Margaret Pisani, MD, MPH, will receive the CHEST College Medalist Award this October at CHEST, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) in Florida.
The College Medalist Award is a long-standing CHEST tradition, given for meritorious service in furthering progress in diseases of the chest. Pisani, associate professor of medicine (pulmonary) in the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine (Yale-PCCSM) at Yale School of Medicine, has been granted this award for her contribution in research, education and leadership in pulmonary and critical care medicine.
“Dr. Pisani is highly deserving of the award,” said Naftali Kaminski, MD, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Professor of Medicine (pulmonary) and the Yale-PCCSM section chief. “She has influenced our field immensely, through her research, her dedication to train the next generation of pulmonary and critical care clinicians and researchers, and her leadership and organizational skills.”
Pisani’s award represents a full-circle moment in her career as a researcher and physician. A grant from CHEST was the impetus for her research career, and she has maintained a relationship with the organization since then. She also found support for her research and mentorship through CHEST. As a junior member of the team, she worked with the organization on a community outreach program designed to teach younger students about the health risks of smoking. “You could bring it back to your own community,” said Pisani, who presented the program at her children’s schools. “It helped me get started on advocacy and education.”
Her approach to her research is often informed by inquiries that arrive through her medical practice. “I really try to think through scientifically by answering questions such as “What’s the problem? Has it been addressed before? Is it possible to address it? Can I add to what is known in the literature?” she explained.
Pisani, the former pulmonary and critical care fellowship director for Yale-PCCSM, and more recently vice chief for faculty development and mentoring, has contributed to the careers of many others in the section. “I've been lucky enough to have mentored medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty,” said Pisani, who continues ongoing collaborations with her mentees. For example, Melissa Knauert, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary), has developed a strategy to help ICU patients receive dedicated time to sleep. “We call it nap time protocol,” Pisani said. Among her other successful mentees are Lauren Ferrante, MD, MHS, assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary) at Yale-PCCSM, and Drew A. Harris, MD, assistant professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a former Yale-PCCSM fellow.
“Good science,” requires collaboration, Pisani explained. Her latest research revolves around reducing delirium for patients in the ICU. The pandemic presented new challenges. “Dr. Pisani was a key member of the team that orchestrated our response to the surge of critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kaminski said. “Her contribution was critical to our success.”
Dr. Pisani is highly deserving of this award, which has been granted to her for her contribution in research, education and leadership in pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Naftali Kaminski, MD
Pisani frames the issue of over-sedation through pharmacology and public health: “to reduce delirium in our critically ill patients, the re-education of physicians, nurses, and trainees in the ICU will be important as we move forward.”
She adds, “I just feel very grateful to have had the chance to work with the people and other physicians in the CHEST organization and at Yale, and to make a contribution.”
The Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine is one of the eleven sections within YSM’s Department of Internal Medicine. To learn more about Yale-PCCSM, visit PCCSM’s website, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.