Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Overview

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine has a long history of excellence in airway biology, both basic and translational research, providing insight into the pathophysiology and treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), and investigations into the genetics of these diseases. Recent years has also shown an increase in the basic investigation of lung development, and diseases common to our patients in the intensive care units—including sepsis, acute lung injury/ARDS, and pulmonary artery hypertension. Excellence in basic research remains a mainstay in the division, with new emphasis on translating these basic concepts into the research of patients with lung injury/sepsis, interstitial lung diseases, complications post-lung transplantation, immunologic insults of the lung, and lymphangioleiomyomatosis. In essence, this provides a bench-to-bedside approach to Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, allowing our innovative science to advance our understanding of disease and potential new therapeutic approaches.

New initiatives that are presently being developed in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division include centers for excellence in respiratory genetics, interstitial lung diseases, critical illness and host defense, stem cell biology, and vascular biology. These centers will not only advance the divisional research, but will facilitate interdepartmental and Harvard-wide collaborations and initiatives. Combined with the ongoing basic and translational research, these centers will place the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division at the forefront of lung biology. This is certainly underscored by the recognition and success of the division and its members at National/International Conferences, and in the arena of research funding.