The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine continued to provide a vigorous and creative basic and clinical science core, an active clinical service, and a high quality teaching program. The Division provides service to all three Health Sciences Campus teaching hospitals: LAC+USC Medical Center, USC University Hospital, and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital through their 17 full-time faculty members with national and international reputations sharing the combined research, clinical and teaching missions.

The Division administers Intensive Care Units at LAC+USC Medical Center and USC University Hospital. Consultative services to inpatients are provided at all three Health Sciences Campus hospitals. A weekly Chest Clinic at LAC+USC Medical Center renders care to over 2,500 patients annually. Over 2,700 private outpatient visits are conducted at the Ambulatory Healthcare Center. This year, more than 1,000 bronchoscopic examinations and other diagnostic procedures were performed by the Division. The Pulmonary Physiology Laboratories of all USC Health Sciences Campus hospitals process about 5,000 arterial blood gases, 450 complete lung function tests and 80 sleep studies every month. The Division prides itself on the quality, depth and breadth of its clinical services. Patient and colleague satisfaction, along with state-of-the-art pulmonary and critical care medicine services, remain our primary clinical objectives.

Basic and applied research are the cornerstones of the Division, long known for cutting edge studies in mechanisms and regulation of water and electrolyte transport across the pulmonary alveolar epithelium. Applied research areas include genetic markers and gene regulation in lung injury, immunology in lung transplantation, therapeutic interventions in interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis, and mechanisms of disease in the critically ill. The Division faculty and fellows published about 50 refereed papers and received almost $2,000,000 in research funds in 2000-2001.

The Division remains strongly committed to providing the best possible educational environment and learning opportunities for USC medical students, housestaff members, fellowship trainees and practicing physicians. Daily formal attending rounds are conducted on all our services and in all our hospitals for medical students, residents, and pulmonary fellows. These rounds take place at the bedside and culminate in a multidisciplinary discussion involving pulmonary physiology, radiology and pathology. An extensive daily conference schedule emphasizes case discussions and grand rounds conducted in cooperation with other specialties, including infectious diseases, pathology, radiology, immunology and genetics. In-depth lectures in clinical science and basic research are held regularly. Our well-rounded teaching program provides outstanding educational experiences for our fellows, residents and medical students throughout the Health Sciences Campus.

Overall, the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine continues to build on a tradition of excellence in its tripartite mission. We strive to be the best in teaching, research and clinical care delivery. We look forward to continued growth in partnership with our colleagues in the Department of Medicine and the entire Health Sciences Campus community.

Researchers Seek to Avert Lung Scarring »
In a presentation at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Diego, as well as in a paper published in the American Journal of Pathology, pulmonologist Zea Borok and colleagues have provided convincing evidence that myofibrotic cells may actually start life as alveolar epithelial cells, which line the lungs’ air sacs and conduct the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.