Research
Baylor College of Medicine is in the top 15 for research funding among U.S. medical schools, and has very active clinical and basic science research programs. Basic science research pertinent to pulmonary disease focuses predominantly on lung inflammation, but also includes endothelial cell biology, reactive oxygen and ischemia/reperfusion injury, and mechanisms of respiratory muscle fatigue. This research is being conducted in the laboratories of section faculty, as well as in laboratories of the faculty of other divisions and departments within the College such as Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Molecular and Human Genetics, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, and Pharmacology. Rice University, with whom Baylor has a consortium agreement, has an active Bioengineering research program. Several Baylor and Rice faculty hold joint appointments at the two institutions. 
Research in physiology and clinical sciences includes a very strong and active program in pulmonary mechanics and muscle physiology. Other areas include asthma and asthma-related education and health services, exercise physiology, pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung diseases, unexplained illness in Persian Gulf Veterans, pathophysiology of sleep apnea, cardiopulmonary hemodynamics and gas exchange in patients with pulmonary disease, pulmonary function and occupational lung function surveillance, and pulmonary infection, including tuberculosis control and community pulmonary health.
An NIH-sponsored Training Grant in Lung Disease supports the education of physicians with clinical credentials from other institutions, Ph.D's doing postdoctoral work in pertinent areas, and Baylor pulmonary fellows who choose to pursue research training beyond the ordinary requirements of the fellowship program. The training grant is a valuable resource, and trainees in all the section's training programs benefit from the broad-based peer group to which they belong. Additional training in clinical research is available through an NIH-funded Clinical Scientist Training Program which can lead to a Certificate of Added Qualification, Master's degree, or Doctoral degree in Clinical Investigation.
Pulmonary/Critical Care fellows may choose to do their research training in the laboratories of section faculty, or in other College departments or divisions by special arrangement. For highly qualified fellows who have particular research or career interests in community health sciences, work leading toward the Master of Public Health at The University of Texas School of Public Health may be included as part of the fellowship training program. Several of the section's faculty hold joint appointments at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center School of Public Health.
Externally-funded activities of Section Faculty include:
- An NIH Training Grant in Lung Disease Research
- Ten NIH ROl projects in pulmonary and vascular biology
- An NIH National Emphysema Treatment Trial in conjunction with the Department of Surgery
- An NIH contract for a clinical center for the treatment of ARDS
- Two NIH KO2 Awards
- Two NIH K12 Awards
- A Veterans Affairs Research and Development Merit Review for lung volume reduction surgery in conjunction with the Surgical Service
- Two Veterans Affairs Research and Development Merit Reviews in pulmonary molecular biology
- An American Lung Association Asthma Clinical Research Center grant
- Two American Heart Association awards
- One American Lung Association award
- Numerous industry sponsored clinical trials
Junior faculty have historically been extremely successful in competing for funding from local affiliates of both the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association.
See more information on our clinical trials.