Our division has an active clinical and basic science research program focusing on the study of lung cancer and the study of Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary infection. In collaboration with Janet Sawicki, PhD, a member of our faculty as well as the deputy director of the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, we have received grant funding for these and other projects. Dr. Sawicki serves as a mentor to fellows interested in pursuing basic research projects. Our pulmonary/critical care faculty engage actively in various clinical research projects on COPD, pulmonary vascular disease, and critical care medicine. In addition, our sleep medicine faculty have ongoing research projects investigating various aspects of sleep medicine. We have a research nurse coordinator on our staff who works actively with the faculty and fellows in the organization of research projects and data collection.
Research program
Fellows are introduced to ongoing research activities during the first year of their training. During bimonthly research conferences, our faculty discuss ongoing research protocols and help fellows to explore ideas for new projects. Each fellow selects a research area and mentor(s) from among the faculty of the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine, sleep medicine, or the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research. With the assistance of their research mentor(s), fellows prepare and present a research proposal at the beginning of the first research year. Fellows receive guidance during their research training from their individual mentor(s) and from the fellowship program director. Fellows are strongly encouraged to apply for individual national fellowship research training awards from the National Institutes of Health or other agencies, and are guided in this process by their research mentor(s) and by Dr. Sawicki. Fellows are expected to discuss their research projects and data periodically at our bimonthly Divisional Research Conferences, to present their work at local and national scientific meetings, and ultimately to submit their results for publication in the peer-reviewed biomedical literature.