The Department of Medicine Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine has an unyielding commitment to patient care, research, and training the next generation of researchers and clinicians. The division’s research programs cover a broad range of topics including the analyses of nutritional and environmental factors in human health and disease; the basic mechanisms of lung development, lung injury, and lung repair; and more.
Read our interview with division director David Guidot, MD to learn about his path to a career in medicine, his experience as a faculty member at Emory, and more!
Why did you decide to pursue a career in medicine?
I loved every subject in school but was particularly drawn to the life sciences. My father was a physician and a great role model who influenced me by showing that medicine combines science, the humanities, art, and culture in a way that I found compelling. As much as the knowledge base is critical to informing what we do as physicians, it has been the relationships with patients and the opportunity to affect their lives in both simple and profound ways that have made this such a rewarding career for me.
What led you to join the Department of Medicine?
I was recruited to Emory in 1995 by Roland Ingram (then the division director of Pulmonary) and several junior faculty physician-scientists in the division who have since moved on to other institutions. I was just a small part of a much larger plan by the university and the Department of Medicine to grow the research capacity here. I was offered the opportunity for an independent, tenure-track position with my own laboratory space at the Atlanta VA. I took a leap of faith and left a division at the University of Colorado with more than 100 funded investigators in the Pulmonary Division to be one of just four junior faculty members with funded research activities in our small division here. It was the best professional decision of my career, and I am now blessed to direct a division with more than 90 faculty members that includes a large and diverse research component, in addition to outstanding clinical and teaching programs.
Can you share more about your experience and specialty area(s)?
I grew up in Detroit and completed my undergraduate and medical school education at the University of Michigan, where I received my MD degree in 1984. I then completed my internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota in 1987, and following an additional year there as chief medical resident, I moved to Denver and completed a combined fellowship in both pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Colorado. I have been American Board of Internal Medicine certified in both subspecialties since 1991.
My research training at Colorado focused on oxidative stress and acute lung injury, and this general area of investigation has remained a constant throughout my career. However, it was here at Emory that serendipity first led me to study the basic mechanisms by which alcohol abuse renders individuals susceptible to acute lung injury and pneumonia, and later, how chronic HIV infection produces remarkably similar vulnerabilities. My research team has used multiple laboratory models as well as clinical trials involving human subjects with alcohol use disorders and/or HIV infection to identify the fundamental mechanisms by which these chronic conditions impair lung health.
What is the highlight of your career at Emory thus far?
I have had so many wonderful experiences at Emory that it is difficult to narrow them down. However, I am most proud of my mentoring of so many students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty during my 27-year career here. I have always enjoyed ‘basking in reflected glory,’ and get a bigger thrill out of a trainee getting a paper published or a grant awarded to them than anything that comes my way individually.
What do you like most about living in Atlanta?
As someone who grew up in southern Michigan (fewer sunny days than Seattle) and lived in Minnesota for four years after that, I have to say that one of my favorite things about Atlanta is the weather. There are four distinct seasons, but the winters are incredibly mild (if you are from up north) and the fall is simply glorious. This allows me and my family to enjoy outdoor activities year-round.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I cherish spending time with my wife Jane, our two children (Lauren and Danny), their spouses (Chris and Cori) and our three (almost four! – one on the way next month) grandchildren (Nora, Langston, and Vivian). My favorite place is our cabin on Lake Oconee where we swim, boat, play watersports, and are together for many wonderful weekends.
If you didn’t pursue a career in medicine, what other profession would you have chosen?
I was an avid reader growing up and love to write. I am uncertain if I could have made a living as a novelist, but I could see myself as a feature writer for newspapers or magazines.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I remain amazed that I have had such a long and rewarding academic career in which I was able to contribute as a clinician, an investigator, and as a teacher. I am not sure how any of my patients, trainees, or peers would rate me in any of these three academic missions, but I have thoroughly enjoyed all of it and have been so blessed that I found this pathway in medicine. However, I have always tried to put family first despite the incredible demands that this profession makes on us. As I tell my junior faculty, ‘My kids have never read my CV,’ and ‘It is much better to be famous at home.’
Related Links
Be the first to comment on "Division Director Spotlight: David Guidot, MD"