text: Why Choose Us for Pulmonary Care? - UChicago Medicine
  Why Choose Us for Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine?
  A Leader in Asthma Treatment and Research
  The University of Chicago Asthma Center is one of only nine asthma programs in the United States designated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as a Specialized Center of Research in Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Asthma. The Asthma Center provides treatment, while also promoting research and public education about asthma.
  Our programs aim to reduce the frequency and severity of asthma, particularly among urban populations and minority groups with a high rate of asthma. Asthma Center representatives participate in school programs, local health fairs, and other community-based educational programs. We are an active member of the Chicago Asthma Consortium.
  Research, including basic research in the lab and clinical research that offers patients the newest methods for diagnosis and treatment.
  Currently, the University of Chicago Medicine is one of a small number of medical centers involved in a study of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under the auspices of the NIH, the University of Chicago Medicine and these other select medical centers formed the ARDSNet to find the most effective treatments for ARDS.
  Our Respiratory Clinical Research Group (RCR) is involved in conducting clinical investigations and trials. Every year more than 1,000 people are screened for participation in various studies involving asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. These studies range widely from novel medications offering new hope for difficult-to-treat diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis, to translational research involving outpatient bronchoscopy in an effort to further basic science research.
  Our state-of-the-art intensive care unit (ICU) is designed to care for patients with critical, life-threatening conditions, including serious infections. This entirely new, 16-bed ICU opened in 2001. Instead of being treated by generalists, patients receive care from physicians and nurses who specialize in treating critically ill patients. Other specialists--such as cardiologists or transplant surgeons--collaborate with the critical care physicians to provide comprehensive care that meets each patient's needs. The University of Chicago Medicine also has separate ICUs for adult cardiovascular patients, neurology/neurosurgery patients, pediatric patients, and infants (neonatal ICU).
  Emergency transport by medical helicopter is available to patients who need tertiary care. With UCAN (University of Chicago Aeromedical Network), patients can be transported to the University of Chicago medical campus from another hospital, home, or other site within a 300-mile radius.
  Infant Pulmonary-Function Testing
  The University of Chicago Medicine was the first institution in Chicago to perform this testing on infants, enabling intervention to begin at a younger age. »Learn more about pediatric pulmonary care at Comer Children's Hospital
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  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neuromuscular diseases
  Critical illnesses, particularly respiratory failure, ARDS, shock, multi-organ failure, and critical illness during pregnancy