Thoracic Surgical Research

Josesph S. Friedberg, M.D. and
Taine T. V. Pechet, M.D.

Research Philosophy
Every project in our laboratory is targeted at developing a new or improved technology that is either immediately applicable to patient care or will be directly translatable to the clinical setting within two to five years. We pride ourselves in “thinking outside the box” and are particularly interested in targeting problems for which no effective or elegant solution currently exists. – Joseph S. Friedberg, MD, FACS

• Photodynamic therapy (PDT) trials
  • Surgery/intraoperative PDT for stage IIIB (based on pleural dissemination) lung cancer
  • Surgery/intraoperative PDT for non-pulmonary cancers metastatic to the pleura
  • Surgery/intraoperative PDT for primary pleural cancers (mesothelioma, others)

• The use of rare earth nanophosphors for both diagnostic and therapeutic cancer applications
• PDT generated autologous tumor vaccine for lung cancer, mesothelioma and other malignancies
• Exploration of synergistic treatment response using PDT and novel chemotherapeutic agents (lung cancer, mesothelioma, esophageal cancer)

• Development of an “artificial lung” for reversible lung failure
• Noninvasive lung volume reduction “surgery” for emphysema
• PDT for fungal infections in the lung, brain and liver
• Development of a system for identifying areas of lung that leak air at the time of surgery
• Development of a noninvasive technique for sealing injured lungs that are leaking air
• A noninvasive ultrasound technique for detecting blood clots that are currently only detectable by radiographic dye studies
• An intraoperative technique for decreasing the incidence of post lung surgery atrial arrhythmias
• Development of a technique to prevent reexpansion or reperfusion pulmonary edema
• Studies exploring the pathogenesis of spontaneous pneumothoraces