UW - Pulmonary Division - Research Training

Research Training

Overview

primary goal of our fellowship program is to train the future leaders of academic pulmonary and critical care medicine. Rigorous training and extensive experience in research are the central features of the program for all accepted applicants.

We recognize that many fellows enter our program with limited research experience. We have established a system to assist each fellow in finding the overall career track, subject area, and research mentor best suited for them.

Early in the first year, each fellow selects a faculty advisor. During the next several months, the two meet to review the available research areas and resources, arrange meetings with potential mentors, and work together to help the fellow make an informed choice. Each fellow also meets with Dr. Len Hudson, Director of Research Training, during this time. In addition, following the third and sixth clinical rotations during the first year, there are one-week “mini-sabbaticals,” which allow for in-depth visits to laboratories and discussions with possible research preceptors without the constraints of clinical responsibilities.

Our program seeks to prepare trainees for an academic career in any of three possible professional roles: laboratory-based research, clinically-based research, and full-time academic clinician-teacher. Success in each of these career pathways requires rigorous training, along with experience in preparing and submitting grant applications, and manuscripts for publication.

Fellows may select either a “bench” track (either in cell and molecular biology or in physiology) with two or more years of laboratory research training, leading to a career as an independent investigator or a “clinical investigator” track. The latter usually involves formal course work toward an M.P.H. or other masters degree, and in-depth research in clinical epidemiology, medical education, health services, or another patient-based discipline. The Division also offers a well-circumscribed pathway for translational research training. Fellows planning careers as clinician-teachers can also receive training in curriculum design, effective teaching methods, and scholarly writing.

An unusually broad spectrum of research training is available in the Division and through its excellent collaborative relationships with other groups within the University.

There are a range of research opportunities in the laboratories of the faculty and a variety of supporting services for research, including technicians, animal medicine (including Primate Center), and expertise in morphology, biochemistry, biostatistics, and bioengineering.

Consulting faculty of our training program represent the Divisions of Cardiology, General Internal Medicine, Hematology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, and Oncology in the Department of Medicine; the Departments of Anesthesiology, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Medical History and Ethics, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physiology and Biophysics, and Surgery in the School of Medicine; and the Departments of Epidemiology and Health Services in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

Joint research projects with other departments are encouraged. While this type of collaborative endeavor remains a theoretical possibility at some institutions, it is a long-established and highly successful tradition at the University of Washington, making available to fellows from our Division a wider array of research areas and both human and material resources.


	Research in the integrative physiology lab using anesthetized mice to determine extent of ventilator induced lung injury.

Faculty Research Interests

Moira Aitken - Control of mucociliary clearance; airway hyperreactivity; airway epithelial cell differentiation; clinical research in adult cystic fibrosis.

Bill Altemeier - Ventilation-perfusion matching, modulation of transcriptional response to inflammation by mechanical ventilation.

David Au - Epidemiology of chronic lung disease.

Scott Barnhart (Occupational Medicine Program) - Occupational lung diseases; bronchial hyperreactivity; environmental challenge testing.

Josh Benditt - Ventilatory muscle function; pulmonary rehabilitation and home care; lung reduction surgery.

Mike Bishop (Department of Anesthesiology) - Role of pulmonary circulation in development and repair of acute lung injury; reperfusion lung injury.

Nirmal Charan (Boise VAMC) - Role of the bronchial circulation in health and disease.

Jason Chien - Clinical, molecular and genetic epidemiology of airway diseases.

Emil Chi (Department of Pathology) - Alveolar cells and surfactant; morphology of acute lung injury.

Joan Clark - Lung biochemistry including collagen kinetics of pulmonary fibrosis and repair of acute lung injury.

Bruce Culver - Lung mechanics; cardiopulmonary interactions including hemodynamic effects of PEEP; pulmonary function testing.

Randy Curtis - Pulmonary complications of HIV infection and AIDS; medical decision making about end-of-life care.

Vincent Fan - Health services research in COPD.

Chuck Frevert - Role of cytokines in pulmonary inflammation; interaction of cytokines with extracellular matrix proteins.

Robb Glenny - Non-gravitational determinants of VA/Q heterogeneity.

Rick Goodman - Alveolar macrophage-derived neutrophil chemotactic factors; lung leukocyte trafficking.

Chris Goss - Epidemiology of Cystic Fibrosis.

Teal Hallstrand -- Airway remodeling in asthma, mechanisms of exercise-induced bronchospasm.

John Harlan (Department of Hematology) - Adhesion protein expression and function.

Bill Henderson (Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - Leukotriene metabolism.

Dennis Hickstein - Regulation of adhesion protein gene expression.

Jack Hildebrandt (Departments of Medicine and Physiology/ Biophysics) - Pulmonary edema; lung mechanics; surfactant effect; exercise physiology; pulmonary vascular mechanics.

Mike Hlastala - Gas exchange; tissue oxygen delivery.

Tom Hornbein (Department of Anesthesiology) - Chemical control of ventilation.

Len Hudson - Clinical studies in ARDS; acute respiratory care; clinical research; bioethics.

Al Jonsen (Department of Medical History & Ethics) - Bioethics.

Terry Kavanagh - Mechanisms of free radical and oxidant injury and repair.

Vishesh Kapur - Epidemiology and outcomes of sleep apnea.

S. Lakshminarayan - Role of bronchial circulation in ARDS; pulmonary edema; clinical research.

David Madtes - Macrophage derived growth factors in repair of acute lung injury.

Tom Martin - Host defense mechanisms in the lung; lung cellular immunology; pathogenesis of acute lung injury.

Gus Matute-Bello - Mechanisms of alveolar epithelial damage in acute lung injury.

Dave Park - Lung host defenses; pathogenesis of intracellular infection; macrophage biology; pneumonia; tuberculosis.

Bill Parks - Epithelial matrix metalloproteinases in lung defense and repair.

Dave Pierson - Clinical research, including mechanical ventilation, barotrauma, other respiratory therapy, COPD.

Ganesh Raghu - Pulmonary fibrosis; lung cell cytogenetics.

Dave Ralph - Gas exchange; sleep apnea.

Tom Robertson - Gas exchange; tissue oxygen delivery; exercise; application of fractal geometry to the pulmonary circulation and airways.

Lynn Schnapp - Cell adhesion; extracellular matrix proteins; fibrosis; HIV infection.

Shawn Skerrett - Host defenses against respiratory infection.

Ken Steinberg - Clinical epidemiology, pathophysiology, and outcomes of ARDS.

Erik Swenson - Role of carbonic anhydrase in pulmonary gas exchange and acid-base homeostasis.

Mark Tonelli - Medical ethics and the philosophy of medicine; cystic fibrosis.

Pedro Verdugo (Department of Bioengineering) - Airway cell ciliary activity and control; mucus production and control.

Bob Winn (Department of Surgery) - Adhesion protein function in animal models of acute lung inflammation, including hemorrhagic shock and sepsis.