It is hard to believe that 2016 is soon coming to a

close!

This fall issue reflects on the numerous events

during the last few months; we highlight the

patient-involved activities of The Richard P. and

Dorothy P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung

Disease, recent promotions and publications, and

new clinical initiatives.

Looking back on another successful Pittsburgh-

Munich International Lung Conference, we recog-

nize our collaboration with international colleagues

and look forward to new opportunities ahead.

The recognition of our committed clinical care has

once again been recognized nationwide and our

research efforts continue to score exceptionally in

grant reviews (42/72 awarded grants in FY16!).

It has been a year of accomplishments and

dynamic teamwork.

As we head into this busy holiday season, we hope

you will take a moment to recognize these achieve-

ments and congratulate each other on another

successful year.

A new recognition feature of the Insider is Spot-

light of faculty making important contributions to

our missions. Finally, I am thrilled that Dr. Keven

Robinson will assist on the Insider as Deputy

Editor, together with indispensable help from Terri

Dobransky.

We hope you enjoy this issue of the PACCM

Insider.

—Rama Mallampalli, MD

A Note from the Chief...

US News and World

Report has once

again recognized

UPMC as one of the

Nations Best Hospi-

tals.

For the 2016-2017

year, UPMC is #12

(up from #13) on the Honor Roll of Best

Hospitals. The subspecialty of Pulmonary

moved up to #7 (from #11 in previous

year) overall!

November 22, 2016

Volume 2, Issue 3

The PACCM Insider

Inside this issue:

Pittsburgh-Munich

International Lung

Conference

2

Role Changes 3

Global PF Awareness Month 3

Going Above and Beyond 4

Volunteer Appreciation 4

Co-Director of Center 4

Violet Rippy 5K 4

Outstanding Service 5

COPD and Oxygen Rx 5

Sleep and Pneumonia Link 5

Holiday Fun 5

Appointments & Promotions 6

Holiday Party 6

Grants & Notable Mentions 7

NHLBI Advisory Board 7

Tracheostomy Service 8

Pulmonary Artery Balloon

Angioplasty

8

North American Cystic

Fibrosis Conference

8

Publications 9

Simmons Center Events 10

Fellows 11

Celebrations 12

UPMC and Pulmonary

Move Up in National

Rankings

Mauricio Rojas, MD

Mauricio Rojas, MD— Dr. Rojas brings an international pres-

ence and recognition to PACCM given his cutting-edge

research activities in cell-based therapeutic studies in ARDS,

assessment of ECMO in severe lung injury, and the emerging

investigative studies in aging research. Mauricio, together with

his PACCM and cardiothoracic surgical collaborators, have set

up a unique ex vivo isolated human lung system for small mol-

ecule testing, and directs the Core for dissemination of human

lung samples. His work is recognized by NIH R01 and US

Department of Defense funding. Mauricio is highly active as a

mentor and in his spirit of collegiality and generous service to

PACCM in organizing our international lung research confer-

ence.

Faculty Spotlight

The 2016 Pittsburgh-Munich International

Lung Conference, Lung Immune Responses

and Inflammation in Health and Disease was

held on October 6-7 at the University Club.

This year’s course directors, Anuradha Ray,

PhD and Janet Lee MD hosted 35 speakers

and session chairs during this two day event.

Pre-conference activities included a Young

Investigator Session, with short presentations

by Marc Gauthier, Keven Robinson, and Anna

Zemke from PACCM, as well as three presenta-

tions from junior investigators from the

Comprehensive Pneumology Center in Munich,

Germany.

Three countries and nineteen states were

represented within the 226 total participants

during the conference itself, with 78 accepted

posters.

In addition to the four main conference

sessions, there was also an interactive session

with journal editors from JCI and Science

Immunology and a Banquet Dinner with key-

note speaker, Dr. Laurie Glimcher.

Pittsburgh-Munich International Lung Conference

Above: Course Directors, Janet Lee and Anuradha

Ray present poster award to Mareike Lehmann from

Germany

Below: Syed Mehdi Nouraie and Ana Mora

discuss a poster

Page 2 The PACCM Insider

Left Top:

Interactive

Session with

Journal

Editors

Bottom Left:

Speakers join

Course Directors,

Anuradha Ray and

Janet Lee for

Banquet Dinner at

Phipps Conserva-

tory and Botanical

Gardens

Bottom Right:

Bryan McVerry,

Chris O’Donnell,

Georgios Kitsios,

Byron Chuan,

and Faraaz Shah

during poster

reception.

Poster award winners included:

Margaret Bennewitz

Kong Chen

Carl Koch

Jacobo Sellares

Mareike Lehmann

Meredith Rogers

Stefan Jordan

Ulrich Costabel

Duo Zhang

Rachel Scheraga

Be sure to check the website for

information regarding future lung

conferences!

Right: Mark

Gladwin asks

questions

during panel

discussion

Phil Lamberty, MD

Director Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)

at UPMC-Presbyterian

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foun-

dation (PFF) designated Sep-

tember as Global Pulmonary

Fibrosis Awareness Month –

and the Simmons Center for

Interstitial Lung Disease rose

to the challenge by wearing

blue!

From blue nail polish to blue

hair, everyone joined in to

support patients and increase

awareness of pulmonary

fibrosis.

Global PF Awareness Month

Page 3 Volume 2, Issue 3

Role Changes

Keven Robinson, MD

Associate Program Director for

Scholarly Activities for the Pulmonary and

Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

Jared Chiarchiaro, MD

Director of PACCM Grand Rounds

Thank you to all the presenters/facilitators for this year’s Pulmonary Workshops!

John Kreit Jared Chiarchiaro Bryan McVerry

Frank Sciurba Bill Slivka Chris Faber

Rachel Givelber Joe Pilewski Jessica Bon

Andrej Petrov Sally Wenzel Mike Risbano

David Wilson

Small Group Facilitators:

Stephanie Maximous Elisabeth Sacks Julie Barton Quyen Nguyen

Ian Barbash Meghan Fitzpatrick Sharon Camhi Kristen Veraldi

Keven Robinson Phil Lamberty Mike Myerburg David Kristo

Shikha Gupta Carl Koch Eric Nolley Danny Kass

Jason Rose Anna Zemke Joo Yoon Charlie Atwood

Janet Lee Bruce Johnson Faraaz Shah Will Bain

Dan Zank Andrea Levine Alison Lennox Matt Morrell

Page 4 Volume 2, Issue 3

Volunteer Appreciation

Violet Rippy 5K

Co-Director of Center

On July 17, the Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung

Disease participated in the annual Violet Rippy Walk

for Pulmonary Fibrosis on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

Approximately 500 people walked or ran during this

years fundraiser. Proceeds from this event benefited

the Simmons Center,

The Antonio J. and Janet Palumbo Cystic Fibrosis Center named Daniel

Weiner as Director, with Dr. Joe Pilewski as Co-Director, effective October

1, 2016.

Dr. Pilewski directs the adult CF program and is also Chair of the CFF’s

Therapeutics Development Network Steering Committee, as well as serving

on the CF Foundation’s Strategic Mission Committee and Center

Committee.

Joseph Pilewski, MD

VA Notice of Outstanding Service—

Charles Atwood, Jr. MD and Julia C. Barton, Sleep Medicine

Fellow - Received a thank you note from the secretary or

deputy secretary for providing outstanding service or care for

veterans during the months of August and September 2016.

Outstanding Service

Page 5 The PACCM Insider

Charles Atwood, Jr. MD

Sleep and Pneumonia Link

A New York Times reader

asked if there is a link between

restful sleep and the ability to

combat the onset of colds and

other winter illnesses.

The article cited a several stud-

ies, most of which found that

adults with poor sleep habits

were much more likely to

become ill with the common

cold.

As an inclusion, a study by Dr.

Sanjay Patel suggested that women who had too little

sleep (five hours or less) or slept excessively (nine hours

or more) were also at risk for developing pneumonia.

Frank Sciurba, MD

Julia Barton, MD

Although oxygen is the stand-

ard treatment for COPD

patients with low blood oxygen

levels, a recent study shows

no significant benefit for

patients with moderate levels

of oxygen in their blood.

Dr. Frank Sciurba discussed

the study and findings in a

recent Tribune Review article

and also in an interview on

WTAE news.

COPD and Oxygen Prescriptions

Sanjay R. Patel, MD, MS

Holiday Fun

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Montefiore Conference Room, NW628

Around-the-world Holiday Luncheon:

Our PACCM Family is rich in cultural backgrounds that

extend around the world!

Share your ethnic history and holiday traditions by

bringing a traditional covered dish or dessert if you

would like to participate in our Annual

Potluck Around-the-World Holiday Luncheon.

Misfit Gift Exchange:

The fun way to “REGIFT”…

Did you receive 2 copies of the same DVD movie last

year? Or would you like to conveniently “lose” last year’s

gift from your in-laws?

Rewrap it in pretty paper (without a gift tag) and see

who will bargain for your mystery gift in this playfully

competitive tradition.

Page 6 Volume 2, Issue 3

Appointments and Promotions

Burton Lee, MD, FCCP

Visiting Professor of Medicine

Burton Lee, MD, FCCP - Visiting Professor of Medicine

Stacy Rosenberg, MD - Clinical Instructor of Medicine

Stevan Tofovic, MD, PhD - Associate Professor of Medicine

Mike Myerburg, MD - Associate Professor of Medicine

Anna Zemke, MD - Assistant Professor of Medicine

Jing Zhao, MD, PhD - Associate Professor of Medicine

Timothy Oriss, PhD - Research Associate Professor of Medicine

Danny Kass, MD - Associate Professor of Medicine

Holiday Skating Party

Be sure to RSVP

for the skating party

by December 15!

If attending,

please send

the number of adults

and number of children

to dobranskyta@upmc.edu

Janet Lee, MD and

Michael Donahoe, MD

are editors of the new

book titled

Hematologic

Abnormalities and

Acute Lung

Syndromes.

Jessica Bon Field, MD has been selected to serve on

the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Joint Biomedi-

cal Laboratory Research and Development and Clinical

Science Research and Development Services Merit

Review Board until June 2019.

Quyen Nguyen, MD has a new F32: Mitochondrial

Dysfunction Underlies Right Ventricular Failure in

Pulmonary Hypertension.

Faraaz Shah, MD has received a K23: Metabolic Effects

of Early Nutritional Support in Sepsis: A Translational

Investigation.

Grants, Awards, & Notable Mentions

Media Links

Page 7 The PACCM Insider

Kathy Lindell, PhD, RN has also received a K23:

Integrating Palliative Care for Patients with Idio-

pathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and their Caregivers.

Louis Vuga, MD has received an HHS Grant: The role

of FBX015 in collagen synthesis in Idiopathic Pulmo-

nary Fibrosis.

The Division also received news of promising scores

for the following submissions:

Keven Robinson, MD – K08: The Role of IL-33 dur-

ing Influenza and Bacterial Super-infection

Tim Corcoran, PhD – U01: Multilevel Models of Ther-

apeutic Response in the Lungs.

Marc Gauthier, MD – NRSA: Interference With GR

Function by Cytokines Upregulated in Severe

Asthma.

Chris O’Donnell, PhD - R01: Myocardial Infarction

and Mechanisms of Impaired Sleep and Breathing.

Online editions of the Respiratory Reader newsletter

are available by clicking here.

Sally Wenzel, MD

Congratulations to Dr. Sally Wenzel,

who has been selected to serve on

the NHLBI Advisory Council from

2016-2020!

NHLBI Advisory Council

Keep up with weekly divisional conferences

by visiting the

PACCM Web Calendar!

Clicking on an event will expand to show

speaker information.

Tracheostomy Service

Pulmonary Artery

Balloon Angioplasty

-Contribution by Dr. Catalin Toma

Dr. Takeshi Ogo from Osaka visited

Pitt during the first week of

November. Thanks to the efforts

of Belinda Rivera-Lebron, the PH

Association helped to sponsor his

special Cardiology/PACCM Grand

Rounds lecture. During Dr. Ogo’s

visit, with the combined effort of

Cardiology and PACCM, balloon

pulmonary angioplasty procedures

were conducted on 3 patients with

CTEPH. Rotational angiograms

(cone beam CTs) were also

performed in these patients.

These procedures are done in

staged fashion, with an average of

4-5 sessions per patient. Although

only a specific anatomic subtype of

CTEPH is amenable to this

intervention (segmental and

subsegmental disease), there are a

number of patients with CTEPH

who fit the profile. Looking ahead,

this may progress to become a

useful therapeutic tool for the PH

program.

Page 8 The PACCM Insider

-By Roy Semaan

The MICU trach service is starting to do our own percutaneous tracheosto-

mies at the bedside in the MICU. This allows us to keep the procedure

within our own Division and improves convenience by providing same or

next day tracheostomies, as well as bedside service. A benefit of this

service is that it may limit the need for transfer to the operating room,

therefore decreasing cost and improving efficiency. We hope to expand to

the CCU in the near future as well.

Above: Joe Pilewski moderates session

on the Emerging Issues of Lung

Transplantation in CF patients

The North American Cystic Fibrosis

Conference (NACFC) was held in Orlando,

Florida on October 27-29.

Multiple members of the PACCM division

presented science posters/talks, including:

Joe Pilewski

Tim Corcoran

Anna Zemke

Alison Lennox

Matt Markovetz

Florencio Serrano

During the conference, Ray Frizzell, PhD

from Pitt’s Cell Biology/Pediatrics was

awarded the Paul di Sant’Agnese

Distinguished Scientific

Achievement Award.

North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference

Right: Alison Lenox,

presents a patient case

during the Adult Fellows

session.

Kitsios GD, Morris A. Mode of delivery to the brave new

(microbial) world: a defining moment for the respiratory

microbiome? EBioMedicine 2016 [In Press].

Kitsios GD, Morris A, McVerry BJ. Antibiotic de-escalation:

observational causal inference and culture-dependence.

Intensive Care Medicine 2016 [In Press].

Barton JH, Ireland A, Fitzpatrick M, Kessinger C, Camp D,

Weinman R, McMahon D, Leader JK, Holguin F, Wenzel

SE, Morris A, Gingo MR. Adiposity influences airway wall

thickness and the asthma phenotype of HIV-associated

obstructive lung disease: a cross-sectional study. BMC

Pulm Med. 2016; 16: 111.

McKelvey AC, Lear TB, Dunn SR, Evankovich J, Londino

JD, Bednash JS, Zhang Y, McVerry BJ, Liu Y, Chen BB.

RING finger E3 ligase PPP1R11 regulates TLR2 signaling

and innate immunity. Elife. 2016 Nov 2;5.

Makubi A, Sasi P, Ngaeje M, Novelli EM, Mmbando BP,

Pullamsetti SS, Savai R, Seeger W, Goncharova EA. From

Cancer Biology to New PAH Therapeutics: Targeting Cell

Growth and Proliferation Signaling Hubs. Am J Respir Crit

Care Med. 2016 Sep 14. [Epub ahead of print]

Kelly NJ, Dandachi N, Goncharov DA, Pena AZ, Radder JE,

Gregory AD, Lai YC, Leme AS, Gladwin MT, Goncharova

EA, St Croix CM, Shapiro SD. Automated Measurement of

Blood Vessels in Tissues from Microscopy Images. Curr

Protoc Cytom. 2016 Oct 10;78:12.44.1-12.44.13.

Dodd-O JM, Ganguly S, Vulic A, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A,

McDyer JF, Luznik L. Induction of MHC-mismatched

Mouse Lung Allograft Acceptance with Combined Donor

Bone Marrow: Lung Transplant using a 12-Hour Nonmye-

loablative Conditioning Regimen. Transplantation. 2016

Sep 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Dickson RP, Morris A. Macrolides, inflammation and the

lung microbiome: untangling the web of causality. Thorax.

2016 Oct 31. [Epub ahead of print]

Zemke AC, Kocak BR, Bomberger JM. Sodium nitrite in-

hibits killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms by

ciprofloxacin. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2016 Oct

31.

Page 9 Volume 2, Issue 3

Publications

Nan L, Jacko AM, Tan J, Wang D, Zhao J, Kass DJ, Ma H,

Zhao Y. Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase-L5 pro-

motes TGFβ-1 signaling by de-ubiquitinating and stabiliz-

ing Smad2/Smad3 in pulmonary fibrosis. Sci Rep. 2016

Sep 8;6:33116.

Liang Z, Hoffman LA, Nouraie M, Kass DJ, Donahoe MP,

Gibson KF, Saul MI, Lindell KO. Referral to Palliative Care

Infrequent in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Admitted to an Intensive Care Unit. J Palliat Med. 2016

Oct 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Johnson DA, Simonelli G, Moore K, Billings M, Mujahid

MS, Rueschman M, Kawachi I, Redline S, Diez Roux AV,

Patel SR. The Neighborhood Social Environment and Ob-

jective Measures of Sleep in the Multi-Ethnic Study of

Atherosclerosis. Sleep. 2016 Sep 9. [Epub ahead of print]

Alrawashdeh M, Zomak R, Dew MA, Sereika S, Song MK,

Pilewski J, DeVito Dabbs A. Pattern and Predictors of Hos-

pital Readmission During the First Year After Lung Trans-

plantation. Am J Transplant. 2016 Sep 27. [Epub ahead

of print]

Rosenberger EM, DeVito Dabbs AJ, DiMartini AF, Landsit-

tel DP, Pilewski JM, Dew MA. Long-Term Follow-up of a

Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating a Mobile Health

Intervention for Self-Management in Lung Transplant Re-

cipients. Am J Transplant. 2016 Sep 24. [Epub ahead of

print]

Wecht S, Rojas M. Mesenchymal stem cells in the treat-

ment of chronic lung disease. Respirology. 2016 Sep 29.

[Epub ahead of print]

Rose JJ, Wang L, Xu Q, McTiernan CF, Shiva S, Tejero J,

Gladwin MT. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Pathogenesis,

Management and Future Directions of Therapy. Am J

Respir Crit Care Med. 2016 Oct 18.

Luyster FS, Strollo PJ Jr, Holguin F, Castro M, Dunican EM,

Fahy J, Gaston B, Israel E, Jarjour NN, Mauger DT, Moore

WC, Wenzel SE. Association between insomnia and asth-

ma burden in the Severe Asthma Research Program

(SARP) III. Chest. 2016 Oct 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Wilson DO, Pu J. The bell tolls for indeterminant lung

nodules: computer-aided nodule assessment and risk

yield (CANARY) has the wrong tune. J Thorac Dis. 2016

Aug;8(8):E836-7.

Olonisakin TF, Li H, Xiong Z, Kochman EJ, Yu M, Qu Y,

Hulver M, Kolls JK, St Croix C, Doi Y, Nguyen MH, Shanks

RM, Mallampalli RK, Kagan VE, Ray A, Silverstein RL, Ray

P, Lee JS. CD36 provides host protection against Klebsiel-

la pneumoniae intrapulmonary infection by enhancing

LPS responsiveness and macrophage phagocytosis. J

Infect Dis. 2016 Sep 28. [Epub ahead of print]

Yu S, Yerges-Armstrong LM, Chu Y, Zmuda JM, Zhang Y.

Transcriptional Regulation of Frizzled-1 in Human Osteo-

blasts by Sp1. PLoS One. 2016 Oct 3;11(10):e0163277.

eCollection 2016.

Courtesy of:

VADLO.com

Page 10 The PACCM Insider

Simmons Center Events

12th Annual Fran Magister Charity Golf Outing – This year’s event was held on August 22 at Wildwood Golf Club in Allison

Park. 103 golfers competed during the day and a total of 170 guests joined for dinner. Patients get to golf for free or play

bingo, and have complimentary dinner.

Proceeds from this event fund the Simmons Center support group efforts, including the annual Gateway Clipper cruise.

It was perfect weather for this

years annual Gateway Clipper

Cruise, held on Monday, Oct 10th.

The 90 attendees included

patients and their guests, and

faculty and staff from the

Simmons Center.

Promising scores for both John Evankovich, MD and Tomeka

Suber, MD on two separate F32 applications.

Marc Gauthier, MD – Understanding Steroid‐Refractory Severe

Asthma to Identify Novel Targets for Therapy abstract accepted

for presentation at the Twelfth Respiratory Disease Young

Investigator Forum in Chicago.

Jason Rose, MD– Recipient of the 2016 Young Investigator

Award - A Carbon Monoxide (CO) Scavenging Agent Reverses

CO-Induced Mitochondrial Inhibition in vitro and in vivo at

Resuscitation Science Symposium (ReSS) in New Orleans.

Page 11 Volume 2, Issue 3

Fellows

Save the Date!

Annual Fellows Research Retreat

Presentations by Fellows

Special Guest Speaker

Center /Institute Highlights

Research Faculty Presentations

Traditional Bowling Competition

Our first year fellows (above), Joe Bednash, Matt

Camiolo, Danny Dunlap, Jennifer Newitt, Erin

Nuzzo, Craig Riley, and Eleanor Valenzi were

welcomed during a summer party hosted by Bry-

an McVerry (below).

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and

Critical Care Medicine-PACCM

Like us on Facebook!

Celebrations

www.dept-med.pitt.edu/PACCM

@PACCM

Follow us on Twitter!

Random Fun

THROWBACK PHOTO TIME!

Recently found in the archives: We are not sure what Dr.

Frank Sciurba and Dr. Janet Lee were discussing, but it

looks pretty important!

Editor-in-Chief: Rama Mallampalli, MD

Deputy Editor: Keven Robinson, MD

Senior Editor and Creative Designer: Terri Dobransky

Be sure to notify us of all newsworthy items!

New Grants

Honors & Awards

Promotions & New Appointments

Special Presentations/Seminars

Engagements/Marriages/Births

Share photos of your colleagues!

Send info to: dobranskyta@upmc.edu

BIRTHS

Congratulations to our growing PACCM family!

Meghan Fitzpatrick, MD

welcomed twin girls—Kiera Marie (left) and

Aubrey Rose (right) on October 30th.