Faculty Tracy Koogler, MD

Tracy Koogler, MD, a tireless advocate for patients and research subjects, died December 28, 2022, of cancer. She was 56. An associate professor of pediatrics and anesthesia and critical care at the University of Chicago, Koogler’s clinical career was dedicated to caring for children in the burn unit and the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). She was also actively involved with medical ethics, conducting consults and serving as the assistant director of the UChicago MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.

Koogler received her medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and she trained in pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and in pediatric critical care medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She joined the University of Chicago in 1998, where her work in enhancing pediatric burns care was regarded by many as pioneering. In the PICU, she worked in sedation and had special empathy for children with cancer. Koogler began a clinical medical ethics fellowship that same year at the MacLean Center, which led to a career in medical ethics, bioethics and ethics consultations. As a member of the Institutional Review Board