May 5, 2025

A big congratulations to three authors from our division who authored a high-impact perspective, just published in JAMA.

As part of the JAMA Climate Change and Health series, Mansour Alkhunaizi, MD, Lauren Eggert, MD, and Jyothi Tirumalasetty, MD discuss the environmental impact of inhaler-related greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, provide guidance on specific steps health systems can take to safely reduce emissions related to inhalers, and provide an evidence-based discussion on clinical aspects that require careful consideration such as inhaler selection. The authors hope that this Perspective paper will raise awareness about the environmental impact of inhaler prescribing and encourage providers to consider environmentally sustainable solutions without compromising health outcomes. Here is the link: https://jamanetwork-com.laneproxy.stanford.edu/journals/jama/fullarticle/2833427

April 18, 2025

A big congratulations to Dr. Dongeon Kim, an Instructor in PACCM, recipient of the American Heart Association (AHA) Career Development for his proposal to study how abnormal bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) signaling can contribute to the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) through regulatory T cell (Treg) dysfunction. BMPR2 mutations are the most common genetic abnormalities linked to PAH.  While abnormal BMPR2 function is usually associated with abnormal functioning of the cells of the pulmonary vasculature, Dr. Kim is finding that these mutations, present throughout the body, may also interfere with the normal functioning of anti-inflammatory Tregs; a finding that may help explain the pulmonary vascular inflammation associated with this disease. He conducts his research in the Nicolls laboratory.

April 18, 2025

The PACCM division is thrilled to announce the promotion of Dr. Kristina Kudelko from Associate Chair to Vice Chair of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Kudelko is a clinical professor of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine with a focus on pulmonary hypertension. She is also the fellowship and education director at the Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. Her research focuses on drugs and toxins-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension and clinical outcomes research.

As vice chair for academic affairs, Dr. Kudelko will continue to work with Senior Vice Chair Sean Wu to support all aspects of clinician educator (CE) appointments and advancement for the more than 500 members of the department CE community. Dr. Kudelko will also advise and lead efforts to recruit, retain, and promote clinician educators. The new leadership team in the Chair's Office is detailed this morning on the DOM  website. 

March 27, 2025

It is with great pleasure and anticipation that the PCCM Fellowship Program Leadership announces the selection of our Chief fellows for PCCM for 2025-2026.  Congratulations to Stephanie Chen and Mansour Alkhuzani! Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in the selection process.  It’s hard to believe that it has already been (almost) 2 years since Mansour made the move North from Baylor and Stephanie made the short trip South from UCSF to join our program.  Stephanie and Mansour have already demonstrated great commitment to our program and to their co-fellows, and Andrea, Angela, Lauren, Gaurav and I look forward to the opportunity to work with them more closely next year. 

While it is not quite time to pass the baton and say goodbye to our current Chiefs, I want to take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt thank you to Krystle Leung and Kevin Correa for all their hard work and professionalism over the past year.  Our program has truly benefitted from their leadership.

So please join me in thanking Krystle and Kevin, and welcoming Stephanie and Mansour.

March 26, 2025

It is with great excitement that the CCM Program Leadership announces the 2025-2026 Chief Fellows, Dr. Pranjal Gupta and Dr. Derek Wu for the Critical Care Fellowship Program at Stanford University. We are thrilled to partner with them to lead an excellent group of fellows through the next academic year! 

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our outstanding outgoing chief fellows, Dr. David Li and Dr. Will Gibb, for their hard work and dedication to the CCM Fellowship Program and its fellows. Their professionalism and thoughtfulness have been truly inspiring. This year, their extraordinary leadership and service have ensured that the fellowship program has operated seamlessly. We feel fortunate to have had the privilege of working closely with them throughout the year and are extremely grateful for all they have done for their fellow colleagues and the fellowship program.

Please join us in congratulating Drs. Gupta and Wu, and thanking Drs. Gibb and Li! 

March 25, 2025

The PACCM division is pleased to announce another successful California Thoracic Society meeting with the involvement of several Stanford PACCM faculty and fellows!

Foremost, Lauren Eggert served as co-chair of the conference and organized a truly successful meeting with over 400 registrants. Thanks to Lauren, faculty throughout California as well as nationally renowned speakers such as Dr. Mary Rice joined the conference and provided impactful presentations. Kirat Gill organized and facilitated the popular trainee poster session. Solmaz Ehteshami Afshar and Lauren Glassman from SCVMC co-organized and ran the Career Development session for residents and fellows.

Speakers for the meeting included Rachel Hopper (Pediatric PH talk), Gaurav Singh (NIV hands-on), Jyothi Tirumalasetty (Allergens, Climate Change, and Environmental Exposures talk), Reika Miyokawa (Gina Guidelines talk), Emily Casabar (Respiratory/Face Masks hands-on), Joon Chang (Cryobiopsy Tools hands-on), Stephanie Chen (fellow-facilitated Multidisciplinary ILD Case Presentations), Angela Rogers (Manuscript Acceptance talk for career development session), and Michelle Cao (Making Most of Mentorship talk for career development session).

Posters were presented by Audrey Chai, Ben Berger, and Erica Mascarenhas. Ben was awarded second place in the pulmonary case report competition for his poster on solitary fibrous tumor!

Finally, Gaurav Singh was presented with the Clinician of the Year Award!

Please join us in congratulating and commending all of these individuals for representing Stanford and contributing to the great success of the Annual CTS Conference!

March 5, 2025

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Alicia Mirza to Wellness Co-Director in the Division of PACCM.

Clinically, Alicia, who is both internal medicine and pediatrics-trained and certified, helps lead the CF program here at Stanford. She also attends in the ICU at TriValley. She has first-hand experience in the challenges our PCCM faculty face in both the outpatient/inpatient and acute/chronic care settings, both on and off main campus. Two years into her faculty tenure here, she is very familiar with the onboarding process and the struggle to balance a steep clinical load with scholarly pursuits, career development, and family life.

Alicia looks forward to working on “actionable and sustainable” wellness initiatives on your behalf and alongside her equally impressive and eager Co-Director, Dr. Linda Zhu.

February 28, 2025

The PACCM Division is excited to announce that Dr. Hallie Brown will join the Critical Care Medicine Fellowship leadership team as an Associate Program Director.

Dr. Brown completed her undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara before earning her medical degree from the University of New Mexico and pursuing Emergency Medicine residency training at Indiana University, where she was also selected as Chief Resident. Following residency, she joined Stanford for her Critical Care Medicine Fellowship during which she served as Chief Fellow and was instrumental in the fellowship operations.  

Dr. Brown joined the Emergency Critical Care (ECC) group in 2023, immediately serving as a mentor and advisor for our fellows. She has additionally been a clinical leader in the TriValley ICU bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the mixed patient population.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Brown to this new leadership role. We look forward to her contributions in shaping the future of our fellowship program.

December 5, 2024

Please join the PACCM division in welcoming Justine Ko as our incoming IP fellow!

Justine completed her IM residency at USC and is currently the PCCM chief fellow at UCSF-Fresno. When Justine joined us for an away elective earlier in 2024 we were immediately impressed with her fund of knowledge, superior procedural skills, and outstanding candor with patients and their families.

We feel very fortunate to have Justine joining our group next year, and we look forward to welcoming her (back) to the Stanford PACCM community.

December 5, 2024

<sup>The PACCM division is thrilled to announce the results of the IM-CCM fellowship match. It was a very competitive year, and we’ve recruited a great class of incoming fellows. Thank you so much for all your efforts and support in recruitment. We truly appreciate the time and dedication you spent to interview our applicants and discuss our program. It is a testament to the strength of our entire CCM program and multidisciplinary ICU that we can announce such a strong, diverse incoming class.

Meghan, June, and Leslie

2025 IM-CCM Incoming Fellows:</sup>

^{Cresencio Adama (EM Duke)
Mohanad Almahmoud (IM/NCC UCLA)
Scott Arno (Cardiology Henry Ford)
Carlos Enciso Lopez (EM Michigan)
Ziad Faramand (EM NE Georgia)
Kevin Ghaffari (EM Buffalo)
Nick Hall (EM Stanford)
Farah Mechref (EM UNC)
Chelsey Miller (EM Yale)
Renee Newby (Infectious Disease U of Washington)
Sukhjot Sander (Cardiology NYU Long Island)
Sinan Sayood (Cardiology Iowa)
Natasha Trainer (EM Davis)}

December 5, 2024

Please join the PACCM division on our newest class of fellows for the Stanford PCCM Fellowship!

Welcoming the class of 2028:

Dr. Shannen Kim, UCSF
Dr. Albert Liu, UCLA
Dr. John Rose, UT Southwestern
Dr. Samuel "Yoni" Rubin, Stanford
Dr. Adrienne Strait, UCSF
Dr. Natalie Stumpf, UCSF
Dr. Sangeetha Thevuthasan, Columbia
Dr. Jonathan Tiao, Columbia

Our division is thrilled to be growing and welcoming the next generation of academic leaders in pulmonary and critical care medicine. We look forward to supporting their careers and seeing the many incredible things they will accomplish!
 

November 19, 2024

The PACCM division congratulates Dr. Raquel Lyn, recipient of the Team Science Award from the Department of Medicine to study the impact of race and ethnicity in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) for patients exposed to methamphetamine. PAH is a rare and fatal disease often affecting young women. Methamphetamine associated PAH (Meth-APAH) is a subtype of the disease with rising prevalence in disadvantaged populations. While recent studies have characterized Meth-APAH's clinical phenotype and outcomes, no studies to date have evaluated impact of such social drivers of health in Meth-APAH. In her proposal, Raquel will seek to evaluate the impact of race/ethnicity in patients with longstanding history of methamphetamine use, focusing on determinants of health disparities in under-represented minorities.

Dr. Lyn will use the NIH infrastructure provided by Drs. Roham Zamanian and Steven Kawut (University of Pennsylvania) to evaluate the prevalence, attitudes, patterns, and impact of substance abuse in under-represented minorities using a novel PH substance use questionnaire.

October 23, 2024

The PACCM division congratulates Dr. Matthew McCarra, who has been selected as this year's recipient of the 2025 Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) Fellowship Award! The fellowship is part of the Stanford Cancer Institute's commitment to nurturing the next generation of cancer researchers. This funding is awarded to researchers engaged in basic or translational cancer research, with a focus on projects that advance understanding or treatment of cancer. The program provides vital support to enable promising researchers to secure future faculty positions and career development awards.

Working in the laboratory of Dr. Tushar Desai, Matt's research focuses on lung epithelial and stem cell biology, specifically the role of telomerase-expressing alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells in lung regeneration and cancer. He has discovered a novel population of TERT expressing AT2 cells that act as unipotent progenitors important for lung homeostasis and injury repair. Notably, these cells exhibit a unique regulatory mechanism, producing smaller tumors when driven by mutant Kras, compared to other AT2 stem cells. Through sequencing and chromatin studies, he aims to unravel key molecular distinctions that may explain their differential tumorigenic potential and identify markers for human lung studies. This work aims to advance understanding of lung cancer and stem cell biology and pave the way for targeted therapies.

October 2, 2024

Please join the PACCM division in congratulating Drs. Lauren Eggert and Gaurav Singh in their new roles as Associate Program Directors for the Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship! Lauren and Gaurav are emerging leaders in our field and have been lauded for their many contributions to medical education at Stanford and beyond. We are delighted to have them step into this important leadership role within our Division where they will continue to foster academic excellence in our trainees. They will be joining Joe, Andrea, and Angela in the ongoing important work of recruiting, training, and shaping careers for the future leaders in PCCM academic medicine. 

Dr. Gaurav Singh completed his MD at the University of California San Francisco and his internal medicine residency at Stanford University. He completed a Master of Public Health at UC Berkeley and then returned to Stanford to complete fellowship training in both pulmonary and critical care as well as sleep medicine. Gaurav joined the Stanford faculty before he was recruited to the VA Palo Alto in 2018, where he has served as a PCCM Fellowship Site Director. Gaurav has been instrumental in the development of the AIRE Sleep Training Program within our fellowship and has served as a mentor and educator to many of our fellows through his many clinical and educational responsibilities at the VA. His superlative teaching was recognized when he was the 2018 recipient of the PCCM Division Teaching Award. He has authored multiple systemic reviews and is regarded as a leader in the intersection of sleep medicine and critical care. Gaurav's impact has been significant at a national level: he was recently elected as the California Thoracic Society Treasurer and serves as a leader in the VA Sierra Pacific Network overseeing pulmonary care throughout the Pacific Coast and Islands. We are delighted to have him joining the Stanford PCCM Fellowship Leadership where he will continue to expand on the clinical and educational offerings for fellows at our multiple affiliated sites. 

Dr. Lauren Eggert completed her MD at Albert Einstein College of Medicine before her residency training at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai. She completed her Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship at Stanford. Since joining the faculty here in 2020, she has emerged as a leader in severe airways disease and is the Director of the Airways Disease Program. She has authored multiple pieces establishing her expertise in biologics, severe airway disease management, and ABPA. Lauren serves as the pulmonary representative for the SHC Value Based Care initiative and has overseen multiple QI initiatives including modernizing PFT interpretation, expanding pulmonary rehab access, and decreasing ED utilization among patients. Her impact has been seen at both the regional and national levels: she serves as a co-chair of the CTS annual conference and runs the Apprenticeship program for the ATS Early Career Working Group AII assembly. She serves on the ATS AII program committee and post-graduate course selection committee. She has experience with curriculum development and developing early-career physicians. We are delighted that Lauren will bring these tremendous skills to the Stanford PCCM fellowship program.  She will be leading the growth of our outpatient pulmonary curriculum and expanding fellow education and mentorship efforts around quality improvement. 

Please join us in congratulating these two very accomplished physicians as they embark on this exciting next chapter in their careers!

September 10, 2024

The PACCM Division is pleased to announce that Dr. Jennifer Camacho, from our Allergy Section, will become the inaugural Director of Community Partnership for the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine!

In 2022, the Department of Medicine launched the Community Partnership Program as an organized approach to community engagement. This program includes faculty from all divisions to support divisional-level efforts to build academic-community partnerships that span clinical care, research, and education. These bi-directional partnerships are key to our departmental health equity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion missions.

As the PACCM Director of Community Partnership, Dr. Camacho will continue to be an active member of the DOM Community Partnership Council and help the division and its faculty in nurturing existing collaborations with local community organizations and explore new community partnerships with local community health centers, public health departments, advocacy groups, educational partners, and community-based organizations. As Dr. Camacho’s clinical and research interests focus on allergen immunotherapy, aerobiology, and access to allergy and asthma care in underserved populations, she will focus on developing community partnerships in these areas, especially improving access to allergy and asthma subspecialty care.

August 29, 2024

A big congratulations to Dr. Jyothi Tirumalsetty from our talented PACCM Adult Allergy team who has published a landmark study with collaborators today in JAMA.

The article examines the greenhouse gas emissions and costs of medical inhalers on the US market. The work is the result of a collaboration between colleagues at the Stanford University,  University of Michigan, and the National Health Service of England. They take stock of the US inhaler market, calculate how much inhalers contribute to healthcare system emissions, and compare emissions and costs between metered-dose inhalers and their less-polluting cousins, dry-powder and soft-mist inhalers. They describe how less environmentally damaging inhalers are disproportionately more expensive in the US, making an ecological transition challenging. The authors are hopeful that this work will spur further discussion about the importance of reducing the global warming effect of inhaled medications. But more broadly, the article speaks to the trade-offs required within healthcare to weigh clinical efficacy vs. environmental impact vs. cost.

Here is a link to the study:

 https://jamanetwork-com.laneproxy.stanford.edu/journals/jama/fullarticle/2822997

July 8, 2024

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Meghan Ramsey has been named the Associate Chief of Strategy and Development for the division.

Meghan's dedication to the division and her professionalism is well recognized.  She graduated from Stanford Medical School, completing both her internal medicine residency and PCCM fellowship here. She served as chief resident and chief fellow respectively. She joined the PACCM faculty in 2015, with a career focus and clinical interests in critical care medicine and education. 

During the early phase of her career at Stanford, she joined our interventional pulmonology group and trained in advance bronchoscopies and lung cancer management.  One year later, the division expanded our presence at the Tri-Valley (TV) ICU (then named ValleyCare), and she was the first PACCM faculty member who traveled to the East Bay, often spending nights and entire weekends there to help our patients there. She was instrumental in the strategy and operation for TV-ICU when it expanded to 24/7/365 coverage. Her work enables the division to grow with recruitment of more than 16 new faculty since 2017.  Meghan was named the interim medical director in 2021 and the position was changed to being permanent in 2022. 

Meghan became the IM-CCM fellowship Program Director in 2021, and began working alongside Dr. June Gordon, Associate Program Director of the fellowship. Together, they fostered an excellent culture, improved education, and expanded operational scope. 

Nationally, Meghan has contributed significantly to the American College of Chest Physicians. She participates often in educational workshops for PCCM nationwide and is a valued member of the foundation.

Last year, our division expanded further to Good Samaritan Hospital ICU with 44 beds. Meghan provided a central role in the programmatic planning for more than 12 community ICU physicians and faculty working together in a critical location in the South Bay to provide complex care. Her work and the important partnership with SHC administrative leaders, allows Stanford Medicine to be integrated into communities and at the same time provides a needed mechanism to recruit talented faculty for our division to continue its growth for years to come. 

All of these activities revealed Meghan's significant talent for talent and program development. She is a well-respected physician-leader in the division, department, and the hospital.

Please join us in congratulating Meghan on this important new role.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark Nicolls, Dr. Arthur Sung, and Benita Kaeding

June 21, 2024

Dear Members of the Pulmonary Biology Community, Colleagues, and Friends,

As directors of the National Institutes of Health funded Stanford Pulmonary Biology Training Program, we are delighted to announce that Dr. Kalen Hendra, M.D. and Dr. Shaun Pienkos, M.D. will be joining the program.

Dr. Hendra, a fellow in Pediatric Pulmonology will be joining the training program and working under the guidance of Jochen Profit, MD, MPH. Dr. Hendra came to Stanford after an undergraduate degree at University of Richmond, a medical degree from Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke and completing training in Pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Kalen chose to join us at Stanford for fellowship training.

Dr. Pienkos is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and working with Catherine Blish PhD, M.D. Dr Pienkos joined the Blish laboratory after receiving an undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia. Shawn completed his Internal Medicine and Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine fellowship training at Stanford.

The addition of Drs. Hendra & Pienkos further enhances and strengthens our community of invested, intellectually engaged, discovery-driven pulmonary physician-scientists.  The training grant, which to this point has provided funding and a training experience for 18 people over the past 8 years, has played a central role in fostering the growth and development of the community.

We are delighted to welcome these new scholars and their mentors into the Stanford Pulmonary Biology Training community! 

Sincerely,

Mark Nicolls M.D.
Angela Rogers M.D.
David Cornfield M.D.
 

May 23, 2024

Please join the PACCM division in congratulating Benita Kaeding on her 30th Anniversary at Stanford University today!

Benita has been the PACCM Division Manager since 2008, when she stepped up as the interim DM, while also being the DM for Endocrinology. There is no one else we would want as our Division Manager, leading us through all the highs and lows. Her experience, knowledge, and determination has helped the division change, grow, and has fostered the very best for our faculty, staff, and trainees. We are extremely grateful that Benita has chosen to spend half her Stanford career supporting our division.  

Benita – truly, thank you for everything you have done for our division and all of us. PACCM and DoM would, without a doubt, not be the same without you. 30 years at Stanford is an incredible milestone, and we are proud of everything you have accomplished!

March 13, 2024

The PACCM division is happy to announce that several of our talented young researchers from Drs. Desai and de Jesus Perez's laboratories have been awarded new grant funding.  

Dr. Nicholas Juul is a recipient of the Parker B. Francis Award, a highly competitive grant in pulmonary biology; receiving this distinction has proven to be highly predictive of academic success in our field.  Nick will study methylation to determine the cellular origins of lung adenocarcinoma in humans as well as define epigenetic determinants of the response to Wnt signaling in lung adenocarcinoma. Dr. Tushar Desai is mentor and Prof. Roel Nusse, co-mentor, on this grant.  

Dr. Stuti Agarwal has received a similarly competitive American Heart Association (AHA) Career Development Award. Stuti will study how insufficiency of carboxylesterase 1 (Ces1) plays a role in metabolic reprogramming and endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension.  Dr. Vinicio de Jesus Perez is Stuti's mentor for this award.

Dr. Eleana Guardado received the UCSF Pediatric Pulmonary T32 award. Eleana will be studying pediatric right ventricular failure; she is also mentored by Vinicio.

Congratulations to our talented PACCM scientists for these fantastic new awards!

March 12, 2024

Clinical Professor Michelle Cao was awarded 'Woman of the Year' by the California Thoracic Society at their annual meeting held in Monterey from March 7th-10th. Michelle is a leader in the field of respiratory care for patients with neuromuscular disease. Please see her recent publication in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society (aka The White Journal) entitled "Roadmap for Advancing a New Subspecialty in Pulmonary Medicine Devoted to Chronic Respiratory Failure" DOI: https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202309-810IP. The Stanford PACCM Division has made great strides in the ranks of the CTS leadership under Michelle's stewardship (and past-Presidency).

Clinical Assistant Professor Gaurav Singh was elected as CTS Treasurer in January meaning he is on the path for being the future CTS President. Congratulations to both Michelle and Gaurav for their outstanding work! Both Michelle and Gaurav have also been instrumental in the ongoing development of our sleep-related training program in collaboration with our Sleep Medicine colleagues in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

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