Fellows Research

The breadth and quantity of research ongoing in the division provides our Fellows with the opportunity to develop research skills in his or her area of interest. It is our goal to rigorously train and mold our Fellows into outstanding young investigators, so that they will obtain the necessary skills to develop an independent research program investigating the pathogenesis/treatment of diseases of the lung.

The following briefly summarize the research projects being conducted by our current Fellows:

Wassim Fares, MD-Second year Fellow

Hometown: Lebanon
Undergraduate: American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Medical School: American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Residency: Saint Vincent Hospital (Case Western Reserve University), Cleveland, Ohio
Fellowship: (Pulmonary Hypertension & Heart Failure) Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a potentially fatal disease, with high morbidity and mortality. Understanding the pathophysiology of PAH would help us design new therapies to target specific pathways that are critical for the progression of this disease. PAH is a very exciting field to be in at this time, since we are just starting to understand the basics of the pulmonary arterial pathology that leads to PAH.

Jennifer Goralski, MD - Second year Fellow

Hometown: Hackensack, New Jersey 
Undergraduate: The College of New Jersey 
Medical School: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey 
Residency: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey 
Hobbies:

Research interest is the transition of care of cystic fibrosis patients from childhood to adults. 

Steven Lommatzsch, MD - Third year Fellow

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio
Undergraduate: Miami of Ohio
Medical School: Medical College of Ohio
Residency: University of Virginia
Hobbies: charcoal drawing, lyrical poetry, boxing

Active sarcoidosis is associated with the accumulation of a preponderance of macrophages in the lung. Also, there have been findings showing blood dendritic cell subsets migrate into sarcoid affected tissues, contributing to the formation of granulomas. It is believed that the migrating macrophages and dendritic cells may regulate the T cell response in sarcoidosis. My research interest is studying both these cell populations further to investigate their contribution in the pathogenesis of lung disease, particularly sarcoidosis.

Seong-Joo Jeong, MD - Third year fellow

Hometown: Chatanooga, TN
Undergraduate: University of Pennsylvania
Medical School: Chonnam National University, Korea
Residency: NE Ohio University College of Medicine

Airway epithelial stem cell project in the laboratory of Dr. Scott Randell.