New University Hospitals Infectious Disease Specialist Strong Addition to the Team

UH Clinical Update | February 2025

Volunteering with hospice patients as a Duke University undergrad started Jay Krishnan, MD, MPH, on the path to becoming a physician. But he says he found his true niche in the field of infectious disease.

Jay Krishnan, MD

The sheer diversity of infectious illnesses to be managed is both challenging and amazing, he says – from a patient with an acute brain or heart infection to someone living with long-term HIV. Having the tools to intervene and heal – in some cases, very quickly -- is powerful.

“It's always satisfying to identify and treat infections and see patients feel so much better,” Dr. Krishnan says. “That’s the most meaningful part, as well as forming longitudinal relationships with our patients with chronic illnesses. Infectious disease offers that full spectrum of care.”

Many Roles

Dr. Krishnan completed his medical degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He then completed residency training in internal medicine at University of Michigan Medical Center and fellowship training in infectious disease at Duke University Hospital, during which he obtained a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina.

Although he’s just in his first year at UH, Dr. Krishnan has already taken on significant responsibilities outside of clinical care. He serves as interim Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship. In addition, he serves as Associate Medical Director for Infection Control for the system, working with Medical Director Elie Saade, MD, MPH. This draws on Dr. Krishnan’s experience as an infectious disease research fellow at Duke, where he studied infection prevention and hospital epidemiology and new approaches to preventing central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). He and Dr. Saade are now working together on these issues at UH, in addition to the CORVETS (Cleveland Ohio Respiratory Viruses Vaccines Effectiveness across Traditional Risk Factors and Social Determinants of Health) study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Stellar Care

Dr. Krishnan is also already making a positive impression on UH patients. One such patient, for example, wrote to UH CEO Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair, to personally compliment the team that cared for her when she was hospitalized for pneumonia, including Dr. Krishnan. “Dr. Jay Krishnan was very thorough when he followed up with post-pneumonia diagnostic testing,” she wrote. “Everyone was wonderful.” To recognize his contributions, Dr. Megerian recently named Dr. Krishnan a “Dinner with the Doc” honoree.

Listening to Patients

Dr. Krishnan practices primarily at main campus, seeing hospitalized patients at UH Cleveland Medical Center, with an outpatient clinic in the Bolwell building. One crucial key to best serving both groups, he says, is respectful communication.

“It’s a challenge with the volume of patients UH providers see on the inpatient side, but I always make an effort to sit or kneel at the bedside and have a conversation,” he says.  “Just the act of sitting tends to ‘open up’ the conversation. I learn things about a patient's history that I wouldn't have otherwise, both as a product of spending more time there but also as a product of seeing someone eye-to-eye. It’s a small thing, but it’s changed the patient-provider relationship for me substantially.”

For patients in his outpatient clinic, Dr. Krishnan’s approach is similar.

“I try to be rigorous about my follow-ups,” he says. “I try to personally contact my patients with regular updates, be that through phone calls or patient messages. It’s important to acknowledge that this practice and even something like sitting at the bedside might not always be feasible for everyone, depending on practice settings and patient volume. But I think both of those things end up making all the difference in my relationships with patients.”

To nominate a physician for this honor, click here for the Dinner with the Doc Nomination Form.