Research Training

We recognize that fellows enter our fellowship program with varied research experience. We have developed an immersive yet collegial training program to prepare fellows for a career as bench or clinical investigators and clinician-educators.

We are able to offer all fellows interested in investigative careers support for a continuous 24-month training experience in the research program (12 months during the third ACGME fellowship year and an additional 12 months during a fourth year). Our support comes from one of the largest and longest standing Institutional National Research Service Award, or T-32 awards, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This mechanism provides generous and flexible support for a wide variety of outstanding research experiences within the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, or other Departments within the University of Chicago. We also offer a 12-month concise research experience as a pathway to more clinically-focused careers in our clinical scholar pathway. 

The Fellowship Program Director and Director of Research Training Program work closely with second year fellows to begin the process of selecting an appropriate research mentor and identifying a serious, collaborative research project. Upon successful completion of the clinical requirements, third year fellows move into either our 24-month NHLBI-funded research training grant program or our 12-month clinical scholar pathway. The research program is designed to provide guidance and support to give trainees the opportunity to launch careers in academic medicine. Notable elements include a Research Advisory Committee that monitors and reviews progress at six-month intervals, a weekly Proposal and Grant-Writing Workshop, and weekly Research in Progress conference. Relevant coursework and degree programs, such as the Masters of Science for Clinical Professionals (MSCP), Master of Bioinformatics, and Masters of Public Health may also be supported by the T-32 training grant.

Additional information on the Department of Public Health Sciences educational programs may be found at the following here.

Basic science research training opportunities exist in the following areas:

• Airway immunology
• Airway pharmacology
• Ischemia/reperfusion injury
• Smooth muscle cell biology
• Asthma genetics
• Airway epithelial repair, apoptosis and remodeling
• Endothelial biology and function in acute lung injury
• Signaling mechanisms controlling growth and differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and pulmonary fibroblasts
• Costimulatory and accessory receptors in T-Cell activation and function in Th2-mediated inflammatory responses
• Genomic determinants of risk for and mechanisms of severe sepsis and acute lung injury

Current clinical investigations include:

• Sedation in the ICU
• Sleep in the ICU
• Novel therapies for Interstitial Lung Disease
• Impact of sleep loss on endocrine and metabolic function
• Epidemiology and health services research of asthma and COPD
• Patient-ventilator interactions
• Early physiotherapy in the ICU
• Vasoactive medications in the ICU
• Outcomes from critical illness
• Strategies to improve functional recovery after acute illness

For more details, please visit our dedicated PCCM Research website to learn more about our ongoing research and our research fellows.