The research mission of the Department of Medicine (DOM) and the development and sustainment of the career development pipeline remain central tenants of our academic vision. The Department has been fortunate to have had the services of Dr. Alison Morris and Dr. Liza Villanueva as engaged, active, and highly successful vice chairs for research over the last five years. Due to their desire to transition to other other leadership roles, it our pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Oliver Eickelberg, MD, as Vice Chair for Basic and Translational Research.
Oliver studied Medicine at the University in Lübeck, Germany and the University of Vienna, Austria, and received his MD from the University of Basel, Switzerland. Following his residency and fellowship at the University of Basel, he completed post-doctoral training at Yale University. Oliver established his own research program as an Assistant Professor at the University of Giessen in Germany from 2002 to 2008, after which he became full professor and head of the Comprehensive Pneumology Center at the Helmholtz Centre Munich and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. He served on the board of directors of the German Center of Lung Research from 2010 – 2016. In 2016, Oliver was recruited to the University of Colorado, where he served as Division Chief of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine from 2016 to 2018.
Oliver’s research focuses on basic, translational, and clinical research that aims to elucidate mechanisms of tissue fibrosis, with an emphasis on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). These efforts center on approaches that seek to understand disease pathobiology, identify biomarkers to stratify patient subgroups for precision medicine, and finally develop novel treatment options for patients. His contributions have been recognized with election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Oliver is supported by NIH and foundation funding, and he has an extensive history of service in the pulmonary community. He served as Chair of the International Conference of the European Respiratory Society and on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell Molecular Biology, Thorax, Scientific Reports, and EMBO Molecular Medicine. He currently acts as Associate Editor for the Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a role he has held since 2010.
Please join me in welcoming Oliver to the DOM leadership team.