Mission Statement: To improve the lives of patients with critical illness, disorders of the chest, lungs and airways, and disorders of sleep, through extraordinary and personalized patient care, world-class education, and innovative research.

The Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of South Florida provides comprehensive subspecialty services and compassionate care for patients with critical illness, thoracic diseases and sleep-related disorders. The Division maintains active and exemplary roles in teaching the next generation of physicians, and through innovative research creates new knowledge to advance our understanding of disease and to promote health.

The faculty, research associates and staff members are devoted to the pursuit of excellence in each of the following activities and services provided by the Division:

Clinical services:

Educational activities:

• Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program
• Sleep Fellowship Program
• CME programs for physicians and healthcare providers
• Teaching of medical students, residents, and patients

Research programs:

• Macrophage cell molecular biology in host defenses
• Sleep physiology
• Physiology and treatment of dyspnea and respiratory sensations
• ICU quality care and improvement and clinical outcomes
• Diagnosis and staging of chest lesions using minimally invasive techniques
• Non-surgical treatment of airway lesions
• Pulmonary fibrosis drug treatment trials
• Novel therapies for asthma and emphysema treatment

Clinical trials:

• ESCAPE: A randomized, Placebo Controlled Double-Blind Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Methyprednisone in Hospitalized Veterans with Severe Community Acquired Pneumonia #10-04 CSP 574. Dr. Mark Rumbak is principal investigator and can be reached by email at dmrumcake@aol.com, or beeper number 201-0007, and Elsa Garza, ARNP, whose beeper number is 813-332-3714.
  
  

In the medical ICU, Division members provide supervision and state-of-the-art care for patients with a variety of complex critical illnesses. To promote outstanding and quality medical care to critically ill patients, members of the Division have developed and implemented several key initiatives, including: 1) innovative evidence-based protocols to standardize treatment for specific conditions such as severe sepsis; and 2) extensive use of computers for patient monitoring, record keeping, and medication ordering to facilitate information transfer and enhance patient safety;

The Pulmonary Consultation service provides comprehensive and timely evaluations for both inpatients and ambulatory patients with a wide variety of pulmonary symptoms, radiographic abnormalities and respiratory diseases.