Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program

Research Training

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine has approximately 5000 square feet of fully equipped state-of-the-art laboratory and office space for its basic research initiatives.

Clinical research is conducted in 1800 square feet of space at the University of Maryland Airways Disease Research Center. The Division has very active basic and clinical research programs through the collaborative efforts of an innovative and energetic group of M.D. and Ph.D. investigators. Considerable emphasis is placed on fellow research training to prepare trainees for academic careers and careers as tertiary referral subspecialists.

Support for research is derived from competitive peer-reviewed grants and contracts from:

NIH
Veterans Administration
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
pharmaceutical companies

Major areas of current investigation include:

role of fever in regulating host defenses
Genomics of asthma
G-protein-coupled receptor biology
overlap between heat shock and fever
the role of fever in hyperoxic lung injury
transcriptional regulation
regulation of cytokine genes
molecular biology of the inositol triphosphate receptor
inhaled endotoxin in asthma
pharmacogenetics of steroid resistance in asthma
novel modalities of asthma therapy in the ER setting
role of inhaled steroids in newly diagnosed asthma
tumor lysis syndrome
alternative techniques to diagnose lung cancer
CT-guided bronchoscopic lung biopsy
ARDS
sepsis
end-of-life ethics
Novel treatment strategies for end-stage COPD
Effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia on proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress

Faculty from the Division serves on:

NIH advisory boards and study sections
VA Merit Review Advisory committees
scientific journal editorial boards
committees and boards of directors for local, national and international scientific societies

As part of the research training program, fellows develop their own research projects to gain the ability of initiating individual research projects and preparing successful grant applications. Fellows are allowed to select research mentors from within the Division or from outside the Division (along with a Division faculty member to insure appropriate professional development). Clinical and/or laboratory research projects are complemented by didactic coursework, including a one-week course offered by the Department of Epidemiology about clinical research, a two-week course, directed by Dr. Ishwar Singh introducing the trainee to basic laboratory techniques (LINK to course), lectures on ethical conduct of research, and courses offered in the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland College Park and Baltimore County campuses.

The research is monitored by an Division Committee to insure adequate training and progress. Fellows are expected to present their work at national meetings and to author at least one clinical or scientific paper during their fellowship.

This page was last updated on: October 10, 2007.

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