Each thoracic surgeon at Mass General participates in research activites.
allan | donahue | gaissert | lanuti | mathisen | wain | wright
Dr. Allan leads an NIH-funded research effort in the area of lung transplantation at the Department of Surgery's Transplantation Biology Research Center. In collaboration with Drs. John Wain, Joren Madsen, and David Sachs, the Division of Thoracic Surgery investigates the mechanisms of chronic rejection in large-animal models of lung transplantation. Large strides have been made in the area of experimental modeling of obliterative bronchiolitis following lung transplantation. Current areas of investigation include the development of strategies to achieve transplantation tolerance.
The Division of Thoracic Surgery is also pioneering the use of the swine lung xenograft for ultimate swine-to-human lung transplantation using swine genetically engineered not to express a strong xenoreactive moiety.
Dr. Allan also has clinical research interests in lung transplantation, thoracic trauma, and high-frequency chest wall oscillation therapy.
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Dr. Donahue’s clinical research interests include neuroendocrine tumors of the lung and acquired tracheal stenosis. Dr. Donahue also has conducted studies of gene expression in a large-animal hypoxic lung model, and has published experience in the cloning of the sheep endothelin-1 gene.
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Dr. Gaissert’s research includes investigations into minimally invasive esophagectomy and other applications of minimally invasive thoracic surgical techniques. Upcoming trials will focus on utilizing esophageal ultrasound for fine-needle aspiration of lymph nodes in non-small cell lung cancer and the management of postoperative air leaks.
Dr. Gaissert also manages the Massachusetts General Hospital Thoracic Surgical Database, and serves as a liaison to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database project.
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Dr. Lanuti spearheads the development of a thoracic oncology research laboratory. The principle goals of the laboratory are to develop novel methods to treat lung cancer that can be brought to clinical trials. Some of these strategies include the use of oncolytic viruses engineered to contain therapeutic genes that will modulate the patient’s native immune system to combat tumor.
Another strategy being investigated focuses on viral gene therapy constructed to undermine tumor growth by inhibiting blood vessel formation. This promising form of therapy has been evaluated in many tumor models, but not extensively in lung cancer. As it stands now, only approximately 25% of patients presenting with newly diagnosed lung cancer are candidates for some form of curative surgical therapy.
The laboratory plans to implement these therapies in a multimodality approach to treat advanced lung cancer.
The laboratory will also investigate alternative imaging modalities to noninvasively detect the expression of therapeutic genes that have been incorporated into these viral vectors. This type of endeavor will help to develop a noninvasive method to detect transgene expression in human clinical trials.
Ultimately, the laboratory strives to bring treatment strategies from the laboratory bench to the bedside and back to the bench again for re-evaluation and improvement.
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Dr. Mathisen has had a longstanding interest in the development of a tracheal substitute, using large-animal models.
Dr. Mathisen also coordinates other clinical research within the Division of Thoracic Surgery including current projects in the following areas:
- Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma
- tracheal tumors
- achalasia
- post-pneumonectomy syndrome
- tracheoplasty for tracheomalacia
The Division of Thoracic Surgery also participates in several ASCOG trials studying the role of PET imaging in lung cancer and the optimal therapy of lung and esophageal cancers.
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Dr. Wain’s basic research interests encompass the fields of transplantation immunology and thoracic oncology. His research in lung transplantation immunology includes large animal modeling of lung transplantation tolerance and rejection with Dr. Allan (see above), as well as the development and study of a murine model of orthotopic tracheal transplantation.
He is currently site principal investigator for a NIH program project grant investigating the genetic basis of lung and esophageal cancer. Dr. Wain has been involved in the development and evaluation of synthetic lung sealants and he is currently principal investigator for an ongoing clinical trial of a novel sealant.
As Surgical Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Lung Transplantation Program, he directs clinical research on methods of lung preservation, induction immunosuppression and transplant outcomes. He is also pursuing studies of acute lung injury and its treatment in both large and small animal models.
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Dr. Wright is performing clinical research on thymomas, reconstructive airway surgery, and esophageal cancer.
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