Director of Forensic Sciences for the Department of Anesthesiology. She is the medical director for the Post Anesthesia Care Unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and contributes to remote anesthesia services for the hospital as well. She earned the Carl H. Nielsen Award for Outstanding Clinical Service in the Washington University Department of Anesthesiology in 2019. Ifune is a member of the Society for Perioperative Assessment and Quality Improvement.

Currently, she is an instructor for a forensic anesthesiology medical student reading elective. In the community, she is a member of the Executive Board and the Development Committee of Health Protection & Education Services (HPES), which provides free health screening and health education to the underserved and uninsured in St. Louis. Concurrently, she serves as the medical director of HPES. Her hobbies are reading and knitting.