The Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, first led by Roger Mitchell, graduated its initial trainee in 1958. The Division focused on the development of clinician investigators, with less than half of its graduates through 1970 opting for academic positions. The emphasis of research was clinical and physiological and Giles Filey was a leading member of the division. Shortly thereafter, there was a recognized national shortage of academic pulmonologists in both clinical and scientific disciplines. Since 1970, the primary goal of the Division’s training program is the preparation of trainees for academic careers and leading roles in academic pulmonary medicine.
In 1971, Thomas L. Petty MD, a former trainee of Dr. Mitchell’s became Division head. His training program graduates who became division heads include: Len Hudson, (University of Washington); Clifford Zwillich (formerly Pennsylvania State University, now University of Colorado); Alpha Fowler (Virginia Commonwealth); Steve Sahn (Medical University of South Carolina); Veena Anthony, (University of Florida); Thomas Hyers (St. Louis University); Paul Talley, (Meharry School of Medicine); Dan Olsen, (Medical College of Ohio); and Dennis Doherty, (University of Kentucky). Other prominent graduates during Dr. Petty’s tenure include Dr. Talmadge King, Head of Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, David White, Head of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard, Richard Albert, Head, Department of Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center, Sharon Rounds, Brown University, John Newman, Vanderbilt and Norbert Voelkel and Scott Worthen, University of Colorado.
In 1985 Drs. Marvin Schwarz and Peter Henson were named co-division heads and in 1987, Dr. Schwarz became the sole division head. Dr. Schwarz has been the principal investigator of the Divisional T32 Training Grant since 1987. Since his tenure, the following trainees have become division directors: Frank McCormack, University of Cincinnati; Michael Iannuzzi, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Polly Parsons, University of Vermont; Greg Downey, University of Toronto; and Paul Noble, Duke. Other prominent trainees completing the program since 1987 include Samuel Aguayo, Chairman of Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine, Serpil Erzurum, Head of the Department of Pathobiology at the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, Mark Geraci and Karen Fagan of the University of Colorado, David Guidot and Mark Moss, both at Emory and Monica Kraft of Duke.
In 2004 Dr. Schwarz stepped down as division head but still remains the director of the fellowship program. Dr. Mark Geraci is the current division head, a former fellow in the program. Another former fellow, Marc Moss was recently recruited to head the section of Critical Care Medicine.