VCU news

By Malorie Burkett

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the VCU Medical Center has received a $1 million gift to aid with emphysema research.

The gift is from Williamsburg businessman Kenny Johnson in honor of his wife, Vickie, who for a number of years has been suffering from emphysema – a severe form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, in which an over-inflation of air sacs in the lungs causes a decrease in respiratory function.

Through the gift, the Johnsons wanted to promote a research initiative for COPD, particularly emphysema, at the VCU Medical Center.

“The Johnson gift is clearly a division-changing gift that will have long-term consequences for comprehensive emphysema research efforts at VCU,” said Alpha (Berry) Fowler, M.D., chair of VCU’s Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care. 

“It will ultimately lead to novel interventional therapies for emphysema.” 

VCU also will use the gift to attract a nationally or internationally recognized researcher to head the studies at VCU, Fowler said.

Part of VCU’s Department of Internal Medicine, the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care is responsible for overseeing respiratory therapy, pulmonary function, exercise physiology and the outpatient clinics. The division is active in lung transplantation and includes a 12-bed medical respiratory intensive care unit at VCU and an eight-bed medical ICU at the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center.