Claire M. Doerschuk, M.D., was appointed to the newly created position of associate dean of medical student research at the School of Medicine in November 2003. In this position, she is helping to enhance opportunities for medical students to develop interests in clinical and basic research and in scholarship within the University Program curriculum, to initiate a thesis program and a fifth-year fellowship, and to develop joint M.D./M.S. and M.A. programs with the graduate programs in the School of Medicine and university. Dr. Doerschuk is a professor of pediatrics and pathology at the School of Medicine and is vice-chair of research and chief of the division of integrative biology in the Department of Pediatrics at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. She also holds a joint appointment as a professor of biomedical engineering. Her research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms of lung disease, particularly bacterial pneumonia. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the 2003 recipient of the Elizabeth Rich, M.D., Award for contributions in mentoring and pulmonary research from the American Thoracic Society, and a recipient of a Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. In 2002, she received the Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Doerschuk received the 10-year grant for her research studying the regulation of white blood cell recruitment to the lungs during bacterial pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Her work examines the recruitment of neutrophils, the first white blood cell to respond to a bacterial infection or injury. She also studies how pneumonia causes neutrophils to be released from the bone marrow where they are produced. She serves as a research mentor to many students and faculty, including medical students at Case Western Reserve University.
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