Joesph H. Sisson MD 1953-2025
Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 7:38PM 
Joseph H. “Joe” Sisson, MD
It is with sadness we share of the death of a great colleague and friend, Joseph Sisson, MD of Omaha, Nebraska. Joe was recruited from the NIH to come to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in 1987 and I was privileged to know him as a colleague and friend. The plaudits abound for the Eagle Scout who grew up in Waterloo, Iowa. He’s the epitome of the triple threat, with excellence in clinical care, research and education.
After completing his internal medicine residency and pulmonary/critical care fellowship at the University of Utah under Guy Zimmerman, Joe did a research fellowship at the NIH. He came to UNMC because Mike Sorrell, then chairman of medicine told Joe that he should come to Omaha because he could make a difference. After serving as interim chairman after Dr. Sorrell’s retirement, Joe served 24 years as chief of the pulmonary, critical care and sleep division. During that time the division more than doubled in size He excelled at organizing data so it could be used effectively in decision making. He has had a passion for the academic missions of teaching (recognized as a top teacher in the department 25 times) and research (long history of NIH funding and mentoring students, fellows, and junior faculty to successful academic careers). At the same time, Joe was known as a compassionate and excellent pulmonary and critical care physician who has cared for countless patients in the worst moments of their lives.
He was a technical whiz, who is fascinated by computers and other tools — there’s almost no handyman project he would not tackle. Better yet, he did it all while making it fun. He was especially interested in cilia beat frequency and with Bruce Ammons developed the Sisson-Ammons Video Analysis (SAVA) system that measures the beat frequency of ciliated lung cells. Hanging proudly in Dr. Sisson’s office is a drawing by Art Heires, an artist in internal medicine. It shows a cross section of cilia with all the bands resembling a tire. What makes it unique is that each cilia lists one of Joe’s research citations.
“The ICU nurses loved working with Joe,” said Julie Lazure, vice president of operations for Nebraska Medicine. “He was approachable, collaborative and an extremely enthusiastic educator and mentor. We loved his communication style. He knew everyone’s name. He demonstrated empathy to family members and always explained complex information in ways they could easily understand. Joe was never afraid to have difficult conversations.”
Joe leaves behind his wife of over 40 years, Jennifer Larsen MD; two grown children, Jeff and Julia; and many friends and colleagues.
Richard A. Robbins MD
Editor, SWJPCCS