My patient care responsibilities are centered at the Veterans Administration Western New York Healthcare System (VA) where I care for hospitalized patients with pulmonary problems as well as maintain two active outpatient clinics in the VA system: the pulmonary clinic and the sleep medicine clinic. I also supervise the continuity clinics at the VA. I also have a sleep clinic at UBMD sleep.

My research interests dovetail with my clinical work. I conduct research on skeletal muscle function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and those patients in pulmonary rehabilitation. I investigate predictors of the response to pulmonary rehabilitation, and I am also interested in sleep apnea research, comparing the occurrence of complications (postoperative and others) between patients with sleep apnea and those without. I examine sleep apnea treatment options and their success rate in special patient populations, such as patients with psychiatric disease or those on chronic opioid therapy.

I run multicenter trials in patients with COPD, and I am presently involved in one NIH-sponsored studies: examining the effects of weight loss and exercise on outcomes in patients with COPD and several pharmaceutical trials of agents to reduce exacerbations. I am involved in one NIH study examining the effects of preoperative respiratory muscle training on outcomes after surgical resection for patients with lung cancer. I am also involved in a VA sponsored trial of a specific supplement regimen and/or exercise on outcomes and skeletal muscle function in the healthy elderly.

I teach medical students primarily in the respiratory physiology course. I enjoy working with students throughout the full spectrum of medical education from first-year medical students to senior fellows in pulmonary critical care or sleep medicine. As the fellowship director for pulmonary critical care medicine, I am responsible for the educational curricula for the fellowship.

Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Sleep Medicine

Physician Gender:

Male