Benefiting the Emphysema Research Program

Highlighting the work of Norbert F. Voelkel, M.D.

Norbert F. Voelkel, M.D., a leading researcher of pulmonary and vascular physiology and pathophysiology, is the first incumbent of the E. Raymond Fenton, M.D. Chair in Pulmonary Diseases. Dr. E. Raymond Fenton, a 1930 graduate of MCV School of Medicine, and his wife created the endowed chair.

Voelkel is a professor in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine and director of the Victoria W. Johnson Center for Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Research. The center was initiated by benefactors Ken and Vickie Johnson with a $1 million gift to sponsor an emphysema research program at VCU.

“Research is a team sport,” Voelkel said. “There is the opportunity and the energy here to build a powerful, multidisciplinary team of investigators and clinicians, all concerned with pulmonary and related diseases such as sickle cell anemia and heart disease. We have the ingredients — expertise, passion, ideas, space, university and private support — to be successful, to make serious impact on serious diseases.”