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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Department of Medicine

Basic and Translational Research

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is among the leading groups in the world in the field of lung biology and clinical research in lung diseases. 

Our research programs are anchored on large collaborative multi-investigator projects that blur traditional distinctions between basic science and translational research.  We start with the patient.  Clinical scholars and epidemiologists identify critical research questions and generate hypotheses from high-quality observational data.  Clinicians in our specialty program identify pathways by which these questions can be addressed as part of clinical care.  They collect samples from the lung as and provide them to our team of laboratory scientists.  Investigators in our state-of-the art laboratories analyze these samples using novel genomic and clinical phenomic approaches.  Data scientists in our group integrate data from these patients to identify hypotheses about disease mechanisms.  Basic science researchers in our Division use cell and animal models to causally test these hypotheses and identify small molecules for therapy. Our clinical researchers test these or related drugs in interventional trials conducted in our clinical specialty programs. 
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