Recent Achievements

• The abstract presentation by Kathryn Rice, MD, was selected as one of two featured abstracts for the Clinical Problems Assembly at the 2008 American Thoracic Society International Conference in Toronto.  She reported on a prospective, randomized, controlled, multicenter VA trial of 743 patients with COPD which demonstrated that the group receiving a simple, limited case management intervention experienced a reduction in COPD-related hospitalizations (31%) and ER visits (51%) with a clinically-significant improvement in health-related quality of life.  
• Peter Bitterman, MD, has been appointed Vice Chair for Research for the Department of Medicine.  He recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from pulmonary medicine's national professional organization, The American Thoracic Society.
• Dennis Niewoehner, MD, received recognition for his scientific achievement at the 2009 American Thoracic Society meetings in San Diego, CA.
• The pulmonary fellows awarded Hyun Kim, MD, the annual Teacher of the Year Award for 2009.
• At the 2008 Fall Faculty Recognition Reception, the Department of Medicine conferred Research Excellence Awards on Conrad Iber, MD (Clinical Research, HCMC) and Dennis Niewoehner, MD (Clinical Trials, VAMC).    Chris Wendt, MD, received a Teaching Excellence Award.  Jeffrey Rubins, MD, received Teacher of the Year Award for his work in pulmonary and critical care education at the VAMC.  
• Jordan Dunitz, MD, received the Fairview University Medical Center's 2008 Medical Staff Recognition Award for Excellence in Clinical Care.
• Conrad Iber, MD, received the Nathaniel Kleitman Award from the Associated Professional Sleep Medicine Society.
• David Ingbar, MD is a Past President of the American Thoracic Society (2007-08) and is also Past President of the American National Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Program Directors.   He has been Co-Chair of the ABIM Pulmonary SEP Committee since 2004.  
• Marshall Hertz, MD was recently awarded the Judith and John Murphy Professorship in Advanced Lung Disease. He is also the Medical Director of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Transplant Registry.
• Conrad Iber, MD is a recent Past President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.  He has been appointed Medical Director of the University of Minnesota's Sleep Medicine Clinic.
• A new program project has been established in obliterative broncholitis after lung transplantation
• A Center for Lung Science and Health has been established, providing clinical trials and patient care
• A NIH clinical site and Data Coordinating Center for COPD Clinical Trials Network was also recently created