The Graduate Program in Pulmonology at Escola Paulista de Medicina - Universidade Federal de São Paulo was accredited in 1975 as the first program in Brazil to offer a PhD in the respiratory area.
In the first 15 years of its existence, the Program fulfilled its role to set Respiratory Physiology and Medicine as a structured research field within Brazilianuniversities. It pioneered the establishment ofa Large Animal Experimental Laboratory, in whichmodels of Acute Respiratory Failure were studied.
The Pulmonary Function and the Clinical ExercisePhysiology Laboratories were the first in Brazil to domore complex functional assessments. During thatperiod, many professors teaching courses in the Programleft to pursue post-doctoral training abroad,then returned to join the faculty of the Programpermanently. In 1991 the Program was opened toother health professionals in addition to medicalhealth professionals. That approach, now fully implemented,was innovative at that time, and allowedthe formation of multi-professional research teams,including members from the related fields of PhysicalTherapy, Nutrition, Nursing, Psychology, Biology,Dentistry, Engineering, and Biomedicine. Themain lines of research were established in the 1980’s.
From its creation through 2015, the Program hastrained more than 300 graduate students (166 MScand 139 PhD). In 2015, four MSc, three PhD andone post-doctoral fellow received their degrees. TheProgram now has 13 faculty members (5 of themadmitted in the last 2 years). Most of the professorsand researchers in the respiratory area currently activein universities and research centers in our countryreceived training through our Program.
The fundamental objectives of the Program are:
(i) training of professionals qualified for teachingand research in science, focusing not only on therespiratory tract, but with strong interdisciplinaryparticipation;
(ii) establishment of innovative linesof research, with special reference to pathophysiologicaland epidemiological aspects of lung diseasesand related topics;
(iii) creation and disseminationof original scientific knowledge, withina perspective of cooperation and integration withnational and international research centers.