Women’s Guild Lung Institute Pursues Growth, Achieves Goals

Staffed by an expert team of world-class pulmonary specialists, the Women’s Guild Lung Institute has long enjoyed a record of distinction. It is a record that continues to be upheld and augmented through important advances in clinical care, medical education, and scientific research.

In recent months, the Institute’s clinical work has flourished. Activity in the area of lung transplantation is growing steadily, and the Institute is embarking on a project to increase the volume of transplants — from the current 18 to 20 each year to an annual total of approximately 35 to 40. An exciting recruitment of new talent will put this goal within reach. Pursuing a collaborative approach, physicians at the Women’s Guild Lung Institute have joined forces with Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute faculty to establish a pulmonary hypertension clinic. Antoine Hage, MD, and Michael Lewis, MD, have been appointed the clinic’s co-directors.

The Institute has seen growth in the teaching arena as well. Its prestigious Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program has expanded, bringing the current number of fellows to 24, making it one of the largest programs of its kind nationwide. The program has also added Kaiser Permanente as a new campus.

Just as it has successfully notched new clinical and teaching accomplishments, so, too, has the Institute made impressive progress on the research front. Lung Institute Medical Director Zab Mosenifar, MD, recently received a coveted grant from the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute to study the detection of early lung cancer in ubiquitylation profiling. The Pulmonary/Critical Care Division also received funding from the John W. Carson Foundation to sponsor emphysema research. Other research activities include a focus on lung cancer profiling and proteomics under the direction of Cedars-Sinai physicians Ronald Natale, MD, and Peter Julien, MD.

In addition, Mark Greene, MD, holder of the Vera and Paul Guerin Chair in Pulmonary Disease Research, continues his efforts in drug development and the discovery of new molecules. The Institute has also launched a new research conference focused on enriching the knowledge of faculty, fellows, and residents regarding the detection and treatment of lung cancer.

According to Dr. Mosenifar, these achievements owe much to the dedication and support of Women’s Guild. “It seems to me that this group of tireless women has not slept in the past five years,” he says. “Their relentless efforts have enabled us to get where we are today.” For more information about the Women’s Guild Lung Institute, for a tour of the institute or to make a gift, please call the Women’s Guild Office at 310-423-3667 or Meredith Shikora, Manager, Support Groups at 310-967-0626.