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Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Research

Research performed within the U-M Medical School Department of Internal Medicine Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine has greatly impacted our understanding of basic lung biology, disease pathogenesis and targeted therapeutics. 

NIH grant funding for research within the Division exceeds 13 million dollars annually. Our investigative portfolio is comprehensive, with specific areas of emphasis including pulmonary inflammation, lung injury and repair, fibrotic lung disorders, host defense, lung transplantation, and lung cancer.

New major areas of modern biology have emerged, including genetics/genomics, metagenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, stem cell biology, computational biology, and the microbiome. Researchers in the division participate in large multidisciplinary and multicenter disease-specific programs and networks in interstitial lung disease (IPFnet, COMET, LTRC), COPD (SPIROMICS, COPD gene, LTRC), and Acute Lung Injury (SCOR, SCCOR, ARDSnet).

Emerging fields of patient-oriented research have been added or expanded, including health services research and sleep. Active areas of health services research include long-term functional outcomes in survivors of critical illness, nosocomial infection, delirium in the ICU, health care utilization and health care policy.

Areas of Research
  • Cancer
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
  • Critical Care
  • Fibrotic Lung Disease
  • Health Services, Outcomes & Policy Program
  • Lung Injury & Repair Reseach
  • Lung Transplantation & Stem Cell Biology Program
  • Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Workgroup (MICReW)
  • Microbiome Program
  • Pulmonary Immunity
  • Severe Asthma
    • Featured News & Stories See all news Dr Wassim Labaki headshot with AI generative fill background
    Department News
    Dr. Wassim Labaki Receives 2025 Solovy Award for Advancement in COPD
    The Respiratory Health Association (RHA) recently named Wassim Labaki, MD, an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and a provider in the Michigan Medicine COPD Clinic, the recipient of the 2025 Solovy Award for Advancement in COPD.
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    Medical School News
    Three Medical School faculty members receive Young Physician-Scientist Awards from American Society for Clinical Investigation
    Three Medical School faculty members are among a group of 50 nationwide to receive Young Physician-Scientist Awards from the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Nora V. Becker, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of internal medicine in the Division of General Medicine; Wassim Walid Labaki, M.D., M.S., an assistant professor of internal medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine; and John R. Prensner, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and biological chemistry, are recipients of the annual award, which recognizes physician-scientists who are within 1-5 years of their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
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    Health Lab
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    A team of researchers are trying to address a lack of knowledge around neutrophilic asthma and have developed one of the first mouse models for the condition.
         Dr Max Nagle second year fellow in the pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship
    Department News
    A Glimpse Inside the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship with Dr. Max Nagle
    Get to know Dr. Max Nagle, second-year fellow in the Michigan Medicine Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Training Program.
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    Health Lab
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    Health Lab
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