Picture of two physicians looking at an xray of lungs

 

Division of Pulmonary Medicine

Pulmonary Update with the Alberta Respiratory Centre


About Us

Founded in the 1960s by Dr. Brian Sproule, the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Alberta serves a geographically large and ethnically diverse population with a complex range of pulmonary needs. Located in Edmonton — the “City of Festivals” and capital of Alberta — our members are dedicated to clinical care, world-class research, and nationally renowned education in Pulmonary Medicine.

Clinical Care

Division members offer respiratory care for the Edmonton Zone, parts of Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Our faculty has clinical expertise in:

  • general pulmonary medicine,
  • interstitial lung disease (ILD),
  • sleep medicine,
  • cystic fibrosis (CF),
  • non-CF bronchiectasis,
  • pulmonary hypertension,
  • hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia,
  • and others.

Programs

  • The University of Alberta Hospital is the leading centre for solid organ transplantation in Western Canada, notably ranked #6 worldwide in 2017 by the Center for World University Rankings. We have a world-class lung transplantation service to care for patients from British Columbia to Manitoba.
  • Our divisional members also run the Tuberculosis (TB) Program in collaboration with the Division of Infectious Diseases, providing robust local and outreach services to those in Edmonton, as well as more remote communities.
  • Our Division has a strong interventional pulmonary medicine group that offer the latest in bronchoscopic diagnostics and treatments.
  • Our sleep medicine program will expand to a new hospital, with a totally renewed sleep lab and clinics.
  • Severe asthma, COPD, and sarcoidosis clinics are also assets of the Division. The pulmonary rehabilitation program is the largest program in North America.
  • Following our commitment to meeting the needs of our community, in June 2020, we established one of the first and largest multi-disciplinary post-COVID clinics in Canada to provide care for those suffering from long COVID.
  • In the fields of Allergy and Immunology, we offer specialized adult allergy care.
  • Our division members provide longitudinal outpatient care and a full complement of common and advanced pulmonary testing, such as pulmonary function tests, cardiopulmonary exercise tests, exercise challenge tests and allergen challenges, based in the state-of-the-art Kaye Edmonton Clinic and University Lung Clinic.
  • Finally, our Division members also provide extensive acute care at the University of Alberta Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital, with pulmonary inpatient wards and consult services, as well as several subspecialty services.

Research

Our highly successful research portfolio is extensive and diverse, covering areas from basic science to translational research, clinical research, clinical trials, and drug evaluation studies. Through Alberta Respiratory Centre (ARC), we promote novel applied translational studies that bring together basic and clinical scientists in a highly integrated manner, towards hypothesis-driven and thematically-based research in Pulmonary Medicine and Clinical Immunology. We have a broad portfolio of research funding from CIHR, NSERC, and other national and local grants.

Our Division has a collegial and supportive mixed team of early and mid to late career investigators to encourage mentorship, as well as infusion of new ideas and methods, into more traditional established research platforms. We collaborate extensively with colleagues in the local Department of Medicine, as well as those beyond our institution, garnering national and international recognition as leaders in pulmonary research.

There are many well published and cutting-edge researchers in our division with international recognition in:

  • immunology of respiratory disease,
  • lung transplant,
  • pulmonary physiology,
  • tuberculosis,
  • pulmonary hypertension,
  • cystic fibrosis,
  • long COVID,
  • interstitial lung disease,
  • sleep medicine,
  • asthma and COPD, and
  • digital health.

Furthermore, several members of the Division are involved in committees and guidelines from national and international scientific societies. 


Education

The Division provides quality education in the field of Respirology for undergraduate and postgraduate students, for both medical and allied health professionals. Members of the Division regularly supervise graduate students and lead graduate courses related to Pulmonary Medicine and Clinical Immunology. As a result, our division members have received numerous accolades for teaching excellence and dedication to education for the next generation of budding clinicians and scientists. Notable achievements in recent years include local, national, and international awards for education and mentorship.


Contact Information

Divisional Director

Dr. Giovanni Ferrara

Deputy Divisional Directors

Dr. Ronald Damant and Dr. Michael Stickland

Division Administrative Support

Giselle Prosser
780-492-2920
pulmea@ualberta.ca

Clinical Line

(booking/confirming appointments, changes and cancellations)

Phone: 780-492-0432

Pulmonary Medicine Fax

780-492-4483

Referral requests by fax only

780-492-4483