Stephanie Levine, MD, FCCP, is an expert in lung transplantation and pulmonary and critical care issues in pregnancy and women’s lung health. She is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas; the Program Director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center; and the Co-Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital. She is also a staff physician at the South Texas VA Hospital. We are excited to welcome Dr. Levine as she steps into her role as CHEST President at CHEST Annual Meeting 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Dr. Levine knew from a young age that science was her passion.
“I grew up in a scientific family. Both my parents were biochemists at Brandeis University, and “science” was basically a household word. Because of this, I knew I wanted to go to medical school with the goal of helping people after college,” Dr. Levine said. After rotating through the subspecialties within internal medicine during her residency, Dr. Levine realized she wanted to work in pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Dr. Levine later started her career with CHEST after attending a CHEST Annual Meeting that her fellowship program director sent her to over 30 years ago.
“I immediately loved and really engaged with what I saw,” Dr. Levine said.
Dr. Levine has a long-standing history in CHEST leadership. She started as the Inaugural Chair of the Transplant NetWork and later became Chair on the Council of NetWorks. She has been actively involved with the ongoing CHEST SEEK Pulmonary and Critical Care Editorial Boards for more than 25 years, CHEST Pulmonary Board Review courses, and is currently on the CHEST Board of Regents. In 2005, she co-chaired the annual meeting with Darcy Marciniuk, MD, FCCP, in Montreal. Dr. Levine has also served as Chair of the Education Committee and Membership Committee and has served as both the President and Chair of the CHEST Foundation from 2010-2014.
“CHEST is my home, I essentially grew up in this organization…I support the mission and vision centered around education,” Dr. Levine said.
In her role as CHEST President, Dr. Levine hopes to continue the positive trajectory that CHEST is on. Dr. Levine would like to continue to provide CHEST members with cutting-edge opportunities in chest medicine education in hopes that it will translate into better patient care.
“I hope that we can improve our NetWork structure and function in order to increase leadership opportunities and increase member engagement. I also want to make sure that we know exactly what our members want from CHEST and make sure that we can provide those opportunities. Additionally, I hope to increase and continue with our international efforts,” Dr. Levine said.