Richard J. Schwab

呼吸科 研究所

MD 美国费城宾夕法尼亚大学医学院医学教授 Richard J. Schwab has over 23 years ofresearch experience studying the pathophysiology of obstructive sleep apnea. He has developed and utilized state-of-the-art physiologic imaging techniques andacquired expertise in image analysis, biomechanics,Pcrit measurements and upper airway physiology and anatomy in both humans androdents. He has published seminal manuscripts on anatomic risk factors forsleep apnea including the importance of tongue fat in both humans and animals(mice and rats). His research has resulted in key observations about thegenetics, pathogenesis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. He has shownthe importance of the lateral pharyngeal walls in the pathogenesis of sleepapnea and that the volume of the upper airway soft tissue structures are largerin patients with sleep disordered breathing than normal subjects. He has alsoshown that the upper airway soft tissue structures and craniofacial structuresare heritable. Recently he has shown the importance of tongue fat as a risk factor in patients with OSA. He has successfully competed for several R01’s(most recently: “Obesity and OSA: Understanding the Importance of Tongue Fatand Metabolic Function”). He has also been a project director for a SCORprogram and more recently he has been a project leader “Understanding theRelationship between Obesity and Tongue Fat” in their program project grant atPenn. He has worked closely with the collaborators on this proposal (especiallyDr. Pack and Gislason) and they have published many papers together. They have assembled a very strong team of investigators for this project. In summary, hehas demonstrated a successful track record of productive research projects thatare related to this proposal and has the experience to lead a highly talented group of investigators on this exciting project.