The division provides comprehensive interdisciplinary care to children in the WAMI region. In 2007, more than 2,600 children received care from clinicians of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital and regional outreach clinics. The division is nationally recognized for its expertise and research contributions. The Division of Pulmonary Medicine includes a Cystic Fibrosis Center, a Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center and an Asthma Center; each conducts clinical, educational and research activities. The division participates in multiple national networks of research and care, including the Cystic Fibrosis Therapeutics Development Network, the Pediatric Interstitial Lung Disease Network, the Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia Network and the Spine and Chest Wall Deformity Network.
The division also provides general pulmonary evaluations for symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, recurrent pneumonia, wheeze, chest pain and exercise intolerance. Division staff members conduct clinical and translational research, and research in molecular genetics, microbiology, epidemiology and health services and outcomes. Current research focuses include the pathogenesis and treatment of chronic airway infection in children with cystic fibrosis, outcome measures of progressive airway disease in infants with cystic fibrosis, inflammatory markers in exhaled breath condensate among infants who wheeze, gene expression in airway epithelial cells from wheezy infants, functional consequences of spine and chest wall deformities in young children and epidemiology of sleep disorders in high-risk populations such as children with fetal alcohol syndrome and autism.
The division has an accredited pediatric pulmonary fellowship program and participates in the sleep medicine fellowship program administered by the University of Washington School of Medicine. It has won numerous teaching awards from the pediatric residency program and medical students alike. Members of the pulmonary faculty have served in leadership positions on regional and national professional organizations. The Division of Pulmonary Medicine remains productive, with its members publishing more than 35 articles, chapters and national position papers annually over the last three years.