Discovery Series Highlights VCU Health’s Pulmonary Visionaries

About 150 people gathered at the William & Mary Alumni House in Williamsburg Oct. 15, followed by another 90 Nov. 14 at The Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, to hear from renowned VCU Health physicians and researchers who discussed the current and ever-expanding landscape of pulmonary care and research at VCU Health and VCU School of Medicine. 

In the fall of 2013, the MCV Foundation established the Discovery Series in Williamsburg as an outreach program to raise awareness of the outstanding medical research, care and education that happen every day on the MCV Campus. 

In 2019, the series expanded to include a Richmond event. Each event allows attendees to connect with leading VCU Health scholars, researchers and clinicians. They feature panel discussions and opportunities for guests to have informal conversations with presenters about the latest medical advances.  

This fall’s events were titled Breathing New Life Into VCU Health’s Lung Transplant Program, and they featured a number of panelists from across VCU Health: 

  • Alpha “Berry” Fowler III, M.D., former chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine and the current William Taliaferro Thompson Professor of Medicine 
  • Patrick Nana-Sinkam, M.D., chief of the Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine and associate vice president for Clinical and Translational Research 
  • Vipul Patel, M.D., medical director of the Lung Transplant Program  
  • Wes Shepherd, M.D., director of Interventional Pulmonology 
  • Patricia Sime, M.D., the William Branch Porter Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine 
  • Daniel Grinnan, M.D., a pulmonologist who specializes in pulmonary hypertension   
discovery series
Discovery Series Williamsburg panelists included (from left to right) Alpha “Berry” Fowler III, M.D., Vipul Patel, M.D., Moderator Art Saavedra, Ph.D., M.D., Wes Shepherd, M.D., and Patrick Nana-Sinkam, M.D. 

Art Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine, moderated the panel discussions, which explored insights on a wealth of pulmonology-related topics, including the latest exciting news: following a nearly 20-year hiatus, the lung transplant program has returned to VCU Health. 

VCU Health was notified of its approval status in September and is scheduled to begin transplants in early 2025. Leading that program is Dr. Patel, who said the goal is to perform 10 to 30 transplants per year, eventually reaching roughly 50 annually, which would match other high-volume transplant centers nationally. VCU Health will be the third lung transplant center in Virginia.  

“Transplantation is such a remarkable field,” said Dr. Saavedra, noting that today’s transplant programs require skilled teams that encompass everyone from physicians and medical support to social workers and dieticians.   

Dr. Patel, who joined VCU in March, echoed those thoughts and explained that lung transplants are reserved for the worst-case scenario patients who are battling end-stage lung disease. Lung transplants are complex procedures, he said, and they must go together with extensive patient education. The best outcomes, he said, are those in which patients understand how their daily lifestyle habits — eating, smoking, exercise — impact their longevity post-surgery. 

“Recovery from a lung transplant is profound,” Dr. Patel said, and with the right education and the resources of VCU Health’s medical team behind them, “the patient’s quality of life is significantly improved.”    

In addition to lung transplants, panelists noted that VCU Health’s subspecialty areas of expertise surrounding pulmonary care have expanded markedly in recent decades.  

One of those areas is a relatively new subspecialty known as interventional pulmonology, which involves different forms of advanced bronchoscopy, including new methods for performing lung biopsies and other treatments for emphysema and lung cancer. In short, procedures that used to involve operating rooms, anesthesia or surgery to address internal issues can now be completed as outpatient procedures.  

“We’ve seen a real explosion of technology in interventional pulmonology,” said Dr. Shepherd. One example, he said, is treatment for patients who suffer from shortness of breath due to emphysema. Medications are now available for them, but so are procedures like bronchoscopic lung volume reductions, which use cameras to help shrink or collapse overinflated lungs, thus helping people breathe better. 

“There’s no surgery, there’s no incision, it’s just a camera,” he said, “and these patients have a significant benefit in their shortness of breath.”  

discovery series
Tad Thompson, center, the son of the late W.T. Thompson Jr., M.D., for whom VCU Health’s W.T. Thompson Jr. Professor in Pulmonary Medicine was established, enjoys the panel discussion during the MCV Foundation’s Discovery Series event in Richmond.  

Discovery Series events are made possible, in large part, by volunteer host committees who help shape the program themes and connect the event to the community. 

In Williamsburg, the committee includes Julie Baxter and Paul Dresser, Louise and Bob Canfield, Ginny and Charles Crone, Jane Kaplan, and Judi Forehand Starkey. In Richmond, the host committee is comprised of Tenley and Wyatt Beazley, Maura and Mike Bisceglia, Anne and Roger Boevé, Susan and Steve Gaidos, Gail and Earl Johnson, Patricia and David Lyons, Becky Purdue, and Judi and Jim Starkey. 

The popularity of the Discovery Series led to the formation of the Discovery Society in 2015. The society honors individuals who give to support the MCV Campus. From an inaugural membership of 74, today’s Discovery Society boasts nearly 300 members who have collectively given more than $12 million. Society members have become staunch advocates thanks to these events that bring the latest news and information on medical advancements directly to them. Their work on behalf of the MCV Campus strengthens the academic health system and provides support that directly benefits and expands VCU Health’s impact in Richmond and beyond. 


If you’d like to learn more about the MCV Foundation’s Discovery Series events, please contact Brian Thomas, executive vice president and chief development officer, at 804-828-0067 or brian.thomas@vcuhealth.org.