Leadership

The Multidisciplinary T32 Research Training Program in Lung Disease is led by Program Director,
Robert Dickson, MD, along with Associate Program Directors, MeiLan Han, MD, MS and Rachel Zemans, MD.

Program Director, Robert Dickson, MD

Robert Dickson, MD
Robert Dickson, MD

Robert Dickson, MD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Dickson received his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington. He then came to the University of Michigan where he completed his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Dickson is also a graduate of the T32 Research Training Program in Lung Disease. He currently serves as the Associate Program Director for Research for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program and as the Deputy Director of the Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation.

Dr. Dickson's laboratory specializes in integrative translational research, spanning from the molecular characterization of respiratory microbiota to animal modeling of acute lung disease to prospective trials of human subjects. By combining the techniques of microbial ecology with his expertise in respiratory pathophysiology, Dr. Dickson studies how the lung microbiome is established in health and disrupted in disease. He has extensively published, having authored over 260 publications.

Dr. Dickson’s research program is well-funded by awards from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and European Commission. He has served on multiple NIH study sections, ATS guideline committees, and the ATS Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Dickson currently serves as Senior Editor at Microbiome, Specialist Editor for the European Respiratory Journal, and is a member of the editorial boards for the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Dr. Dickson has received numerous awards in the areas of teaching and research including the H. Marvin Pollard Award for Outstanding Teaching of Residents in 2017, Special Recognition for Contributions to the House Officer Teaching Program in 2018, Bruce C. Richardson MD Department of Internal Medicine Early Career Endowment Award in 2018, and Jerome W. Conn Award for Excellence in Research by a Junior Faculty Member in 2020.

Associate Program Director, MeiLan Han, MD, MS

MeiLan Han, MD, MS
MeiLan Han, MD, MS

MeiLan Han, MD, MS is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Han received her MD from the University of Washington and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan. She is also Director of the Michigan Airways Program.

Dr. Han’s research work focuses on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) where her team has described insights into the pathophysiology, epidemiology, and improved approaches to treatment. Significantly, as a member of the scientific committee for the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD Consortium), she was a key contributor in identifying usable and standard COPD phenotypes. Dr. Han also serves on the scientific advisory committee and board of directors for the COPD Foundation and serves on the scientific advisory committee and as a volunteer spokesperson for the American Lung Association.

Dr. Han has authored over 300 publications in numerous journals including the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care MedicineChestLancet Respiratory MedicineJAMA Internal MedicineNew England Journal of Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Investigation. She is currently a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. In 2021, Dr. Han published Breathing Lessons: A Doctor’s Guide to Lung Health, a guide to respiratory health for the public.

Dr. Han has been recognized with many honors and awards. She received the European Respiratory Society GOLD Medal in COPD in 2017, the University of Michigan Dean’s Clinical and Health Services Research Award in 2019, and the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award in 2021. Dr. Han is also an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. 

Associate Program Director, Rachel Zemans, MD

Rachel Zemans, MD
Rachel Zemans, MD

Rachel Zemans, MD is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Zemans attended medical school at Johns Hopkins University and did her Internal Medicine residency at the University of California San Francisco. Following her residency, Dr. Zemans completed a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado. Dr. Zemans joined the Michigan Medicine Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in 2017.

Dr. Zemans’ research is focused on understanding the mechanisms by which the lung epithelium is injured and regenerates after injury and how these mechanisms go awry in the pathogenesis of lung diseases, such as ARDS and pulmonary fibrosis. She is currently the PI of an NHLBI-funded R35 award and serves as Co-Investigator on multiple other NIH grants. Dr. Zemans is the author of more than 60 manuscripts, including high-impact contributions in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Zemans has served as the primary mentor for three junior faculty members, four post-doctoral fellows, and five undergraduate students. Her past trainees have successfully competed for funding, including a K08 award to a recent graduate of the T32 Research Training Program in Lung Disease. Dr. Zemans has served on mentorship committees for 19 trainees in clinical and basic science departments.

Dr. Zemans served as Chair for the 2021 Aspen Lung Conference and was recently elected to chair the Program Committee of the Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology (RCMB) Assembly of the American Thoracic Society. She currently serves on the editorial boards for JCI Insight and the American Respiratory Journal of Cellular and Molecular Biology. In 2022, Dr. Zemans was elected to the distinguished American Society for Clinical Investigation.