Fellowship Programs > Research Training

Research Training

The goal of research training in pulmonary medicine and critical care is to provide fellows with experience in the design, performance, and analysis of original work in order to develop clinicians and scientists of the highest caliber. It is our belief that the ability to critically evaluate experimental and clinical data is an important skill for all physicians. The ability to effectively communicate such information to others is also a highly regarded skill, and instruction is offered to fellows to hone these skills.

The clinical and basic science departments of the Jefferson Medical College and the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are all located within a single campus in downtown Philadelphia. Facilities under the direct supervision of the Division include a 13 bed medical-respiratory intensive care unit; a completely equipped pulmonary function laboratory including facilities for exercise and bronchial challenge testing; a bronchoscopy suite including a video bronchoscopy unit; a state-of-the-art animal facility with core services to support generation of transgenic mice; a morphology core facility which includes a transmission electron microscope, microscopes equipped for regular, phase and fluorescent microscopy, and a quantitative morphometry laboratory; and laboratories equipped for research using the techniques of physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, immunology, and molecular biology. In addition, facilities of the Departments of Physiology, Pathology, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, the Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Kimmel Cancer Institute, and the Divisions of Translational Medicine, Medical Oncology, Gastroenterology, and Rheumatology, where collaborative research is ongoing, are located in this complex.

Fellows have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of basic and clinical research projects. While most research activity occurs in the second and third years of fellowship training, fellows are encouraged to become involved in these activities during their first year, to the extent that time allows. The University offers a Masters in Clinical Research to assist fellows and junior faculty in obtaining the essential skills necessary to conduct human research. Independent clinical research projects with faculty mentorship are strongly encouraged.

Projects that receive extramural support include translational research in the cell biology of asthma (especially mechanisms of IgE-mediated inflammation and airway remodeling) and various industry sponsored projects in critical care. Fellows interested in basic science are encouraged to participate in ongoing supervised projects in the division related to airway inflammation in asthma or can participate in other interdivisional/interdepartmental projects as they relate to lung disease. Finally, there are a number of clinical, investigator-initiated research projects related to important diagnostic and treatment questions in critical care and pulmonology. Fellows are expected to actively participate in ongoing research and present their data a national meeting such as the ATS, ACCP, or the critical care meetings and ultimately generate an original manuscript with the help of their faculty mentor.