Rodrigo Vazquez Guillamet, MD
Professor of Medicine; Director, COPD Comprehensive Care Program
- Phone: 314-454-8766
- Email: r.vazquezguillamet@nospam.wustl.edu
Related Links
Appointments
- Professor of Medicine
Research Interests
The focus of my clinical practice and research gravitates around chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung transplantation. COPD is the leading chronic respiratory cause of death worldwide as well as the second most common indication for lung transplantation in the United States. The barriers to lung transplantation are many and include socioeconomic, medical and surgical barriers. Complementary clinical and research COPD centers can help overcome some of these barriers. During recent years I developed a multidisciplinary COPD clinic that provides detailed phenotyping of patients. As an example of complementary clinical work and research, the initial organization of the clinic benefited from the development of electronic medical record based “phenotypes” leading to personalized clinical pathways.
As transplant physicians we still can’t accurately prognosticate which COPD patients will obtain a survival benefit from lung transplantation. Understanding the natural history of the disease is essential to answering this question. My research has developed and locally validated mortality prediction rules that take into consideration competing events. This way we can help selecting the appropriate timing for transplantation.
Detecting a disease in early stages increases the chances of cure and provides more opportunities for intervention. I have experience developing a clinical severity classification for chronic bronchitis as well as new ultrasound based non-invasive diagnostic tests aiming to diagnose chronic bronchitis at its earliest stages. Both, once validated, could be used to diagnose and follow up patients with chronic bronchitis.
My goal for the near future is to help advance and meld emerging knowledge in COPD and lung transplantation.
Education and Training
- 1999-2005 MD, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. Barcelona Spain
- 2006-2009 Residency, Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine- Bridgeport Hospital
- 2009-2012 Fellowship, Pulmonary and Critical Care- Lung Transplantation Track, Stanford University
- 2013-2019 Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- 2019-2026 Associate Professor of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- 2026-Present Professor of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
Honors and Awards
- 2009 Award to publishing residents, American College of Physicians
- 2009 2nd position Scientific Poster Competition. American College of Physicians, CT
- 2009 Pasquale Perillie, MD Award for Outstanding Leadership and Scholarship, Yale School of Medicine
- 2010 Travel Award, American Thoracic Society International Meeting
- 2013 Travel Award, Infectious Disease Society of America.
- 2023 COVID Service Award Star, John T Milliken Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine