Message from the Chief

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) is comprised of a team of outstanding clinicians, scientists, and scholars dedicated to improving the lives of patients with serious lung disease and those who are critically ill. The Division’s overriding research mission supports basic science and innovative clinical approaches for the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases and critical illness. Faculty, fellows, and trainees collaborate with investigators in science and clinical departments across the university and with faculty in divisions throughout the Department of Medicine. Today, we are well-equipped with strong basic and clinical investigations that will transform patient care in respiratory medicine and assist in training the next generation of leaders.

Patient care is provided and carefully overseen by our 23 faculty at Stanford University Medical Center, 7 faculty at the Palo Alto Veteran’s Administration HealthCare System and 7 affiliated faculty at The Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. At Stanford, we have a strong ancillary team of skilled study coordinators and nurse practitioners who are highly trained to address the specific needs of our clinical and research mission.

The first heart-lung transplant in the world was performed at Stanford in 1981 for a patient with pulmonary hypertension. Since then, cardiologists and pulmonologists at Stanford have been at the forefront of new developments in the understanding and treatment of cardiopulmonary disease. In 2011, the Center of Advanced Lung Disease was established at Stanford. This rapidly expanding enterprise includes strong programs that treat and advance care for patients with cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease and lung transplants. We have one of the busiest and most successful lung and heart/lung transplant programs in the country, performing approximately 40-50 transplants per year. In addition, more than 200 adults with cystic fibrosis are treated at our Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, making it one of the largest treatment centers in the country specifically geared to the medical need needs of adults living with cystic fibrosis. Clinical care for patients with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension is provided by a team of medical professionals with expertise in all forms of pulmonary hypertension.  

PCCM at Stanford is committed to conducting innovative research to advance the health of patients with lung disease. In conjunction with the Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, we have one of the leading pulmonary hypertension research programs in the country. Other areas of strength include investigative programs in transplantation, interstitial lung disease, lung development, ARDS, outcomes research, genomics and early lung cancer detection. In collaboration with UCSF, we have recently formed a strong partnership–The Northern California Scleroderma Research Consortium. The objective of this consortium is to advance the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of scleroderma and apply this knowledge to the development of novel biomarkers and effective therapies for patients suffering from scleroderma.  We invite you to learn more about the Division through our website.

Mark Nicolls, MD, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division Chief